essay about factory farming

Home — Essay Samples — Economics — Industry — Factory Farming

Essays on Factory Farming

Factory farming and its indelible adverse impacts, factory farming and ethics in animal liberation by peter singer, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences

+ experts online

How Industrial Farming Can Eliminate The Negative Impacts of Factory Farming

Evaluation of yields from organic farming vs. sustainable agriculture, the pluses of using combine harvesters in farming, the job of an agricultural mechanic, let us write you an essay from scratch.

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

A Look at The Importance of Agriculture in The Community

Meat seller on the basis of training and occupation related factors, the implications of varying levels of cattle grazing, the impact of culture on consumer behaviour within the food industry sector, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

Expert-written essays crafted with your exact needs in mind

A Review on Precision Agriculture: Technologies and Challenges

Vegetarianism and an argument against factory farming, comparison of organic farming and conventional farming, advantages and disadvantages of organic and conventional farming, causes of animal abuse and its impact: a harsh reality, relevant topics.

• Real Estate
• Cosmetology
• Non-Profit Organization
• Coal Mining
• Construction
• Unemployment
• Supply and Demand
• Penny Debate

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Essays on Factory Farming

Faq about factory farming.

• Search Menu
• Case Discussions
• Special Symposiums
• Advance articles
• Author Guidelines
• Submission Site
• Open Access
• Why Publish with Public Health Ethics?
• About Public Health Ethics
• Editorial Board
• Advertising and Corporate Services
• Journals Career Network
• Self-Archiving Policy
• Dispatch Dates
• Terms and Conditions
• Journals on Oxford Academic
• Books on Oxford Academic

Article Contents

Animals and influenza, antibiotic resistance, animal cruelty and public policy.

• < Previous

What’s Wrong With Factory Farming?

• Article contents
• Figures & tables
• Supplementary Data

Jonathan Anomaly, What’s Wrong With Factory Farming?, Public Health Ethics , Volume 8, Issue 3, November 2015, Pages 246–254, https://doi.org/10.1093/phe/phu001

• Permissions Icon Permissions

Factory farming continues to grow around the world as a low-cost way of producing animal products for human consumption. However, many of the practices associated with intensive animal farming have been criticized by public health professionals and animal welfare advocates. The aim of this essay is to raise three independent moral concerns with factory farming, and to explain why the practices associated with factory farming flourish despite the cruelty inflicted on animals and the public health risks imposed on people. I conclude that the costs of factory farming as it is currently practiced far outweigh the benefits, and offer a few suggestions for how to improve the situation for animals and people.

Factory farming involves raising livestock in densely populated environments often called ‘concentrated animal feeding operations’. 1 Common practices include packing pregnant pigs into gestation crates so small they cannot turn around, placing egg-laying hens in cages stacked on top of one another in massive enclosed buildings and raising cows on feedlots rather than the grass pastures many of us associate with ruminants. 2 Because of the stress induced by these conditions, including the constant frustration of their natural instincts, many animals develop compromised immune systems, and without a steady course of antibiotics, many more would become sick and die of bacterial infections. Thus, antibiotics are often used to compensate for conditions that would otherwise make it impossible to raise animals ( Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antimicrobials, 2010 ).

The practices that comprise factory farming evolved as a result of competition between firms to produce commodities—mainly milk and meat—at minimal cost. Competition usually benefits consumers. Factory farming has lowered the price of animal protein, and this is a real boon for poor and middle-class consumers. But there are at least three moral problems with factory farming, and none of them is factored into the price of the animal products they create. These include the spread of pathogenic viruses, the diffusion of antibiotic-resistant bacteria into our shared microbial environment and the immense cruelty suffered by animals in confined conditions.

Experts agree that most (and perhaps all) strains of the influenza virus that infect human beings originated from contact with other animals, especially domesticated birds and pigs in Asia ( Crawford, 2000 : 95). The advent of animal agriculture brought a steady supply of protein to people, but it also increased the transmission of viruses carried by animals, and spurred the evolution of existing viruses.

There are several reasons factory farms seem to elevate the risk of novel viral outbreaks—especially variations of avian and swine flu. First, crowding animals together in close confinement can induce stress and suppress their immune systems, raising parasite loads and making animals more susceptible to infections; second, as all of us have learned after catching a cold in school or at work, viral transmission is facilitated by animals being kept in proximity to one another; third, close contact between different species of animals gives viruses a continuous opportunity to mutate and reassort to create new strains; fourth, many factory farms confine animals to indoor spaces that lack adequate sunlight or ventilation, which allows viruses to survive longer without a host; and finally, because animals on factory farms are often genetically similar, they can be more susceptible to specific parasites ( Crawford, 2000 ; Greger, 2007 ).

The situation on factory farms is in some ways analogous to that of overcrowded prisons ( Schmidt, 2009 ). Infectious diseases flourish in prisons for some of the same reasons: high stress and poor nutrition can impair people’s immune systems, and crowding permits a quick transfer of microbes and a continuous supply of hosts. This is one reason many experts believe pathogenic viruses like hepatitis have spread more rapidly in crowded prisons than in the surrounding population ( Bick, 2007 ).

Most people already understand that crowding can spread sickness, and compromised immunity makes people more susceptible to infection, but few people understand how crowding different species together—as occurs on factory farms and in live animal markets—might hasten the evolution of new strains of virus. According to Dorothy Crawford, ‘[b]ird viruses usually lack the receptor binding protein needed to infect human cells, but some domestic animals like pigs and horses are susceptible to both bird and human strains. So gene swapping between human and bird strains often occurs in pigs or horses, causing a major genetic change in the virus make-up called an antigenic shift . Occasionally after this mixing a “new” virus strain emerges that can infect and spread in humans, and as the population is completely naïve to this “new” strain it can spark a pandemic’ ( Crawford, 2007 : 205).

Viruses have long jumped between species, but the advent of animal agriculture increased opportunities for viral transmission between animals and humans. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, which infected half of the world’s population and killed tens of millions of people, is thought to have arisen in farm animals. Although this particular strain cannot be blamed on practices that began in the late 20th century, our current practices increase the risk that new versions of existing viruses will emerge. It should be emphasized that in most cases, it is impossible to track the exact origin and evolutionary progress of any particular strain of flu. Scientists instead look for patterns of correlation between sites of initial infections, and rely on general knowledge about the conditions that facilitate the emergence and transmission of viruses.

Regardless of the origin of specific outbreaks of swine and avian flu, the general trend seems to implicate factory farming as a significant cause of many new strains: ‘there is no doubt that we are in the midst of the worst ever recorded flu pandemic in birds. The [H5N1] virus started life as a harmless infection in the intestines of wild birds and jumped to domestic chickens in the 1990s, where modern intensive farming techniques gave it the opportunity to adapt and evolve … . And now this virulent strain has not only crossed back into wild fowl but has increased its host range to include other birds … and even some mammals such as cats’ ( Crawford, 2007 : 208).

Although I have focused on different strains of influenza, animals share many other viruses, even if only a small number induce death or disease when they jump species. The morally interesting question is whether we can justify practices that increase the likelihood of new viral epidemics.

It is conceivable that new strains of viruses that arise on factory farms will eventually lose their virulence and strength. When viruses are confined to a specific population, they tend to become weakened as they co-evolve with the animals that host them. This occurs because from the virus’s standpoint—from the standpoint of the ‘selfish’ genes that comprise viruses—a host is better alive than dead, as a live host can create more copies of the virus and spread it to more people.

However, it can take many years for a virus to become benign ( Crawford, 2000 ), and in the intervening period, it can decimate populations. So the fact that in the long run viruses tend to lose their virulence—their ability to cause disease or death in the animals that host them—does not suggest that we should continue to allow factory farmers to house their animals in extreme confinement. 3

In recent years, awareness of the problem of antibiotic resistance has grown as bacterial diseases ranging from tuberculosis to gonorrhea have become increasingly costly or difficult—and in some cases, impossible—to treat by existing antibiotics ( United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013 ). Many people now understand the basic evolutionary principle that our increasing use (and misuse) of antibiotics fuels the evolution and dispersion of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. But fewer people are aware of the connection between the widespread use of antibiotics in livestock and the emergence of new patterns of antibiotic resistance in people.

Resistance to antibiotics arises in farm animals for the same reason it does in people. For billions of years, bacteria have been competing with each other and with plants, fungi and animals for scarce resources. Although most of these relationships have become mutualistic (beneficial to both parties) or commensal (neither harmful nor beneficial to both parties), some are parasitic relationships in which bacteria benefit at the expense of their host. When bacteria parasitize other organisms, natural selection rewards genetic mutations and immune responses that allow their victims to fight back. The arsenal that organisms have evolved to defend themselves against exploitation includes chemical weapons that destroy bacteria, and enzymes that disrupt DNA synthesis to prevent their replication. Bacteria have responded in kind by developing sophisticated defenses, including membranes that block antibiotic absorption ( Delcour, 2009 ), enzymes that degrade the efficacy of antibiotics ( Wright, 2005 ) and efflux pumps that eject antibiotics that have already been absorbed ( Kumar and Schweizer, 2005 ).

One might think that organisms with an adaptive immune system would eventually find a way to resist bacterial exploitation. To some extent this occurs, which explains the existence of endogenously produced antibiotics in many organisms, and natural immunity to the deleterious effects of some bacteria in others. But bacteria have responded with a creative way of evolving quickly. Horizontal gene transfer through conjugation and transduction allows bacteria to acquire genes from other bacteria, from phage viruses that parasitize them and occasionally from unwilling hosts. This allows bacteria to exploit mutations and gene sequences that arise in other organisms, which is one reason most scientists see no way of developing an antibiotic that permanently removes the threat of harmful bacteria. The challenge instead is to find specific antibiotics that kill harmful bacteria, undermine their virulence or prevent them from replicating long enough for an immune system to clear them from an animal’s body.

Nearly half of all antibiotics worldwide are given to farm animals to promote growth and prevent diseases in the crowded quarters in which livestock are increasingly kept, and in the US, an estimated three quarters of all antibiotics go directly to livestock on factory farms ( US GAO, 2011 ). For many years, public health experts have warned about the dangers of using large quantities of antibiotics in farm animals, especially when they are used at sub-therapeutic doses over long periods, as this creates an ideal environment for bacteria to evolve and spread resistance to antibiotics ( Gorbach, 2001 ). Antibiotics are administered at low levels because they can speed the growth of some animals by increasing nutrient absorption and preventing infections in cramped conditions ( McEwen and Fedorka-Cray, 2002 ). Using antibiotics for non-therapeutic purposes gives farmers a small but significant advantage over those who decline to use them, thus creating a negative sum game in which the rational profit-maximizing choice for each farmer gives no farmer any particular advantage over others, but leaves nearly all animals and people worse off.

Animals are worse off because of the cruel conditions in which they are kept. Farmers are no better off using antibiotics for non-therapeutic purposes if their competitors are also permitted to use them. People are worse off because antibiotic-resistant bacteria often find their way into human hosts.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria that arise on factory farms can spread to human hosts in a number of ways. First, those who work on farms and handle animals or raw meat can pick up antibiotic-resistant bacteria from animals who have it, and transfer it to other people; second, some bacteria survive in meat even after it is cooked, and are transferred directly to those who eat it; third, animal waste from factory farms that contains antibiotic-resistant bacteria is often used to fertilize crops, and some of these bacteria infect people who either work with crops or consume them; and finally, as bacteria do not respect physical or biological borders, some are transferred to animals and streams around factory farms ( McEwen and Fedorka-Cray, 2002 ; Casey et al. , 2013 ).

In a recent overview of antibiotic resistance on US farms, the Environmental Working Group found that among the most common meats bought in US supermarkets, 81% of turkey, 69% of pork chops, 55% of ground beef and 39% of chicken contained antibiotic-resistant bacteria ( Undurraga, 2013 ). By themselves, these numbers should not be alarming, as many bacteria have been carrying antibiotic-resistant genes for millions of years. It is possible for resistant bacteria to spread from animals to humans, or from humans to animals, so the misuse of antibiotics among people may be (at least partly) responsible for recent increases in resistance among bacteria that colonize farm animals ( Singer, 2003 ). However, recent increases suggest that factory farming practices are largely responsible for antibiotic resistance among farm animals, and thus in the meat that derives from them. While experts argue about whether most resistance comes from the misuse of antibiotics (such as their use for growth promotion), or whether it comes simply from the total quantity used, there is clear evidence that more use in people or animals creates more resistance in the bacteria that colonize them (Wegener, 2003a), and that reducing their use in farm animals in countries like Denmark has led to less resistance (Wegener, 2003b).

