Liquid manure

Manure in both forms is used as a nutrient-enriched fertilizer for plants,[2] containing high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium present in farm animals' excretions and originating from the food they consume.

[3] Amy Bogaard, an archaeobotanist at the University of Oxford, suspects that even as early as the Stone Age farmers had noticed the improved fertility of manured land.

The strain's low infectious dose, survival under adverse conditions, and potential for extreme disease severity prompt scientific attention.

Particular attention is paid to concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) because they are the source of most of the liquid manure that is spread on fields of vegetables in the United States.

Rainwater runoff from these CAFOs was identified in the fatal Walkerton E. coli outbreak as the contaminant of municipal wellwater used for human consumption.