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Intensive animal farming
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Intensive animal farming, industrial livestock production, and macro-farms,[1] also known as factory farming,[2] is a type of intensive agriculture, specifically an approach to animal husbandry designed to maximize production while minimizing costs.[3] To achieve this, agribusinesses keep livestock such as cattle, poultry, and fish at high stocking densities, at large scale, and using modern machinery, biotechnology, and global trade.[4][5][6][7][8] The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption.[9]
While intensive animal farming can produce large amounts of meat at low cost with reduced human labor,[10] it is controversial as it raises several ethical concerns,[11] including animal welfare issues (confinement, mutilations, stress-induced aggression, breeding complications),[12][13] harm to the environment and wildlife (greenhouse gases, deforestation, eutrophication),[14] public health risks (zoonotic diseases, pandemic risks, antibiotic resistance),[20] and worker exploitation, particularly of undocumented workers.[21]
- ^ "The limits in sight for Spanish macro farms". In Spain News. December 16, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
- ^ Lusk, Jayson (September 23, 2016). "Why Industrial Farms Are Good for the Environment". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 23, 2016.
Before 'factory farming' became a pejorative, agricultural scholars of the mid-20th century were calling for farmers to do just that — become more factorylike and businesslike. From that time, farm sizes have risen significantly. It is precisely this large size that is often criticized today in the belief that large farms put profit ahead of soil and animal health.
- ^ "Why Factory Farming Isn't What You Think". Forbes. June 2015.
- ^ Sources discussing no "intensive farming", "intensive agriculture" or "factory farming":
- Fraser, David. Animal welfare and the intensification of animal production: An alternative interpretation, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2005. *Turner, Jacky. "History of factory farming" Archived November 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, United Nations: "Fifty years ago in Europe, intensification of animal production was seen as the road to national food security and a better diet ... The intensive systems – called 'factory farms' – were characterised by confinement of the animals at high stocking density, often in barren and unnatural conditions."
- Humphrys, John. Why the organic revolution had to happen, The Observer, April 21, 2001: "Nor is a return to 'primitive' farming practices the only alternative to factory farming and highly intensive agriculture."
- "Head to head: Intensive farming", BBC News, March 6, 2001: "Here, Green MEP Caroline Lucas takes issue with the intensive farming methods of recent decades ... In the wake of the spread of BSE from the UK to the continent of Europe, the German Government has appointed an Agriculture Minister from the Green Party. She intends to end factory farming in her country. This must be the way forward and we should end industrial agriculture in this country as well."
- ^ Sources discussing "industrial farming", "industrial agriculture" and "factory farming":
- "Annex 2. Permitted substances for the production of organic foods", Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: "'Factory' farming refers to industrial management systems that are heavily reliant on veterinary and feed inputs not permitted in organic agriculture.
- "Head to head: Intensive farming", BBC News, March 6, 2001: "Here, Green MEP Caroline Lucas takes issue with the intensive farming methods of recent decades ... In the wake of the spread of BSE from the UK to the continent of Africa, the German Government has appointed an Agriculture Minister from the Green Party. She intends to end factory farming in her country. This must be the way forward and we should end industrial agriculture in this country as well."
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Kaufmannwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "EU tackles BSE crisis", BBC News, November 29, 2000.
- ^ "Is factory farming really cheaper?" in New Scientist, Institution of Electrical Engineers, New Science Publications, University of Michigan, 1971, p. 12.
- ^ Nierenberg, Danielle (2005). Mastny, Lisa (ed.). Happier Meals: Rethinking the Global Meat Industry. Vol. 171. Washington, D.C.: Worldwatch Institute. ISBN 978-1-878071-77-4. LCCN 2005932799. OCLC 62104329. S2CID 152935538.
- ^ "Intensive animal agriculture". FAIRR. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
- ^ Bolotnikova, Marina (August 7, 2024). "How Factory Farming Ends". Vox. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
- ^ Harari, Yuval Noah (September 25, 2015). "Industrial farming is one of the worst crimes in history". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
- ^ Greenwald, Glenn (October 5, 2017). "The FBI's Hunt for Two Missing Piglets Reveals the Federal Cover-Up of Barbaric Factory Farms". The Intercept. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- ^ van der Zee, Bibi (October 4, 2017). "Why factory farming is not just cruel – but also a threat to all life on the planet". The Guardian. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
CAFOCDCPwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "The Welfare of Intensively Kept Pigs – Report of the Scientific Veterinary Committee – Adopted 30 September 1997 Archived May 22, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, European Commission, and "Opinion of the AHAW Panel related to the welfare aspects of various systems of keeping laying hens", European Food Safety Authority (March 7, 2005)
- ^ Blaine Harden (December 28, 2003). "Supplements used in factory farming can spread disease". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 2, 2008. Retrieved May 28, 2007.
- ^ A. Dennis McBride (December 7, 1998). "The Association of Health Effects with Exposure to Odors from Hog Farm Operations". North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
- ^ Jennifer Ackerman. "Food Article, Foodborne Illness Information, Pathogen Facts". National Geographic. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
- ^ [15][16][17][18][19]
- ^ Nibert, David (2013). Animal Oppression and Human Violence: Domesecration, Capitalism, and Global Conflict. Columbia University Press. p. 228. ISBN 978-0231151894.
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