Although it is necessarily imprecise, we can measure the increased prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria over time. For example, between 2002 and 2011, multidrug-resistant Salmonella in raw chicken in the US has increased from ∼20 to 45%, and in turkey during the same period, it increased from ∼20 to 50% ( Undurraga, 2013 ). Human deaths from multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli derived from poultry are on the rise, and this is likely to be true for many pathogenic bacteria derived from farm animals ( Collignon et al. , 2013 ). Unfortunately, withdrawing antibiotics from animal feed does not work especially quickly. Just as it takes time for bacteria to acquire and spread genes that confer resistance, it often takes time for them to lose these genes when antibiotics are withdrawn ( Lenski, 1998 ). This is because although genes that confer resistance are costly to carry, the costs are often minimal and some genes can encode for the conditional expression of resistance, so that resistance genes are only phenotypically expressed in bacteria when antibiotics are present ( Andersson and Levin, 1999 ). And although the prevalence of resistance genes typically falls over time when antibiotics are withdrawn, it takes a long time to approach 0. So when antibiotic use is resumed, even a small number of bacteria with antibiotic-resistant genes can spread rapidly within and between different bacterial populations ( Salyers and Amabile-Cuevas, 1997 ). This suggests that it may take considerable time before removing antibiotics in agriculture restores their efficacy.

While most European countries have phased out the sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock over the past decade, the US and other countries have been slow to respond—presumably because there are significant upfront costs to changing the way farm animals are fed and housed, and because farmers with lobbying power fear losing market share to less scrupulous farmers in other countries who continue to use factory farming techniques that necessitate antibiotics.

Philosophers argue about whether animals have rights, and if so where these rights come from. These are important arguments to have, but any plausible theory will hold that sentient creatures capable of feeling pain and frustration have interests that deserve protection. The problem is that the interests of animals and people can come into conflict. People have an interest in advancing medical research and consuming cheap protein, and animals have an interest in being able to exercise their instincts, or at least being free from gratuitous pain and frustration. When interests collide, the differences between various theories of animal rights will come to the fore. However, we can start with the assumption that any theory of animal welfare worth taking seriously will include a pro tanto obligation not to inflict cruelty on animals without sufficient justification.

Some think that rationality or consciousness is a necessary condition for moral standing. 4 Others suggest that sentience is sufficient for moral standing, so that all sentient animals deserve to have their interests protected. The claim that animals are equal in the sense of having their interests equally considered does not imply that they should be treated the same. Instead, the idea is that having an interest means that moral agents should take these interests into account when deciding what to do. The fact that a pig has interests does not imply that it should be given the right to own a home or drive a car, but rather that we should minimize unnecessary pain and frustration ( Singer, 1976 ), perhaps by according it legal rights, and by requiring farmers to abide by certain animal welfare standards.

There is no characteristic, or reasonably small set of characteristics, that sets some creatures apart from others as meriting respectful treatment. That is the wrong way to think about the relation between an individual’s characteristics and how he or she may be treated. Instead we have an array of characteristics and an array of treatments, with each characteristic relevant to justifying some types of treatment but not others. If an individual possesses a particular characteristic (such as the ability to feel pain), then we may have a duty to treat it in a certain way (not to torture it), even if that same individual does not possess other characteristics (such as autonomy) that would mandate other sorts of treatment (refraining from coercion). [ Rachels, 2004 : 169].

Some find this view unsatisfying because it fails to draw clear lines or to list off a single set of obligations that we owe to all creatures with moral standing. But the fact that our moral universe is more complicated than we would like it to be does not imply that pluralism is false. Regardless of their differences, pluralists like Rachels and consequentialists like Singer agree that farm animals should be guaranteed minimally decent treatment, and that using them as mere means to our ends is wrong.

Farm animals, such as domestic cattle, horses, sheep, swine and goats that are used for traditional, production agricultural purposes are exempt from coverage by the AWA [emphasis added]. Traditional production agricultural purposes include use as food and fiber, for improvement of animal nutrition, breeding, management or production efficiency, or for improvement of the quality of food or fiber. 5

The federal government has delegated this responsibility to state governments, and many states have created animal welfare laws designed primarily to protect the interests of meat producers, and companion animals like dogs and cats, while excluding farm animals of similar or greater sentience from similar protection. Most states make it difficult to prosecute violations of animal welfare laws, and have relatively weak anti-cruelty provisions, which count a practice as unacceptably cruel only if it violates existing practices.

In a rapidly growing trend, as farming practices have become more and more industrialized and possibly less and less acceptable to the average person, the farmed-animal industry has persuaded the majority of state legislatures to actually amend their criminal anticruelty statutes to simply exempt all ‘accepted’, ‘customary’ or ‘normal’ farming practices ( Wolfson and Sullivan, 2004 : 212).

These provisions would be considered outrageous if applied to humans. Imagine a world in which some humans are considered the property of others, and the question is how the property owners should be allowed to treat their subjects. Some owners argue that it would be costly to improve the already awful standards, so we should only regard acts as cruel if they violate practices that already exist. While there are clear differences between human and non-human animals, defining morally acceptable practices by reference to whatever is currently done is morally perverse, and it precludes virtually any improvement in existing standards.

In recent years, some states have extended more protection to farm animals. For example, in 2008, California voters passed the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, which requires that ‘calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely.’ 6 While this is a slight step forward, it may also induce farmers to move to other states to continue their cruel but cost-saving practices. States like Nevada have made significant efforts to lure farmers out of California. 7

In contrast to the US (and much of the rest of the world), the EU has enacted strong protections for farm animals, and some individual states have passed laws that exceed these standards. For example, while the entire EU has banned the use of gestation crates for pigs and battery cages for hens, Germany has banned cages and crates for all farm animals. In Germany, farmers are required to raise hens in large barnlike aviaries, to allow other animals to move around with some degree of freedom, and to have straw or grass bedding, rather than sleeping on concrete floors surrounded by metal cages ( Wolfson and Sullivan, 2004 ).

An advantage of the EU’s approach to animal welfare is that it establishes minimally acceptable requirements that states and farmers are free to exceed. Therefore, it reduces the collective action problem in which farmers who would prefer to provide an enriched environment for animals fear that other farmers will exploit this concern by using cheaper techniques that externalize the moral costs of production.

It might be argued that if people are concerned about the treatment of animals, or the threat of zoonotic epidemics and antibiotic resistance, they should change their consumption rather than using the power of the state to force producers to alter their production practices. While I agree that people who understand the costs of factory farming have a moral obligation to change the way they shop for meat (for example, to look for labels like ‘certified humane’ and ‘free range’), and that some people who do not understand the moral issues surrounding factory farming are culpably ignorant and have an obligation to familiarize themselves with the issues, I do not think we should simply assume that consumers will voluntarily change their habits.

First, some ignorance of morally repugnant practices is, in the economic sense, rational. Because we have limited time, and information is costly to gather and process, consumers are often rationally ignorant about how their actions and consumption choices affect other people and animals. It is difficult, and arguably undesirable from a social standpoint, to expect consumers to know everything about how the products they consume are made. In fact, this is the point of prices in a well-functioning market: consumers and producers do not need to understand how everything is made to act in ways that tend to make others better off ( Hayek, 1945 ). But this is only true when prices capture most of the costs and benefits generated in producing pencils and paperclips, and other consumer goods. When milk and meat are produced in such a way that the costs to people and animals are not factored into the price of production, we are not necessarily better off, and our ignorance can lead us to make choices that we would not make if we were aware of the harm they impose on others.

Second, the core function of a liberal government is to produce public goods and prevent people from imposing unwarranted harms on each other. Giving people the discretion to consume factory-farmed foods allows them to inflict cruelty on animals, and to inflict significant health costs—even death—on other people. While the harm to animals is direct, the harm to other people is probabilistic and diffuse. Each person’s consumption of meat from factory-farmed animals merely contributes to a process that significantly elevates the risk of harm to other people in the form of antibiotic-resistant infections, or new viral infections that arise in birds and pigs.

Since some people will continue to consume factory-farmed products because it is cheaper than the alternatives, or because they are ignorant of the harms associated with these products, we cannot rely solely on social norms and moral outrage to drive farmers to alter their practices, nor can we rely on farmers to voluntarily phase out factory farming, as most farmers who act this way will be driven out of business by less altruistic competitors. 8 Instead, governments should require factory farmers to change the way they raise animals.

An obvious starting point is for the rest of the world to follow the EU in banning the use of battery cages for hens (which typically involve stuffing half a dozen hens into cages so crowded they can barely move) and gestation crates for veal and sows. By requiring farmers to use straw or other bedding for animals and increase roaming space and access to fresh air, we can marginally increase their comfort and decrease the stress that leads to compromised immunity. This alone would significantly increase welfare and reduce the risk of zoonotic viral infections. It would also reduce the need to administer antibiotics to prevent infections brought on by crowding.

The US should also follow Europe in banning the sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics to promote growth in farm animals ( Lessing, 2010 ), and should tax the use of antibiotics for therapeutic purposes, using the revenue to fund research into new vaccines and new antibiotics ( Vagsholm and Hojgard, 2010 ; Anomaly, 2013 ). One study suggests that when we tax pollution—in this case, the use of antibiotics that leads to antibiotic resistance—and use the revenue generated from the tax to address the source of pollution or compensate victims, public support for the tax increases ( Kallbekken et al. , 2011 ). It is also arguably more efficient and fair to tax practices that produce social costs rather than activities that are socially beneficial ( Anomaly, 2010 ).

At the very least, the US and other countries should prohibit the use of all medically important antibiotics when they are used simply for the purposes of growth promotion, or as a way of compensating for crowded and unhealthy conditions on factory farms. This is what the US Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act proposes, although even if it eventually passes, there is some worry that it may not go far enough because sometimes resistance to non-medically important antibiotics can also confer resistance to medically important ones. 9 Because we share a microbial environment, the overuse of antibiotics aimed at particular bacteria can increase the prevalence of antibiotic resistance among other bacteria that are likely to affect human health. Thus, instead of allowing farmers to decide on the kind and quantity of antibiotics to give to their animals, we might at least require veterinary oversight. Allowing farmers to administer antibiotics indiscriminately is tantamount to allowing them to decide how much harm they would like to inflict on other people.

One potential problem with banning antibiotics for growth promotion, and requiring veterinary supervision and prescription for administering antibiotics to sick animals (or as prophylaxis for potentially sick animals), is that farmers might pressure veterinarians to prescribe antibiotics when they are not really needed. More plausibly, in the absence of other requirements like increased roaming space, farmers might actually need antibiotics for sick animals—not because animals naturally get sick a lot, but because the conditions on factory farms ensure that animals will be infected with pathogenic bacteria. 10 This suggests the need to impose a complementary package of requirements on farmers that both improves animal welfare and decreases the transmission of disease.

It is impossible to say with precision what the total cost of imposing new requirements on farmers would be. If the cost was large, this could be a real loss for people with less income. But the argument from cost is not decisive.

Evidence from Europe indicates that the cost of complying with more stringent rules may not be as high as farmers anticipate. For example, in Denmark, the extra cost so far of implementing standards that increase animal welfare and decrease antibiotic use is estimated at $1 per pig ( Wegener, 2003b : 448). It is likely that forcing farmers in the US and China to switch from intensive methods would impose greater costs, as both countries currently use much more confinement and antibiotics than Denmark ever did. The problem with estimating the cost of changing methods is that organizations representing animal welfare advocates and factory farmers give different estimates, and it is too early to know precisely how new provisions in Europe and California will impact prices, as they are just beginning to come into effect.

