How many of you are familiar with factory farming in the USA?

Question

I just responded to a question that has left me wondering how many of you are aware of the difference between standard farming and factory farming?

Answer 1

was it that question with the scary chicken video... I HAD NO IDEA, that the chicken companies treat the chickens like that.

I looked on the ASPCA website and there is NOTHING ON IT!!!

*cry* :(

Answer 2

I'm just learning about it. There was a farm, Wiles Farm, here in Ohio that was just brought up on cruelty charges for hanging pigs. I had no idea that animals were being treated like machines. It's horrible. I'm involved now in financially supporting these organizations that fight it, and trying to go veggie.

Answer 3

I am very aware of the differences.

I grew up on a large family hog farm and have a bachelor's degree in Animal Science.

For all of the people out there that are anti-factory farm  you need to understand the benefits of factory farming.  Remember - I grew up on a standard family farm - not a factory farm.

However, I know for a fact that we contributed to a lot of pollution.  Deceased animals were spread with the manure out in the field.  Large deceased animals were usually drug out to the swamp.

There were no regulations that we used on pollution control.  Our animals were always fed and cared for.  They had plenty of space, but no-one was regulating us.

Large factory farms are VERY restricted on pollution control and animal husbandry practices.  They also must care for their animals in a good manner.  Rate of gain is important to them.  Feeding a group of 100 hogs for 5 or 10 extra days greatly increases your overhead costs.

Factory farms are also a great contributor to our low food costs.  Regular farmers don't make any money.  My parents lost about $20,000 every year - but chucked it up to a great way to raise kids.  To raise a pig in normal conditions it costs about $125 to butcher hog size.  Right now butcher hogs are selling for about $70-80 a piece!  Only factory farms can lower their over head costs and keep our food costs low.  If it were just family farmers - you'd be paying $200 per hog - and double or triple your costs at the grocery store.

Factory farms might seem terrible to the regular public - but truely, they do take good care of their animals, they are highly regulated for pollution, and keep food costs as low as possible.

Answer 4

I know that there are quite a few problems from that, but it apparently is a natural outgrowth of our economy.  Wish it weren't so.

Answer 5

i am aware of it and it is very cruel... everything from veal raising to battery cages (for eggs) to the slaughterhouse is really disturbing.  i have considered going vegetarian to at least do my part, but currently just try to purchase LOCAL, support the smaller farms that tend to not be all about mass-production, thus less cruelty, and humane-certified and better quality brands.  i also don't eat veal.

Answer 6

I am, which is the main reason I want to go veg. Nothing, not even animals that will become our food, should live in those conditions.

Answer 7

Factory farms are disgusting.  Even if you dont care about animal suffering, keep in mind high-density animals are stressed animals who are often sick.  They're given antibiotics often to keep them alive.  The end result is you're eating meat from a sick animal with antibiotic residues in it.   Animals never were meant to be living 1000s to a crowded room with nowhere to lay down.  Chickens were never meant to be living 4 to a tiny cage, crammed so tight they can't even open their wings up ever.    

Spread the word!

And do your part: if you do eat meat, buy it from LOCAL producers.... somewhere that you can see the animals and see they're not overcrowded and overly-confined.  This means we all have to give up McDonalds and other fast-foods.   Big corporations like McDs are who buys most of what factory farms produce.

NEVER eat veal or fois gras.

Answer 8

well, i can only say what i know about farming from the ag classes i took. (years ago).

1. there are smaller farms and larger farms. . . the ones in my state (pa) are a mix of both.  the ones i seen/visited ranged from 25-30 heads of cattle (my next door neighbor, yes i live in farm country but i'm not a "farmer") to 300-400 head of cattle.  

2. i hear that in cali they have cattle farms that range into the thousands. ( i personall dont like the idea/things i've learned/heard about these farms, but to each their own).

3. the midwest is were more grain/feed is grown, where as pa/other states not in the midwest have more cattle, there for the balance in the soil/fertilzer is uneven (our one class assignment was to come up with ways to come up with a balance that didnt cost alot of money). i could explain it better talking then typing tho.lol. i must be gettin older.

4. could you send me info on what you're refering to as standard farming and factory farming? i'd like tobe more informed on some topics (this is one of them)

thanks, nice question.

5. i'm only talking bout cattle here, b/c i was the most intersted in cattle/horse farming at the time of taking those ag classes, but we went to penn state and seen all kinds of different farming styles and how their's were different from larger farming in different areas of the country. they covered pigs, grain/feed, cattle, horses, goats, ect.

6. i'll add on chicken farming.... because that is one of my pet peeves to hear people talking bout how people treat chickens. . . AND i'd like to take a moment to teach what i've learned about chickens in the last 8 years. (i live on a bird farm, most our birds are exotic birds).

facts of chickens:

1. they are for lack of a better/nicer word:stupid.

2. chickens will peck at another chicken if a. it's unhealthy or 3. they dont like the other chicken... example : we hatched out chickens, they grew up, one of them one day had peck marks ect, we pulled it out, nursed it back to health... it was all better and we reintroduced it back into the chicken house..... they killed it over night and we found it in the morning... once chickens start pecking at another one, they will not stop till it's dead. no human/anything can stop that.

4.  chickens are a pain in the butttttt(to put it nicely) more power to any one who wants to bother with them. we only have about 30 left.  our other birds includes rheas,ducks,peacocks, guines currently.  so i dont really think we're farmers, but we do raise birds and educated our selves/went to classes/ have mentors. this leads me to point 5....

5. if you dont know about the industry, be it racing, be it horse in general, be it farming(either kind), be it walstreet... if you dont know about it, your opinion doesnt count for much. sry if that's rude/mean, but its the truth. i dont know bout the car racing industry so why would i go round acting like i know something if i just watched one race, or read one artical.

*gets off her high horse*

this is just what i know/think/my opinion on the matter

~~~~~

edit: i dont like company farming, in the fact that i'd never be a part of it, but it's the american dream to make money, they seem to be making money, but in the same breathe, they're also killing the soil balance, the small american farmer, and not caring.  i'm not against it by how they treat their animals(b/c there are regulations on what is allowed as far as treatment of animals used for food for humans)

i am against it b/c there are bigger problems that people dont know about and dont care b/c it's cheaper to buy from the factory farmers then the small farmer who has to feed his family as well. but yet again that's my own personal reason i am against large factory farmers and more for the small farmer, by small i mean 25-500 head of cattle...i judge by cattle.lol

Answer 9

Very familiar with it, very common around here. I have seen pig farms were the sows(female breeders) could only stand and lay down. Could not take a single step. They are locked like that until death. You actually feel BETTER knowing they died.........Going vegan won't really help, as many crop growers are also factory farms and also treat their human employees as bad.......besides the fact that e. coli and the like are now being spread by veggies, consumers need to start getting wise. Shop organic as much as possible, and local farmers market will help. But keep in mind that much food grown in the U.S. is exported. it is hard to make a dent there......

Answer 10

If factory farming bothers you, work for regulation.

Going veg isn't the answer.  For one thing, these operations do not care about vegetarians - they're not consumers.  Commercial operations change only when consumers demand it.

For another thing, farming grains and vegetables for human consumption kills many wild animals - mostly birds and rabbits.

Answer 11

I am quite aware of the difference. They are both pretty bad though. That is the main reason why I don't eat flesh.