Another reason to think the argument from cost is not decisive is that although meat has been a cheap and sometimes necessary source of high-value protein for humans throughout much of our history, a nutritionally adequate diet does not require the consumption of meat, and certainly does not require the amount of meat consumed by people living in Japan or the US ( Smil, 2013 ).

Finally, when the relative price of meat increases, markets will reward research into synthetically created meat, derived from stem cells, which may eventually be healthier and cheaper than ‘naturally’ created meat. 11

The argument that phasing out factory farming would unfairly harm the poor by increasing the cost of meat is not a sufficient reason for failing to act. Many poor people around the world would still be able to consume humanely raised animal products, and people in destitute poverty may have to turn to grains and legumes for most of their protein (as they already do). But being forced by circumstance to consume less meat than one would like does not give people the right to consume or produce food in a way that inflicts unwarranted harm on other people or animals.

1. According to the EPA, a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) is a farm in which ‘animals are kept and raised in confined situations. CAFOs congregate animals, feed, manure and urine, dead animals and production operations on a small land area. Feed is brought to the animals rather than the animals grazing or otherwise seeking feed in pastures, fields or on rangeland.’ http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=7 [accessed 10 October 2013].

2. For a more thorough description of conditions on factory farms, see Singer and Mason, The Way We Eat ( 2006 ), the HBO documentary, Death on a Factory Farm (2009), and Wolfson and Sullivan, ‘Foxes in the Henhouse’ ( 2004 ).

3. My point here is more about the degree of animal confinement, or stocking density, rather than the size of the farming operation. It may be that larger animal farms that enclose the animals from contact with wildlife are safer, and make disease surveillance more cost-effective, than backyard chicken or pig farms.

4. Immanuel Kant is generally thought to have held this view, although he did acknowledge indirect duties toward non-rational animals.

5. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/policy.php?policy=17 [accessed 10 January 2014].

6. http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_2,_Standards_for_Confining_Farm_Animals_%282008%29 [accessed 10 January 2014].

7. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB126334191947626965 . Wall Street Journal [accessed 26 November 2013].

8. The biggest flaw in current US policy is that it sets recommendations rather than binding requirements for farmers to limit their use of antibiotics, and to alter their practices to increase animal health ( United States Government Accountability Office, 2011 ).

9. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr1150 [accessed 10 January 2014].

10. There is some evidence that in Denmark, where non-therapeutic antibiotics were banned in 2000, farmers have steadily increased the use of antibiotics for therapeutic purposes, although net use is still down significantly ( United States Government Accountability Office, 2011 : 40). This problem could be minimized by requiring veterinary prescription, and by imposing modest taxes or fees on the use of antimicrobials. If the taxes were too high, this might lead to an increase in easily preventable animal suffering. But even a modest tax could deter superfluous use, force farmers to keep animals in better conditions and raise revenue for research into alternatives to existing practices, including the development of new kinds or classes of antibiotics.

11. The latest version of synthetic meat is being bankrolled by Google co-founder Sergey Brin: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2384715/At-tastes-meat–Worlds-test-tube-artificial-beef-Googleburger-gets-GOOD-review-eaten-time.html [accessed 21 September 2013].

Google Scholar

Google Preview

Email alerts

Citing articles via.

• Recommend to your Library

Affiliations

• Online ISSN 1754-9981
• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Institutional account management
• Rights and permissions
• Get help with access
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

33 Main Pros & Cons Of Factory Farming

“ I’ve always had issues with factory farming. That was always something that bothered me.”

Paul Wesley, Actor

Advantages & Disadvantages of Factory Farming

Factory farming (also often referred to as industrial livestock production or intensive animal farming) can be defined as raising farm animals in a way to maximize profits.

In this process, it often doesn’t matter how animals are treated and under which circumstances they have to grow up as long as the profits are high.

Animal rights activists often claim that factory farming should be abandoned since animals would suffer quite a lot from the adverse conditions in those farms.

In this article, the pros and cons of factory farming are examined.

Audio Lesson

Advantages of factory farming, cheap meat production, rather uncomplicated for farmers, high profits, space optimization, processes around factory farming are optimized, ensures large variety of meat products, fast meat production, high level of automation, may strengthen the local economy, meat supply for large numbers of people, almost no geographic limitations, meat production all year long.

One major advantage of factory farming is that it enables us to produce large amounts of quite cheap meat.

When you are at the grocery store next time, take a look at the price of chicken legs.

You will likely see that one pound of chicken will be even less expensive than a pound of tomatoes.

That’s nuts! We are talking about an animal life here which is sold cheaper than crops from a plant.

This comparison shows how cheap meat really is in many parts of our Western world due to factory farming.

Even though this might be great for consumers, it can still be regarded as quite problematic regarding ethical aspects.

Factory farming is also quite uncomplicated for farmers since most processes are standardized and also the maximum number of animals that are allowed is also determined by the state or national law.

Thus, once farmers have set up their factory farming processes, they do not have to take too many adjustment efforts anymore.

Moreover, it is also quite easy to keep animals healthy since large amounts of antibiotics are used in those factory farms.

Even though this use of antibiotics can be extremely dangerous to human health, it is quite convenient for farmers since they can solve almost any animal health problems through the use of those antibiotics.

Factory farming also often involves high profits for farmers. Even though they only earn a few cents per animal, due to the huge amount of meats they sell to grocery stores, factory farmers are still able to earn high profits every year.

The bigger the farm, the more animals can be raised and the higher the profits in the long run.

Especially in regions where there is a shortage of meat producers, profits can be huge since the profit margin for factory farmers will be higher due to less competition.

Through factory farming, also the space for raising cattle and other animals is used in a quite efficient manner.

Since animals are penned up and each animal only has quite limited space, a high number of animals can be raised.

Thus, from an efficiency standpoint, factory farming has an important edge over organic farming since many more animals can be raised on a given area of land.

Since factory farming has been around for quite a while now, the processes around factory farming have been optimized as well over time.

This not only includes the processes inside the farm, but also the logistics around it.

For instance, when animals reached their target weight, machines will recognize that and the system will inform the farmer that it is time to bring those animals to the slaughterhouse.

The slaughter will no when he has to pick up those animals and will free his capacities in order to be able to process them in time.

After the slaughter finished his work, the meat will end up in our grocery stores quite fast.

Thus, all steps around meat production have been optimized through factory farming, which makes it not only a cheap and efficient form of meat production, it also ensures that the meat will end up in our supermarkets quite fast and therefore ensures the meat supply for a great number of people.

Since many different animals can be raised in factory farms, a large variety of different meat products can be ensured for the customer.

Although some farms may only specialize in raising one animal race, there will likely be many factory farms around and the meat supply with all kinds of meat will be ensured in most regions.

This not only gives the consumer high levels of freedom of choice regarding what kind of meat he or she wants to have, but it also increases the level of competition and consumer prices for meat may also drop due to that.

Another upside of factory farming is that the production of meat is a quite fast process.

Through the use of specific animal food that contains large amounts of proteins and other substances that foster growth, animals on those farms can be raised at a fast pace.

The life expectancy of those animals will be much lower compared to animals from organic food farms since they grow much faster and will much sooner reach their optimal weight.

Big factory farms have also optimized and automated their processes.

It is quite common that most work is done with the help of machines.

Also the monitoring is carried out mainly by robots that are able to detect all kinds of diseases and also determine when it is time to bring animals to the slaughterhouse.

Therefore, only a quite limited number of workers are needed and especially for jobs that are quite unpleasant, machines could substitute workers, which may benefit both the owner and the staff of those factory farms.

In some regions of our planet, factory farming might also be quite an important source of income for the local population.

Especially in structurally weak areas of our planet, some farmers may rely on factory farming as their single source of income and also the local population may be dependent on the meat from those farms.

Thus, factory farming may also be an important food source for many people, especially in the poor parts of our planet.

Our nowadays society urgently relies on meat as a major food source.

While meat was quite a scarce good and was quite expensive a century ago, it is no considered to be a mass good and nothing special anymore.

Therefore, especially in our Western world, many people consume large amounts of meat every day.

Thus, billions of people are now dependent on meat as a major food source and those people may not be willing to switch to vegetarian diets anymore.

In order to meet the growing demand for meat on a global scale, factory farming is crucial since it is the only way to produce such large amounts of meat on a daily basis.

Big farms can be built in almost all parts of our planet.

Since those farms are often closed and protected against all kinds of weather extremes, they are rather independent of outside conditions.

This makes it quite easy to construct those farms in many different locations of our planet.

However, it has still to be assured that there is also appropriate infrastructure around those farms in order to process large amounts of meat in time in an efficient manner.

Since factory farming is quite independent of outside conditions and most animals will never have the opportunity to get outside the farm, large amounts of meat can be produced all year long.

This ensures a big variety of meat products for consumers.

For instance, it doesn’t matter if you go to a grocery shop in summer or in winter.

You will find your favorite kind of meat all year long, no matter if there is hot weather or heavy snow outside.

Disadvantages of Factory Farming

Animals are treated quite poorly, animals might bully each other, low-quality meat, animals are raised to unnatural sizes, fast family separation, some animals are killed solely due to their gender, unnatural form of animal raising, genetic engineering might be used for factory farming, fraction of fat in the meat is quite high, meat may be contaminated with antibiotics, high level of water consumption, soil pollution, groundwater pollution, global warming, spread of diseases, human health issues, unpleasant smell, encourages higher level of meat consumption, job losses through automation, small farmers may go out of business, can contribute to global hunger.

Although it has some advantages, there are also many issues related to factory farming.

One important problem of factory farming is that animals are treated quite poorly.

They often have insufficient space and are penned up quite close to each other.

This leads to a state in which many animals suffer from psychological problems since it is in their nature to move in order to stay healthy.

If they are not able to move sufficiently, chances are that those animals will suffer a lot during their stay in those factory farms.

Moreover, since most of the processes are regulated by machines, it will not be possible to take care of single injured animals.

Those animals will often be ignored and will suffer from significant pain during their lives.

Due to the confined space in factory farming, animals may also start to bully each other.

It can often be observed that pigs bite each other or that chickens may even pick on each other until they bleed or even die.

This can be also seen in some videos from animal rights activists who secretly filmed the adverse conditions in those farms.

Thus, due to the confined space and the unnatural living conditions of animals in factory farms, they will also bully and hurt each other on a regular basis.

Also the meat from factory farms often is of quite low quality.

Since animals are raised in order to maximize their weight in a minimum period of time, the meat will consist of plenty of water and will not be that tasty compared to meat that comes from organic farms.

Meat producers often try to hide the low quality of their meat by marinating the meat with plenty of spices and sauces.

By doing so, the true flavor of the meat can be covered and people may not recognize the low meat quality anymore.

Due to the concentrated feed and confined space, animals will be raised quite quickly.

These animals are often raised to unnatural sizes in order to maximize their weight and to maximize profits.

However, it should be clear that an unnatural growth of animals often also implies lower quality meat since the meat itself often contains much more water and fat.

Another problem with factory farming is that animal families are separated just after a few days.

While on organic farms, animal families can often stay together for many days or even weeks after the mother has given birth, factory farming implies the separation of animal families after a quite short period of time in order to maximize profits.

This may be regarded to be quite cruel and also unnatural since the mother and her calves will stay together in nature much longer compared to the processes in factory farming.

Another big issue with factory farming is that many lives are ended right after birth has taken place due to the fact that those animals have the wrong gender.

For instance, in the chicken industry, millions of male chickens are shredded every day since they are not useful for egg production.

The killing of animals solely due to their gender can be regarded to be quite unethical and animal rights activists often claim that this should be forbidden by law.

The conditions inside factory farms are quite unnatural.

Animals do not have enough space to move and to grow in a physically and mentally healthy manner.

They may also bully each other since the unnatural raising conditions may lead to plenty of aggression.

Consumers have to decide whether they want to support those unnatural conditions or not.

In my opinion, we should raise our animals as natural as possible and factory farming is definitely not an environment that meets those conditions.

In order to maximize profits, the fast growth of animals is crucial in the process of factory farming.

However, apart from using concentrated feet, genetics are also often altered in order to speed up growth even further.

This kind of genetic engineering is often criticized by opponents of factory farming since we do not know how all this will turn out in the long run.

Genetic engineering has some advantages, yet it also implies serious dangers .

Thus, it is unclear whether genetic engineering should be used in factory farming, also from an ethical standpoint.

Since animals are raised with concentrated feed and also have hardly any space to move, the fraction of fat that is contained in meat from factory farming is usually much higher compared to the meat from organic farms.

This may contribute to the obesity problem and may also lead to serious health issues related to that.

Another downside of factory farming is that large amounts of antibiotics are used in order to keep the vast number of animals healthy.

However, the use of those antibiotics also implies serious issues.

For instance, if we consume meat from those animals, we may become resistant to certain kinds of antibiotics.

This is problematic since antibiotics are often used to treat diseases.

These antibiotics may no longer work to treat diseases due to the developed resistance and many people might die in the long run due to antibiotic resistance caused by meat from factory farming.

Industrial farming also implies the use of large amounts of water. This may be especially problematic in regions where there is already a lack of water.

Since water will become a quite precious resource in the future due to global warming, there might be conflicts between factory farmers and the local population and in extreme cases, the production of meat through factory farming may even lead to the death of many locals, especially in the poor parts of our planet.

Factory farming also implies significant soil pollution.

Since animals in those farms need large amounts of feed, large amounts of crops have to be produced on a daily basis.

In order to meet this supply of feed, plenty of chemical fertilizer has to be used.

However, the use of excessive fertilizer also hurts the soil. In the long run, whole fields may become unsuitable for farming since the soil may be irreversibly damaged through this fertilizer use.

Thus, factory farming may also be not sustainable in the long run since it implies excessive soil pollution .

Due to the excessive use of fertilizers and other harmful substances in the factory farming production chain, our groundwater may also become significantly polluted over time.

Sooner or later, the contaminants in the soil will be washed into our groundwater due to rain.

Especially in regions that already suffer from a lack of clean water, factory farming may lead to a state of serious water shortage, which may lead to plenty of problems for locals who may no longer be able to afford clean water for daily use.

Another issue of factory farming is that it also contributes to global warming .

The production of meat implies the emission of harmful greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.

Since a high number of animals are raised on each farm, the greenhouse gas emissions implied by industrial meat production are enormous.

Therefore, if we want to slow down global warming, we also have to reduce factory farming practices, which also implies a change of our consumption behavior towards a diet that consists of more vegetables and fruits and of less meat.

Since animals in factory farming are penned up quite close to each other, also diseases can easily spread from one animal to another.

Even though large amounts of antibiotics are used to keep diseases inside factory farms under control, there might still be the risk that some animals that are infected with diseases may end up in our grocery stores.

If we consume meat from those animals, especially if the meat is still medium or raw, those diseases may also infect us humans and may lead to serious epidemics or even pandemics.

In general, factory farming can be regarded as a health risk for humanity as a whole.

Due to the fact that plenty of antibiotics are used, chances are that humans become antibiotic-resistant in the near future.

This may lead to serious treatment issues if antibiotics are no longer working for medical purposes anymore.

Moreover, penning up animals can also lead to the development of serious diseases, which may infect humans sooner or later.

Thus, the health risks related to factory farming may be quite serious and consumers should be aware of that when it comes to buying decisions regarding their favorite meat.

Since a high number of animals is raised on a pretty confined space, factory farms are also often responsible for serious smell.

People living close to those farms often complain about the odor nuisance.

Thus, the quality of life may be vastly decreased for people living close to those factory farms and also the property prices may be quite low due to that.

Due to the cheap price of meat that comes from factory farming, people will also have the incentive to consume excessive amounts of meat.

However, this should not be the goal at all.

We all have to consume less meat in order to slow down global warming and also to be able to feed our growing world population.

Thus, cheap meat prices give people a wrong incentive for excessive meat consumption.

Instead, prices for meat should increase rather than decrease so that people become more aware of the problems that are associated with excessive meat production.

Therefore, factory farming may also incentivize people to consume excessive amounts of meat due to cheap prices, which may lead to all kinds of serious environmental problems in the long run.

Even though the automation of processes can be considered to be a good thing since it takes away unpleasant tasks from workers, it may also lead to job losses since many tasks can be carried out by machines and workers may not be needed anymore.

Thus, for some people who work in the meat production business, factory farming and the increasing level of automation related to it may cause the loss of their jobs.

Factory farming is also a big danger for small meat production businesses.

For instance, imagine you operate a small farm and produce high-quality meat.

One day, a big factory farm opens in your region and produces meat much cheaper.

Chances are that the big grocery stores may prefer the cheap meat since they also want to offer cheap meat to the end consumer.

If this is the case, you might no longer be able to compete and may go out of business sooner or later.

Thus, many small farmers may also be forced to give up their business due to the expansion of factory farming.

Our excessive meat demand and the related need for factory farming may also be a serious cause for global hunger .

Since for the production of every calory of meat, multiple calories of plants have to be used, we may no longer be able to feed our growing world population.

Meat production and consumption can be regarded to be quite inefficient since we could feed more people by switching to a diet that relies on vegetables and fruits instead.

Top 10 Factory Farming Pros & Cons – Summary List

Factory farming is quite important to provide us with large amounts of meat every day.

Due to the growing demand for meat, it is the only way to supply those amounts of meat to the end consumer.

However, factory farming also implies many serious problems.

Thus, every one of us should consider reducing their meat consumption so that factory farming might no longer be needed in the future.

By doing so, every one of us could make his or her contribution to protect our animals from adverse living conditions and we could also improve our ecological footprint at the same time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensive_animal_farming

https://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/

https://80000hours.org/problem-profiles/factory-farming/

About the author

My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people of all ages about our environmental problems and how everyone can make a contribution to mitigate these issues.

As I went to university and got my Master’s degree in Economics, I did plenty of research in the field of Development Economics.

After finishing university, I traveled around the world. From this time on, I wanted to make a contribution to ensure a livable future for the next generations in every part of our beautiful planet.

Wanna make a contribution to save our environment? Share it!

Terms & Privacy Policy

Affiliate Disclosure

As an associate, I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon or other programs.

Please note that all the information I provide on this website is to my best knowledge. However, I will not take any responsibility for incorrect information and will not be liable for any negative consequences that might occur due to the reliance on this information.

Pin It on Pinterest

85 Farming Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best farming topic ideas & essay examples, 👍 good essay topics on farming, 💡 most interesting farming topics to write about.

• Farm-to-Table Supply Chains for Supermarkets A potential risk is that small farms may be unable to provide a steady supply of the necessary magnitude or adhere to the same standards of quality.
• The Farmers’ Market Analysis For the farmers the benefit lies in the cost saving of the production transportation and in the ability of the wholesale with the large grocery companies. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Natureview Farm’s Strategic Plans The chief executive officer of Natureview analyzed the market stance and tasked his team to develop strategic plan to ensure that the revenue growth increase by over 50% at the end of the year 2001.
• Natureview Farm: Problem Case It is in this regard that Wagner advised the management to increase the firm’s revenues from $13 million to $20 million before the end of 2001.
• Dairy Meal as an Important Concentrate in Dairy Cow Farming The number of times that the dairy meal is fed to cows depends on the management regime of the cow. The dairy meal is one of the feeds that guarantee better productivity to the farmer.
• Fish Farming Impacts on the Environment To begin with, according to Abel and Robert, fish farming has been generalized to have adverse effects on the environment, which ranges from the obliteration of the coastal habitats which are sensitive in the environment, […]
• Agriculture and Farming in Abu Dhabi Many researches have been done on soil taxonomy in the UAE, with the invention of a non-absorbent type of soil that was one of the breakthroughs that have greatly influenced agriculture in Abu Dhabi.
• The Process of Raising Factory Farm Chickens The lives of the chickens that are raised in the factory farm begin at the hatching machines. As such, the welfare of the chickens is secondary to profitability.
• The Entomo Farms Company’s Analysis Such an approach contributes to improved control over the company’s development and ensures that Entomo can incorporate customers’ feedback for enhancement.
• Rearing of Cattle: Deprecating the Beef Farming It is for this reason that the whole world has to pose as ask the question “What are the causes of global warming?” The answer is simple, climate change and resultant global warming has to […]
• Farmer Definition and Culture The era of information the has led, to the creation of the particular image of success, and mass media created an image of a successful and stylish businessman.
• Food and Farming: Urban Farming Benefits the Local Economy Urban farming and foraging play essential roles not only in the lives of communities but in the ecosystems as well. Such responsive attitudes allow people to protect the environment and create more opportunities for local […]
• Decline in the Honeybee Population and Farmers in the United States The analysis of farming in the country shows that the added revenue to crop production because of the pollinators’ activity is about $18 billion. Statistics evidence the topicality of the problem and the necessity to […]
• The Ethics of Farm Animal Biotechnology From an Anthropological Perspective Biotechnology is one of the most important branches of science, the results of which are used in many areas. The use of animals in the context of biotechnology is a daily routine for researchers.
• “The Biggest Little Farm” Movie Critique The film is a documentary and shows the real life and the desire of the husband and wife to create their wonderful farm where they can grow vegetables and fruits, as well as have different […]
• Prices at Farmers Markets vs. Grocery Stores When evaluating the items ordered at grocery retail locations to those acquired at local traders’ marketplaces, it is revealed that the commodities purchased at hypermarkets are more reliable and outstanding in form and structure.
• Smart Farms Hiring People with Disabilities Although Smart Farms is a non-profit organization and benefits from donations, the workers play their role in income generation by working on the farms and sales.
• Marketing of Indoor Farming in the UAE Adding to that, the delivery service, health benefits, and availability of Local Leaves products can be advertised on all social media platforms to help the company get the recognition it needs in a short period […]
• Demand for Indoor Farming Services in the UAE For any business, it is essential to be sure of the readiness of customers to buy the product. The likelihood of buying the service may be defined by the data, indicating the popularity of the […]
• Sunrise Farm’s Research of Its Customers Needs In this regard, the exploratory mixed methods approach was chosen to study the possibilities of diversifying the activities of Sunrise Farm. In particular, a semi-structured approach to the interviews was chosen that is suitable for […]
• Role of Technology in the Future of Farming The role technology has to play in farming in the future needs to be in great as it has been in the transportation sector in the past.
• Offshore Wind Farms (OWFs) and Their Development The process involves the establishment of the limiting factors like site boundary, the maximum number of facilities to be installed, identification of dwellings that rotor blade shadows may affect, and a minimum spacing of the […]
• Cato’s “On Farming”, a Translated Part of Famous Treatise “De Agri Cultura” Review From this point of view, Cato’s recommendations are ideal: the location of the willow tree immediately after the vineyard and the garden is not accidental, since in this passage a scale of the main and […]
• Farm-to-Table Food: Dissemination Portfolio Modern American families try to adhere to the principles of Healthy People 2020 with its promotion of the so-called farm-to-table food and farm-to-school programs.
• Law: Legislation Regarding Marijuana Farming To evaluate the applicability of the proposed marijuana farming bill, the current marihuana production legislation needs to be reviewed, and the changes in social norms regarding criminal behavior are to be analyzed.
• Artificial Intelligence in Drone Technology for Farming Automated drones fitted with spraying features are used in the monitoring of agricultural processes and crops to schedule tasks and expeditiously address the observed issues throughout plant life.
• Problems Facing American Farmer Workers The owners of farms will continue to exploit these people since they are not afraid of any law that is in place and working as it should to protect this group of people.
• Food Processing and Farming Methods Afoakwa, Budu, and Merson note that nutrient loss in canned food depends on the amount of heat that is applied during the pre-treatment step, the type of tin, and the type of nutrients in the […]
• Face Recognition in Farming: The Multi-UAV Framework Indeed, the consumer wants a delicious and quality meat product, and it is known that the absence of stress in the life of an animal directly affects the structure of the meat.
• Using IoT Low-Cost Sensors for Smallholder Farms It is, therefore, essential for the users and IoT systems and devices developers to collectively ensure that the internet and the users of such components are not exposed.
• Fish Farming in the United States In the present day, the potential of the country’s fish farming is substantively limited by national, state, local, or tribal policies and opposition by national and local interest groups. Nevertheless, the supporters’ recent efforts and […]
• Artificial Intelligence in Smart Farming Owing to the development of the smart farming concept and precision agriculture, farmers all over the world gained a chance to implement digital tech to their daily operations and utilize AI to support some of […]
• Building a Sky Garden: Vertical Farming System Business Plan It helps farmers to appreciate the benefits of valuing more the depth of land fertility than the size of land holdings.
• United States History in 1864-1900 Years: Industrialization, Urbanization, and the Commercialization of Farming The Western frontier advanced in the years 1864 and 1900 by the establishment of democracy in America, industrialization, urbanization and the commercialization of farming.
• Competitive Market: Farm Income and Costs Connecting the farms in the US to the concept of the perfectly competitive market, the definition and the characteristics of such a market should be outlined.
• Agro-Food Geographies: Food, Nature, Farmers and Agency Therefore, the important thing in food and nature depends on the geographies of food and the beneficially is the subject, Currently, agro-food study is affected continuously by the current improvements in the agro-food geographies, especially […]
• Standards for Confining Farm Animals One major concern that has been brought to the attention of animal farmers, in general, is the issue of whether or not it is appropriate to confine all or certain farm animals.
• Linking Small-Scale Farmers to Input-Output Markets Output markets refer to the markets that are used by the farmers or businessmen to market their products while the input market is used by the same group to access products that are to be […]
• How to Reduce Carbon Footprint by Using Solar Farms In fact the living beings on the earth use solar energy in many ways already, but now scientists and technologists have started thinking about the ways and means which could help us in tapping the […]
• Organic Farming and Agriculture Those combinations that are selected will constitute the best part of the genetic make-up of subsequent generations, resulting in the development of ecotypes adapted to local ecological conditions. On the whole, yield performance of organic […]
• Farmers Exchange Bank’s Strategic Human Resources Every employee of the bank is bounded to maintain the secrecy of the customers. This principle of the bank has greatly contributed to the success of the firm and increased the profitability of the business.
• Why the Best Soil in the Province of BC Is Not Used for Farming The opportunity cost for farming is, therefore, lower than the opportunity cost for the warehouses/airports. So you have got no opportunity cost for this because this is the best option for your building and it […]
• Economics in the Hog Farming Industry China and the United States are the largest producers of pork products from the hog farming industry. This is due to the fact that the United States is a major exporter of pork products.
• Fish Friendly Farming Case FFF viewed farmers as people with a vast amount of knowledge about the land and agricultural practices and those who were interested in supporting their lands fertile and farming productively. The case of FFF and […]
• New Zealand Farming Industry. Organization Theory and Design One of the most critical issues that the Guy fielding farm is facing is the organizational structure of the company. The gathering of 2009 and Macdonald’s fear that he will be left out, heated the […]
• Farming and Regulations in California The American government made multiple attempts to control the flow of immigrants to the county and the degree of their involvement in work in the agricultural industry.
• Smart Farming and Sustainable Agriculture Smart farming allows for a wide range of options, from robotization and satellite imagery to the Internet of Things and the blockchain technology that increases the efficiency of crop cultivation by optimizing the use of […]
• 3rd World Farmer: Interactive Resources An educator’s main task is to explain the main causes of the appearance of these problems and the background that preconditions the formation of a particular environment.
• The Farm Labor Organizing Committee Movement Chapter 3 of the book by Barger, Reza, and Velasquez is dedicated to the history of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee and the movement associated with this labor union and the promotion of immigrant farmworkers’ […]
• Sprouts Farmers Market Company’s Entry to Canada The proportion of older people in Canada is also increasing thanks to improved living standards and access to affordable health care.
• Farmers and Their Role in the American Agriculture The recent changes in the world’s largest countries’ economies can be a good illustration of the exclusive role of agriculture which can enable a state to play an important role in the world.
• Farmer’s Market as a Food Event: Fresh and Straight From the Farm If I were to describe the entire scene an apt description would be to call it a scene of ordered chaos in that despite the sheer amount of people crisscrossing in front of me there […]
• Moral Status of Animals at Factory Farming Stewart is concerned about the extent to which human beings are willing to mechanize animal farming to meet their needs. As human beings, we are faced with moral dilemmas of whether to compromise an animal’s […]
• Kimango Farms Environmental Factors In 2015, the government established the Tanzania Agriculture Development Bank which is focused on assisting in developing the agricultural sector and assisting in the implementation of policies.
• Kimango Farm Enterprises: Business Plan Cultural values in a country guides business operations as well as it is important to be sensitive and understanding of these norms and attitudes.
• Farmers Views: Should Organic Food Be Promoted From? Organic food is grown and produced using natural methods, and it is believed that such products are safer and more nutritious than conventionally processed ones due to the rejection of the use of any artificial […]
• Kimango Farm Enterprises: Business Analysis of Tanzania The primary motivation and purpose of the company is to grow healthy and organic foods through sustainable farming techniques and to offer the world a piece of Tanzania.
• Impact of Antibiotics on Farm Animals One of the primary reasons for this condition in people is the use of antibiotics in farming. However, the use of antibiotics is associated with the occurrence of antibiotic resistance in people.
• Pre-Industrial Societies and Farming Patricia Crone has created a work where she discusses the trends and elements of pre-industrial societies in the world, particularly those that existed in the West. Farming was a key element in the pre-industrial era […]
• Susan Ferriss: United Farm Workers in “The Fight in the Fields” The focus of the reading is on the identity of Chavez and the evolution of the United Farm Workers, which is also the major event in the book.
• The Impact of Factory Farming The fish population is also subject to this problem, as the long-term overcrowding may lead to the higher competition for food and result in stress and decline of the immune defense, which can cause the […]
• Bernard Matthews’ Farm Marketing Issues Valuable prizes and practical involvement should elicit in the customers the necessity to purchase Bernard Matthews’ products and actively participate in the life of the brand. Nonetheless, the key changes should be performed in the […]
• Farm, Companion, Laboratory Animals in Canada This paper will give facts on four categories of animals kept in Canada; the farm animals, animals used in experiments, animals used as companions to people and those used in entertainment. The category of wild […]
• Native Americans’ History, Farming, Agriculture Nowadays, the task of primary importance is to educate the society and convey the idea that the rich past of the American Indians should be remembered.
• Farm Security Administration and New York Photo League The disagreement regarding the focus of the Film and Photo league served as the basis for the emergence of The Photo League in 1936.
• Tasty Farms’ Changes and Communication Networks Following all the steps of effective change management models is crucial in ensuring that available resources are properly aligned to meet the objectives of change. Due to the resistance from the employees, the process of […]
• Laying Hens Farm: Peach Farm and Olive Farm In the Peach Farm, the chain feeders are placed at a lower position than the average height of the hens. Therefore, if the perch space is sufficient, as in the Olive Farm, the hens are […]
• Managing Farm Dams to Support Waterbird Breeding The frequent fires and forest clearance in these areas have led to extensive migration of different species of birds. For example, they should take some of the endangered birds and breed them separately in a […]
• Agriculture Improvement: The US Farm Bill Nadine Lehrer, who has been studying the bill, asserts, “The bill was developed in the wake of 1930’s farm crisis to bring farm incomes up to the par with the required minimum incomes”.
• The US Farm Bills and Policy Reforms This law is very good in that it considers the health of the nation, the bill will a continuation of the 2002 Farm Bill.
• What Kind of Energy Can Be Produced from Corn in Farms Over the years, corn has been used to produce alcohol in the form of ethanol, a major raw material for the production of energy.
• Organic Farming for Sustainable Food Production The article is titled “Will Organic Agriculture Feed the World,” and it provides its readers with an overview of the statistics that apply to the sustainability of organic farming.
• Farming and Ranch Management Considering the varied nature of the job of a Farm or Ranch Manager, the college offers “the Farm and Ranch Management Degree and the Agriculture Management Certificate”.
• Farming Effects on Golden Sun Moth Agriculture has led to the destruction of the natural habitat of the moth. Farming practices have led to the dramatic reduction of the grass needed for the survival of this moth.
• Genetically Modified Organisms in Farming Farming is one of the backbones of the US economy given the fact the country is the leading exporter of various agricultural products.
• The Near-Shore Wind Farm Controversy Case The developers and the investors made the decision to persuade the residents to accept their position regarding the importance of the wind turbines.
• Farm Standard Council Case: Cost Allocation Some costs cannot be classified as either fixed or variable costs and yet they have to be allocated somewhere in the process of allocating costs to different cost centers.
• Greater Gabbard Wind Farm Mega Project The project management unit must understand the needs of all the stakeholders identified in the first stage, and how these needs are aligned to the needs of the project.
• Large-Scale Organic Farming and Food Supply The issue of environmental sustainability comes up due to the emerging ways of farming like the great shift of the farmers to the use of organic methods of farming.
• Compensation System of State Farm Insurance With the philosophy, State Farm should provide insurance brands to students and young adults falling in this age gap in order to detach them from other insurance and make them independent.
• Irrigation Systems in Farming Because of the changing climate, and the region landscape, most farmers use irrigation schemes to support their practices of subsistence farming.
• Swidden Agriculture: Shift Farming Although this farming technique has been efficient in the past, it has proved to be unsustainable with the current increase in the global population.
• Small Scale Farm-Household System In general, a farm household system is comprised of the various parameters that govern the operation and sustainability of the system.
• Farming and Animal Consumption In essence, debate on farming methods and animal consumption has been a challenge not only to farmers but also to the society. It is, therefore, necessary to consider that numerous changes would be required to […]
• Large-Scale Shift to Organic Farming to Increase World Food Supply However, the acceptance of non-organic farming as the solution to the world’s food problem is not unanimous and there has emerged a vocal group advocating for the use of organic farming.
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 29). 85 Farming Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/farming-essay-topics/

"85 Farming Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." IvyPanda , 29 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/farming-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '85 Farming Essay Topic Ideas & Examples'. 29 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. "85 Farming Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/farming-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "85 Farming Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/farming-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "85 Farming Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/farming-essay-topics/.

• Animal Rights Research Ideas
• Biodiversity Research Topics
• Cruelty to Animals Titles
• Agriculture Essay Ideas
• Business Structure Titles
• Animal Farm Research Topics
• Corn Paper Topics
• Animal Abuse Research Topics
• Deforestation Research Ideas
• Environment Research Topics
• Industrial Revolution Research Ideas
• Wind Energy Essay Topics
• Technology Essay Ideas
• Wildlife Ideas

We think you are in , which has its distinct version of the website.

• Our history
• Impact report
• Work with us
• Investigations
• Corporate outreach
• Legal advocacy
• Get involved
• Take action
• Legacy giving
• Your portal
• Our magazine
• Media center

Everything You Need to Know About Factory Farming

Factory farms were created based on the assumption that the ‘factory’ concept could be applied to animal farming.

This approach comes at the expense of animals, who are treated as commodities. To house such a large number of animals, these farms intensively confine them to small spaces such as cages or crates. They are unable to carry their natural behaviors inside the tiny pens. Most spend their lives inside a shed–never to feel the sunlight or breathe fresh air.

This is the reality for farmed animals used for meat, dairy and eggs.

Factory Farming in the US: Living Conditions

Factory farmed chickens & hens, factory farmed cows , factory farmed pigs.

• Factory Farmed Fish

Factory Farming in the US: Regulations

• How You Can Help

The animals in the US who are currently factory–farmed include cows, pigs, chickens, hens and fish.

Nearly 99 percent of farmed animals in the US are factory farmed. There are around 250,000 farms in the US. Every day, 23 million land animals are killed on these farms–around 266 every second. This number does not include farmed and wild aquatic animals. If they were, the number of animals killed would increase from 10 billion animals per year to 13.8 billion.

Despite this huge number, most of these animals are nowhere to be seen. They are kept inside farms with no windows and no indication as to what goes on inside their walls.

Chickens Raised For Their Meat

Chickens are the most abused land animal on the planet. In the US, more than nine billion chickens are killed for their meat every year–over 25 million every day. 

They are bred to grow so big, so quickly that their legs and organs can’t keep up. They suffer from heart attacks, debilitating leg deformities and heart attacks. Those that survive are typically slaughtered at just 42 days old. 

Chickens are not covered by the United States Humane Slaughter Act which protects from “needless suffering.” Chickens are killed using electrical water baths or gas. Electric water baths are used to stun the chicken before being killed. They are painfully hung upside down by their feet on a conveyor. They are carried to the water bath where their heads are dunked into electrified water. Their throats are then slit after exiting the bath.

Chickens are intelligent, living beings who feel fear and pain. Like humans and other animals, they want to live. This desire for life is the reason why many birds lift their heads during the stunning process to avoid the electrified water and are therefore slaughtered while still conscious. 

To date, Animal Equality has investigated over 40 chicken farms and slaughterhouses. In the US, an investigation inside a chicken hatchery showed live chicks being mutilated by fast-moving machinery. Newborn chicks were found with their bodies ripped open or crushed by equipment. More drowned on the factory floor in water and chemicals and in trays that ran through the facility’s washing machine.

This hatchery sells chickens to factory farms that supply stores like Target, Walmart, Costco and Kroger.

Hens Used For Their Eggs

Every year in the US, over 380 million hens are exploited for their eggs. 

Hens are selectively bred to produce the maximum number of eggs. Most hens are kept inside cages alongside sixty other birds for up to two years. Around 72 percent of hens used for eggs–over 273 million animals–are confined to these cages.

Because of the size of these cages, hens can’t even spread their wings or exhibit natural behaviors. On average, hens live in a space the size of a standard piece of paper. These living conditions cause frequent death of hens who are left to rot in the same space alongside living birds.

But that’s not all they have to endure. 

Hens often become aggressive toward each other because of stress. Instead of allowing them more space, the industry solves the problem by cutting their beaks–a process called ‘beak conditioning.’ 

The US egg industry is also responsible for the killing of 250 million male chicks every year. These baby chicks are unable to produce eggs and are not one of the fast-growing breeds used for meat. So they are deemed useless by the industry and discarded by being ground up alive .

Animal Equality has investigated egg farms around the world. In 2020, Animal Equality investigated a UK egg farm in West Sussex and found many of the hens were suffering from severe feather loss and were completely bald with raw skin. Others didn’t survive and their bodies were left to decay in cages alongside living hens.

Cows in The Dairy Industry

Every year, over 9 million cows are exploited for their milk in the US. 

Like humans, cows produce milk for their babies. The females are artificially impregnated just for milk production. When born, female calves will live the same sad life as their moms. The males–approximately 700 thousand of them–will be killed for veal.

The females are confined indoors and are forcibly walked back and forth to the milking stations. They are attached to machines that take the milk intended for their calves, who have been torn away an hour after birth to preserve the milk.

But that’s not all. The baby cows are kept separate from their mothers and confined to barren hutches. Nearly 60 percent of these calves are tied by the neck inside these stalls and are unable to perform the most basic behaviors. They are fed milk replacers while humans consume the milk intended for these babies. 

As these young cows get older, they go through painful mutilations. They are branded, dehorned and their tails are docked.

Cows are extremely maternal and social animals who can naturally live up to 20 years. However, on dairy farms, a cow is slaughtered when she can no longer produce milk–around three to four years old. She is sold for cheap meat or leather products. 

Animal Equality investigated a US dairy farm, exposing shocking neglect of baby cows at a Babybel supplier. The footage shows the suffering of dozens of baby cows who are freezing to death in negative 20-degree temperatures. Calves were shown dying from scours and pneumonia and left without veterinary care. Many had just been separated from their mothers as little as 30 minutes after birth. 

Over 130 million pigs are slaughtered each year in the US–over 350,000 each day. Most of them are factory farmed and kept indoors inside concrete or slatted floor pens. They are kept in confined spaces–with some farms housing up to 2,500 pigs in one building.

Pigs in factory farms are not able to fulfill their basic needs and behaviors. Mother pigs are confined in crates during pregnancy and again after giving birth for weeks on end. The crates allow no space to move or turn around, let alone care for their babies. The extremely limited spaces cause boredom and stress in these intelligent animals. Many painfully bite their brothers and sisters and sometimes even turn to cannibalism. For this reason, farmers often cut piglets’ tails and clip their teeth, without giving them any painkillers. 

In May 2021, we released an investigation inside a ‘quality assured’ pig farm where we filmed piglets being hammered to death or slammed against the concrete floor.

BECOME AN ANIMAL PROTECTOR

Help fund Animal Equality’s work to expose and end animal cruelty. Protect cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals today!

Aquaculture: Farmed Fish

In the US, up to 3.8 billion fish are farmed and killed each year. That’s over 430,000 per hour. 

There is clear scientific evidence that fish feel pain and can suffer just like other animals. They also have the ability to form complex social groups. Yet farmed fish do not receive the same legal protections as most farmed land animals. There are currently no specific requirements as to how they should be handled or killed. 

The majority of fish eaten today are raised on aquafarms, where they spend most of their lives confined in tightly packed environments. In these settings, fish can suffer up to two years in water with high levels of ammonia and nitrates.

These fish are commonly infested with parasites that feed on their blood, organs and gills. Bacterial infections have been found to run rampant on these farms.

In the fall of 2020, Animal Equality went undercover at a US catfish slaughterhouse–Simmons Farm Raised Catfish. Simmons claims ‘humane’ standards for stunning and killing–stating the fish are processed “within 30 minutes” and in a “swift {and} sterile” manner. Instead, investigative footage showed fish left out of water–gasping for air–for up to an hour. Many are ineffectively stunned before reaching the beheading machine to be killed while conscious. 

The company supplies US grocery stores like Piggly Wiggly, Save A Lot and Kroger and restaurant chains Captain D’s and Cracker Barrel. 

Current Regulations

In the US, there are only two federal laws protecting farmed animals but only during transport and slaughter. 

The Twenty-Eight Hour Law sets a bare minimum standard for farmed animals on live transports to farms and slaughterhouses. It simply states that if they are being transported for more than 28 consecutive hours, the animals must be offloaded for at least five hours.

The Humane Slaughter Act requires slaughterers to stun some animals before they are slaughtered. The Act declares that its aim is to “prevent needless suffering” by inducing the loss of consciousness in animals before being killed. Chickens are not recognized under this law–yet are the most abused animal on factory farms.

Enforcement

For any policies or welfare standards to have a direct effect on the lives of animals, appropriate enforcement measures need to be in place. The laws must be monitored and, where illegality is discovered, those involved must be held accountable.

Without proper enforcement, vulnerable animals are left even more vulnerable. And the animal agriculture industry is given even greater power and autonomy, knowing that laws can be broken with few consequences. 

In the US, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the main authority that monitors federal compliance with animal welfare standards. But in 2019, the USDA passed a ruling to reduce the number of inspectors in slaughterhouses by 40 percent. This new rule would allow slaughterhouses the authority to monitor its own compliance with animal welfare and health standards.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Traffic (DOT) are responsible for overseeing the Twenty-Eight Hour Law. The Animal Welfare Institute found this law is rarely enforced by the DOJ and DOT.

When local laws are violated, local authorities are responsible for initiating formal enforcement action, which may or may not lead to prosecution.

Animal Equality’s Findings

Animal Equality has investigated over 800 facilities across 13 countries, extreme suffering or deliberate cruelty in each and every one of them. 

When there are laws in place to protect farmed animals, we must demand that the relevant authorities ensure that these laws are enforced. We cannot rely solely on animal protection organizations to bring to light violations and illegalities.

We must fight for the animals trapped in this cruel system by putting an end to the system altogether. When you share Animal Equality’s news stories and investigations on social media, donate to support our brave investigators, or sign a petition, you are changing the future for farmed animals. And each time you choose plant-based alternatives to animal food products, you are directly eliminating animal abuse.

By signing a petition, you are denouncing some of the worst abuses to animals on factory farms. Now, it’s time to end factory farming.

Please sign and share our petition :

Factory Farming: Alternatives

Although industrial farms cause the most suffering to animals, all forms of animal agriculture exploit the animals. 

Animal Equality has investigated organic, intensive, and free-range farms and documented animal abuse in each of them.

Regardless of where animals are raised, they all end up in the same slaughter facilities, where they too often die a painful and frightening death. 

For this reason, the best way to help animals is to adopt a plant-based diet.

LIVE KINDLY

With rich emotional lives and unbreakable family bonds, farmed animals deserve to be protected.

You can build a kinder world by replacing animal food products with plant‑based ones.

Most Popular

Supported by

Factory Farming

This May Be Our Last Chance to Halt Bird Flu in Humans and We Are Blowing It

“There’s a fine line between one person and 10 people with H5N1.”

By Zeynep Tufekci

Seeking Technological Solutions to the Climate Crisis

Readers critique and suggest ways to capture, store and recycle carbon. Also: Donald Trump’s jury; food aid; cruelty to chickens; creative disagreement.

‘Food, Inc. 2’ Review: A Second Course

Directed by Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo, the sequel about food production in the U.S. is, in some ways, a more hopeful film.

By Ben Kenigsberg

A Cruel Way to Control Bird Flu? Poultry Giants Cull and Cash In.

Big poultry farms have received millions of dollars for their losses. Animal welfare groups contend that aid reinforces inhumane cullings of birds exposed to the virus.

By Andrew Jacobs

Angry Farmers Are Reshaping Europe

Farm protests are changing not only Europe’s food system but also its politics, as the far right senses an opportunity.

By Roger Cohen and Ivor Prickett

What Happened to Lab-Grown Meat?

Readers discuss the viability of the flailing industry.

The Revolution That Died on Its Way to Dinner

Cultivated meat offered a delicious fantasy: that we can consume our way out of climate catastrophe.

By Joe Fassler

Debating the Value of Standardized Tests

Readers discuss Jessica Grose’s Opinion piece about fixing the tests. Also: Donald Trump’s followers; a citizen’s plea; slaughtering animals for food.

How America’s Diet Is Feeding the Groundwater Crisis

As dinner tables and snack menus feature far more chicken and cheese, farms are expanding where water is scarce.

By Christopher Flavelle, Somini Sengupta and Mira Rojanasakul

The Chicken Tycoons vs. the Antitrust Hawks

As part of a broader campaign against anticompetitive practices, the Biden administration has taken on the chicken industry. Why have the results been so paltry?

By H. Claire Brown

Advertisement

121 Farming Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on farming, ✍️ farming essay topics for college, 🎓 most interesting farming research titles, 💡 simple farming essay ideas, ❓ research question about farmers.

• City Life vs Country Life: Essay on Similarities and Differences
• “How Factory Farms Play Chicken With Antibiotics”: A Response
• Case Study: Farming the Cerrado
• Environmental Issues: Intensive Farming
• Farming Business Innovations: Urban Cultivator and Tree-T-Pee
• Dallas Farmer’s Market Advertisement
• McKinsey & Company: State Farm Insurance Assessment
• Issue for Farmers in Developing Countries Agriculture is a very important sector in the whole world economy since it makes available, food to every living person.
• Conventional Farming vs Hydroponic Conventional farming utilizes pesticides and other land requirements to facilitate crop yield. However, pest and plant diseases continue to plague conventional farming.
• Urban Farming and Smart Greenhouse Scientists created a smart greenhouse that uses state-of-the-art technologies to grow the maximum number of crops, fruits, and vegetables by using the minimum resources.
• The Great Depression and the New Deal Farm Policies The years of the great depression were characterized by poverty, high unemployment, deflation, low profits and plunging farm incomes.
• Farmer’s Market for a Diverse Community: Risk Factors The paper discusses potential risk factors for the farmer’s market for a diverse community. It includes technical, managerial, commercial, and external risk factors.
• Encouragement of Family Farms by Small Island Countries This paper discusses the importance of family farming in small island countries for achieving food security and explores the challenges and opportunities associated with gardening.
• Environmental Impact of Avocado Farming in Mexico Despite the benefits of Avocado growing in the Mexican economy, farming has some detrimental effects on the environment, which, if not checked, could lead to world disaster.
• Antibiotics Use in Factory Farms The current approach to food production has serious drawbacks and leads to unexpected health issues nationwide, as huge factory farms use large quantities of antibiotics.
• Fair Trade and Its Benefits for Local Farmers Fair trade was introduced to support the work of local farmers, whose incomes depend not only on themselves but also on various factors such as drought, crop diseases, and others.
• Organic Farming: Opposition to Traditional Farming As opposed to traditional farming, the benefits of organic are that these farmers avoid using harmful chemicals and work with the environment they are in to produce crops.
• Rebellion on the Animal Farm: Need to Rise Against Pigs The pigs’ tyranny envelops various spheres of the animals’ lives, from stolen products, such as milk and apples, to abusing the community representatives’ amount of work.
• The Shortage of Labor and Inability of European Farmers: Slave Trade The shortage of labor and the inability of European farmers to find alternative sources of it are the major factors that influenced the growth of the transatlantic slave trade.
• Whiteness and Farmers Markets “Whiteness and Farmers Markets: Performances, Perpetuations… Contestations?” discusses cultural, political, and class issues through the prism of the American farmer markets.
• The Farm Bill: Description and Analysis The Farm Bill should be analyzed from different perspectives in order to identify its potential influence on the area of farming in the country.
• Organic Farming Methods: Pest Management Methods The organic farming techniques aim is providing highest nutritional foodstuffs with little effect on the natural environment.
• The Current American Food Situation Influenced by the Immigrant Farmers This research paper is concerned with finding out about the States’ food system and how immigrant farmers contribute to the food situation in current American society.
• The Nature of State Farm State Farm was started in 1902 and it has fifty million members. It was set up because the founders believed there were no good roads or highways that catered for cars.
• The Agrarian Protest: Causes, Farmers Alliances, Break Up The Agrarian Protest made a distinctive feature in the history of America, the protests were largely brought about by the American farmers against the economic ills at this time.
• Gender Identities Within the Farm Family The major phenomenon considered in the article is the development of gender identities within the farm family living in Northern Ireland.
• Raccoon-Proof Chicken Coop Building and Farming Adopting the idea of Novella Carpenter about farming and taking care of animals, I would like to share my experience of farming and building a raccoon-proof chicken coop.
• Genetically Modified Organisms and Future Farming There are many debates about benefits and limitations of GMOs, but so far, scientists fail to prove that the advantages of these organisms are more numerous than the disadvantages.
• Delmarva Area Farming and Hydroponics System Delmarva is a peninsula that is situated at the East Coast of the United States. It covers vast areas of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
• Immokalee City Development: Farming or Gambling It is necessary to note that economy can benefit from investment into development of education and training as the population is quite young.
• Farm Subsidies in the USA To safeguard the survival of the important industry, most developed nations have come up with means for ensuring that farmers remain in business.
• Multi-Objective Optimization and Design of Farming Systems
• Agriculture and Organic Farming
• Farming During the Late Nineteenth Century
• Entry and Exit From Farming in North Carolina, 1978-87
• Organic Farming Can Not Feed the World
• Differences Between Conventional and Organic Farming
• Farming Safety and Production
• Cost Structure and Vertical Integration Between Farming and Processing
• Factory Farming Should Not Be Allowed in America
• Alabama’s Forestry and Farming Industries
• Exit From Farming and Land Abandonment in Northern Norway
• Land Allotment and the Decline of American Indian Farming
• Keynesian Economics and Farming
• Chinese Peasant Choices: Migration, Rural Industry, or Farming
• Ancient Egypt’s Farming System
• Hog Farming and the Dangers to the Air and Water
• Animal Rights and the Tragedies of Factory Farming
• Organic Farming and Organic Food
• Ancient Rome: Farming, Clothing, Sports, and Government
• Contract Farming: Theory and Practice
• Mussel Farming and Its Potential in the Baltic Sea
• Living With Low Inflation: Farming for Profit
• 19th Century Farming, American History
• Canada’s Forestry, Fishing, and Farming Industries
• Farming the Tambopata Reserve
• Contract Farming and Agricultural Development of Orissa
• Integrating Fish and Azolla Into Rice-Duck Farming in Asia
• Grass Conservation and Dairy Farming
• Financial and Economic Aspects of Urban Vegetable Farming
• Contract Farming and Outgrower Schemes in East and Southern Africa
• Farming and the Soil in Our State Today
• California Drought and Organic Versus Conventional Farming
• Green House Farming and the World Food Crisis
• Hill and Upland Farming in the North of England
• Difference Between Organic and Conventional Foods and Farming
• Comparing Organic Farming and Conventional Farming
• Manmade Wetlands and Hog Farming
• Land Transfers and Agrarian Changes in Individual Farming
• Fish Farming: Meeting the World´S Demand for Fish Supply
• Organic Farming and the Food Industry
• Health, Health Insurance, and Decision to Exit From Farming
• Agriculture Farming and Subsistence Farming
• Fish Farming Through Community Participation in Assam
• Farming Systems and the Common Market
• Nile Basin Farming Systems and Productivity
• Farm Size and the Organization of U.S. Crop Farming
• Farming Methods and Food Crisis
• Improvement Strategies for Farming Systems in the Eastern Highlands of Ethiopia
• Factors Influencing the Conversion to Organic Farming in Norway
• Factory Farming and Its Effects on the Environment
• Fossil Energy and Ghg Saving Potentials of Pig Farming in the EU
• Farming During the Daily Lives of Ancient Egypt
• Market Signals for Organic Farming
• Farming During the 1930s
• Information and the Adoption of Precision Farming Technologies
• Agriculture and Animal Farming
• Absolute and Comparative Sustainability of Farming Enterprises in Bulgaria
• Kenya Ameru Tribe People Crops Farming
• Factors That Affect the Use of Herbicides in Philippine Rice Farming Systems
• Free Range Farming Should Be Banned
• Are Organic Farming Practices Safer?
• Can Commercial Farming Promote Rural Dynamism in Sub-Saharan Africa?
• Why Did Deflation During the Late 1800s Hurt Farmers?
• Does Climate-Smart Village Approach Influence Gender Equality in Farming Households?
• Are Italian Farming Households Actually Poorer Than Other Non-agricultural Households?
• What Are the Barriers to Adopting Carbon Farming Practices?
• Can Organic Farming Feed the World?
• Are Farmers More Dependent on Rural Communities Than Rural Communities Are Dependent on Farmers?
• Who Are Today’s Farmers and What Are Their Educational Needs?
• Does Carbon Farming Provide a Cost‐Effective Option to Mitigate GHG Emissions?
• Can Seaweed Farming Play a Role in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation?
• Was the Federal Government Biased Against Farmers and Workers in the Late 19th Century?
• How Does Corporate Farming Affect the Overall Health of Livestock?
• Does Contract Farming Improve Welfare?
• Can Organic Farming Reduce Vulnerabilities and Enhance the Resilience of the European Food System?
• What Motivates Farmers’ Adaptation to Climate Change?
• Are African Female Farmers Disadvantaged in the Microfinance Lending Market?
• Can Small Farmers Survive in a Globalized World?
• How Does Farming Change Between Bredon Hill and Birlingham?
• Does Certified Organic Farming Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Agricultural Production?
• Should Farmers Forced the Gas Exploration on Their Lands?
• How Did Railroad Development Affect Midwestern Farmers?
• Does Rice Farming Shape Individualism and Innovation?
• Are Australian and United States Farmers Using Soil Information for Soil Health Management?
• What Are the Key Constraints in the Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Farmers in Africa?
• Did China’s Tax-for-Fee Reform Improve Farmers’ Welfare in Rural Areas?
• How Does Organic Farming Affect the Environment?
• What Factors Affect the Distribution of Direct Payments Among Farmers in the EU Member States?
• Are Organic Farmers Really Better Off Than Conventional Farmers?
• Can Organic Farmers Produce Enough Food to Feed the World?

Cite this post

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2022, March 1). 121 Farming Essay Topics. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/farming-essay-topics/

"121 Farming Essay Topics." StudyCorgi , 1 Mar. 2022, studycorgi.com/ideas/farming-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . (2022) '121 Farming Essay Topics'. 1 March.

1. StudyCorgi . "121 Farming Essay Topics." March 1, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/farming-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "121 Farming Essay Topics." March 1, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/farming-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2022. "121 Farming Essay Topics." March 1, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/farming-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Farming were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on December 28, 2023 .

Factory Farming Essay

Introduction Factory farming is a cheap and effective way to ensure that everyone can have affordable access to various meats. It’s an advanced system that optimizes food output as quickly as possible to keep up with the global demand for more protein rich food sources. However, diseases flourish with how factory farming is modeled. This is due to the animals being kept in tight quarters, crammed together under the roof of a warehouse. To combat diseases, factory farms use antibiotics to cure anything and everything that infects the animals before they are processed.

This problem should be cared about as almost everybody eats meat that was processed in a farm and by nderstanding the situation one can make better decisions when it comes to nutrition. By causing destruction to humans and the environment, there needs to be solutions to this problem such as reducing the use of antibiotics, using alternatives to antibiotics, and understanding antibiotic abused products as a consumer. What are antibiotics? Antibiotics have been around for almost a century. Since its discovery, antibiotics have been used excessively by not only people, but also animals.

In fact, the Natural Resources and Defense Council found that 80% of the antibiotics manufactured in the United States is actually given to animals (“Reduce Antibiotic Misuse in Livestock”, 2017) with the majority of its most specifically to farm animals. The animals that live in factory farms aren’t immune to illness and infection, so farmers prescribe them with high doses when they are suffering from a malady. For healthy animals, farmers add low doses in the feed and water to prevent future health problems (“Antibiotic Use in Livestock Production”).

This does seem like a logical and safe solution to the problem of livestock getting sick, but the overuse of antibiotics has a serious and negative side effect. The misuse of antibiotics in farm animals is breeding antibacterial resistant organisms called superbugs. Superbugs are created when the bacteria living within the animals become resistant to antibiotics through overexposure. The strongest bacteria strains survive the exposure and then pass on the resistance trait to the next generation while the weak and often time es helpful bacteria gets killed.

In the end, the antibiotic is no longer effective (“Effects of Antibiotics on Animal Feed – Presentation”). These superbugs that emerge are much stronger than their ancestors, making it more difficult for the human body to combat them. According to the Federal Interagency Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance, “the extensive use of antimicrobial drugs has resulted in drug resistance that threatens to reverse the medical advances of the last seventy years”. Since antibiotics have been used so widely and for so long, antibiotic resistance has become a major public health threat.

It’s been found that the use of antibiotics in animals contributes to the lack of effectiveness of human medication (“The Overuse of Antibiotics in Food Animals Threatens Public Health | Consumers Union”). This affects everyone, no matter what their social and economic status is. Anyone purchasing factory farmed meats, even unknowingly, is at risk of falling victim to antibiotic resistant bacteria. Diseases Due to Antibiotics Contrary to popular belief, farm animals are less likely to become sick even when they are abused by the overuse of antibiotics but this is not the case for humans.

Any creature can carry an illness without experiencing the symptoms of it so the way humans tend to get superbugs is through eating the factory farmed meat. Birds provide an optimal environment for one such bacteria called Campylobacter. This is the bacteria that causes Campylobacteriosis. Symptoms of this illness include diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain, and fever within two to five days after exposure to the organism. Some infected people do not have any symptoms but in people with compromised immune systems, Campylobacter occasionally spreads to the bloodstream and causes a serious life-threatening infection.

The use of fluoroquinolone, an antibiotic approved by the government, has given rise to a highly resistant strain of this bacteria. The use of such chemicals compromises not just one drug, but can have an effect on other similar medication as well. This happened in Europe, where bacteria started becoming resistant to vancomycin, a drug used to treat several life threatening diseases. Due to this, doctors had to use synercid, a drug of last resort for the treatment of vancomycin-resistant infections.

However, this drug’s effectiveness is threatened in the United States because of the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter in chickens and pigs (“Infectious Disease Campylobacter General Information | Foodborne Illnesses | CDC”). This means that the cost of medication, both in terms of research and consumption and distribution will increase. One of the most common superbugs out there is Salmonella. Every year, Salmonella is estimated to cause one million foodborne illnesses in the United States, with 19,000 hospitalizations and 380 deaths.

Most people infected with Salmonella experience diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps twelve to seventy-two hours after infection (“The Overuse of Antibiotics in Food Animals Threatens Public Health | Consumers Union”). With the increasing use of antibiotics in animals, this bacterium is becoming more and more resistant to current drugs. Consumer Reports tested in 2013 and 2014 that more than two-thirds of chicken samples were contaminated with Salmonella and more than sixty percent of those bacteria were resistant to one or more antibiotics. A superbug outbreak can be serious enough to command the attention of the Center or Disease Control.

One such case occurred in 2011, in which ground turkey was linked to one hundred thirty-six illnesses and one death, all caused by a strain of Salmonella resistant to four different antibiotics, ampicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline and gentamicin. Some 36 million pounds of ground turkey were recalled (“The Overuse of Antibiotics in Food Animals Threatens Public Health | Consumers Union”). When such large amounts of food get wasted, not only does the meat get wasted, but also the resources that go into raising it including the feed, water, and cost of medications.

While not disputing the existence of these superbugs, the farming industry argues essentially that what happens on the farm stays on the farm. They claim that there may be some superbugs there, but they don’t affect people. However, there are two main routes by which superbugs can leave the farm and infect humans. One is a direct route, in meat and poultry products, and the other is an indirect route through the environment. Antibiotics don’t only affect humans, but can have serious repercussions on the environment as well. Farm animals need to release bodily waste and the waste has to go somewhere.

When an animal defecates, the bacteria inside of it live on in the manure and contaminate the soil, contaminating rivers when it rains due to runoff. According to Farm Sanctuary, “Factory farms yield a relatively small amount of meat, dairy, and eggs for this input, and in return produce staggering quantities of waste and greenhouse gases, polluting our land, air, and water and contributing to climate change” (“Farm Sanctuary”, 2017, para. 1). Using Alternatives to Antibiotics Even if factory farms ban antibiotics altogether, there are still options like probiotics to keep the food bacteria free.

The use of probiotics for farm animals has increased considerably over the last fifteen years. Probiotics are living microorganisms which can benefit health for the host when administered in appropriate and regular quantities. Once ingested, the probiotic microorganisms can modulate the balance and activities of the gastrointestinal microbiota, whose role is fundamental to gut homeostasis. It has been demonstrated that numerous factors, such as dietary and management constraints, can strongly affect the structure and activities of the gut microbial communities, leading to impaired health and performance in livestock animals (F&H, 2008).

What We can do as Consumers As a consumer, reducing the consumption of meat all together is a great way to prevent catching a superbug, reducing risks of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and obesity. While it is healthier for the body to consume less meat it is also healthier for the planet. Factory farms use large amounts of food and water to raise the animals before they get slaughtered. If the demand for meat goes down, less resources will be used (“Why Meatless? – Meatless Monday”, 2003). Conclusion

I imagined there is no good deed I can execute to contribute to the problem of factory farming. I was mistaken. I did not go as far as to resort to vegetarianism; but in helping support the end of factory farming, I made a few steps. One, I dug a little deeper into my pockets to purchase meats, cheeses, bread, butter, and just about whatever I needed in joining the boycott of factory farms. For instance, New Leaf, a grocery store right across the street from my home has been open for years and not once did I step foot in the establishment until recently.

Thanks to this assignment, I have a new, favorite, “go-to” store. Not only are the prices reasonable and the quality of food exceptional, they, too, have taken a step in boycotting factory farms by offering foods family farmed, USDA Organic, American Grassfed Certified, Animal Welfare Approved, and so much more. By finding solutions such as reducing the use of antibiotics, using alternatives to antibiotics, and understanding antibiotic abused products as a consumer, there can be an increase to overall well-being of not only humans but also the environment.

All of these solutions are not only feasible but also actionable as they are grounded to reality and achievable through current resources. Aside from humans and the environment, the forgotten victims of this issue are the farm animals themselves. Perhaps by issuing these solutions, the welfare of farm animals can be increased as well as their place of captivity can be remodeled so that further outbreaks and transmission of diseases can be drastically reduced.

In the end, these solutions spell out a win-win situation for humans, animals, and the environment alike. Factory farming trickles down to the fact that the meat I am so proud to consume and feed my family is beyond disturbing. Although the concept of factory farming has been around since the beginning of time, the industry is now a potential threat not only to the animals themselves but our well-being, the environment, and the economy as well.

More Essays

• Disadvantages Of Free Range Farming Essay
• Persuasive Essay On Organic Farming
• 60 Petri Dish Essay
• Essay On Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
• Teenagers Involved In The Spaghetti Factory Incident Essay
• What Role Did The Farming Play In The Industrial Revolution Essay
• Eating Meat Research Paper
• Essay about Cross Contamination In Fast Food
• Summary: The Negative Effects Of The Fast Food Industry Essay
• Antibiotic Resistance Lab Report Essay

• climate change

America’s Young Farmers Are Burning Out. I Quit, Too

I n 2023, Scott Chang-Fleeman—a young farmer like me—put down his shovel. A post on his Instagram read, “Shao Shan Farm, in its current form, is going on indefinite hiatus.” From the outside, the burgeoning farm had the makeup of one that could stand the test of time. In reality, his experience of farm ownership was wrought with challenges.

A farmer in his late 20s, Chang-Fleeman started Shao Shan Farm in 2019 to reconnect with his roots and provide a source of locally grown heritage Asian vegetables to the Bay Area. He quickly secured a clientele and fan base—two of the greatest hurdles of starting a farm—and became the go-to for San Francisco’s high-end Asian eateries.

But after four years of creative pivots to withstand unexpected hurdles that included financial stress, severe drought, and a global pandemic, Chang-Fleeman made a choice that many young farmers are considering: to leave farming behind. Why he left and what could have kept him on the land are critical questions we must address if we are to have a sustainable and food-secure future.

The USDA Census of Agriculture reported that in 2017, nearly 1 in 4 of the 3.4 million agricultural producers in the US were new and beginning farmers. Many of these new farmers are doing exactly what it seems American agriculture needs: starting small farms. According to the most recent data from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) in 2019 , farms with annual sales of less than $100,000 accounted for about 85% of all U.S. farms. And though not all of these small-scale farms are necessarily organic, small farms are more likely to grow a diversity of crop types, use methods that reduce negative impacts on the climate, increase carbon sequestration, and tend to be more resilient in the face of climate change.

Read More: How Extreme Weather Is Affecting Small Farmers Across the U.S.

There has been a growing interest among younger people in recent years in sustainable and organic farming practices, as well as in local food systems. This interest has led people in their 20s and 30s to enter into small-scale farming, particularly in niche markets such as organic produce, specialty crops, and direct-to-consumer sales.

As a result, both congressional Democrats and Republicans have maintained that encouraging young people to farm is of utmost importance in ensuring the stability of our food system. But getting young people into farming may not be the problem. Keeping them on the farm may be the hardest part.

I should know. I quit too.

Chang-Fleeman got his start in agriculture right out of college, where he spent several years working at the on-campus farm. As a third-generation Chinese American, he noticed a distinct lack of Asian vegetables at local farmers markets, particularly those that were grown organically, and suspected there would be a demand should a supply exist. He started trialing some varieties, and his suspicions were quickly affirmed when samples of his choy sum caught the attention of chef Brandon Jew of Mister Jiu’s, a contemporary Chinese eatery with a Michelin star in the heart of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Jew provided some seed funds for what was to become Shao Shan Farm in 2019.

During the first year running his farm, Chang-Fleeman focused his sales on his relationships with local restaurants, while attending some farmers' markets sales to supplement income. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, he lost all of his restaurant accounts overnight.

Like many farmers at that time, he pivoted to a CSA model, offering farm boxes that provide a household with an assortment of vegetables for the week.

“So literally over a night, I reworked my crop plan” he told me. “Just to get through that year, or through that season, not knowing how long [the pandemic was going to] last.”

As if a global pandemic wasn’t enough, in 2021, California entered a drought, and he lost the ability to irrigate his crops come mid-summer, which meant a hard stop for production.

“I was hoping to hit some sort of a rhythm, and every year felt a bit like starting from scratch,” Chang-Fleeman reflected.

Throughout farm ownership, he worked side jobs to compensate for the slow build of business income and the fact that he could only afford to pay himself a monthly salary of $2,000. He regularly worked 90 hours a week. At the same time, farm expenses were on the rise.

“The cost of our packaging went up like three times in one year and the cost of the produce didn't change,” he explained. “Our operating expenses went up like 30%, after COVID.”

In four short years, Chang-Fleeman experienced an avalanche of extenuating circumstances that would bring most farm businesses to their knees. But the thing that finally catalyzed the closing of his business was burnout. He relayed the experience of the exhaustion and stress building over time until he reached a breaking point. “If I don’t stop now, it’s going to kill me,” he recalled thinking.

Chang-Fleeman’s burnout reminded me of my own story. In the fall of 2018, I took what ended up being a two-month medical leave from an organic farm I managed in Northern California in order to try to try to resolve a set of weird symptoms that included dizzy spells and heart palpitations. If you know anything about farming, fall is not the time to be absent. It’s peak harvest time and the culmination of all of your work is underway. But as my medical anomaly continued to worsen, I came no closer to getting back to work. After many doctor visits, several trips to the specialist, a flurry of blood tests, and a week of heart monitoring, it took one Xanax to solve the mystery.

Read More: ‘ They’re Trying to Wipe Us Off the Map.’ Small American Farmers Are Nearing Extinction

The prolonged physical stress that I had been harboring at work had triggered the onset of panic disorder, a nervous system affliction that had led me into a near-chronic state of fight or flight mode, causing a swath of physical symptoms not typically associated with “anxiety.”

For me, this was a wake-up call. I turned to a slew of Western and naturopathic remedies to alleviate my symptoms, but ultimately, removing the stressors of farm management was the thing that allowed me to, mostly, reach a nervous system balance. Even still, six years later, I’m constantly navigating the ‘new normal’ of this diagnosis.

A pilot study conducted by agriculture researcher Josie Rudolphi and her colleagues in 2020 found that of 170 participants, approximately 71% met the criteria for Generalized Anxiety Disorder. By comparison, in the US, an estimated 18% of adults experience an anxiety disorder. Rudolphi’s work indicates that these disorders maybe three times more prevalent in young farmer and rancher populations.

This rang true as I went from farm to farm trying to figure out what so often goes wrong in a new farm operation. Again and again mental health was a through-line. Collette Walsh, owner of a cut-flower operation in Braddock, PA, put it to me bluntly: "I usually get to a point in late August or early September, where there’s a week where I just cry.”

How can we build a farming economy that helps young farmers not only stay, but also thrive on the land? The Farm Bill , a federal package of legislation that provides funding for agricultural programs, is one route. As the reboot of the Farm Bill approaches, it’s a critical time to ask these questions and advocate for policies that support young farmers and the barriers they’re facing in maintaining a long-lasting career in agriculture.

Take for instance, Jac Wypler, Farmer Mental Health Director at the National Young Farmer Coalition (Young Farmers), who oversees the Northeast region’s Farmer and Rancher Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN). The organization was established by the Farm Bill in 2018 to develop a service provider network for farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural workers that was dedicated to mental well-being. Through the network of service providers she directs, called “Cultivemos,” Wypler and her colleagues utilize a multi-tiered approach to address mental health in farming spaces. Cultivemos partners provide direct support in moments of stress and crisis as well as peer-to-peer support spaces.

An expanded (and subsidized) program that scales efforts like Cultivemos to a size commensurate with the young work force is clearly needed. But it’s only part of the picture.

“While we believe that it is important to make sure that farms, farmers, and farmworkers are getting direct support around their mental health,” Wypler explained. “We need to alleviate what is causing them stress.” 

Cultivemos works to address the structural root causes of stress which can include climate change, land prices, and systemic racism, to name a few. They focus on communities that are disproportionately harmed by these structural root causes, specifically Black, Indigenous, and other farmers of color. Finally, they seek to make this impact by regranting funding directly into the hands of these farmers.

“The way I think of regranting is that the USDA and these large institutions are the Mississippi River of funding.” Wypler says. “We’re trying to get the funding into these smaller rivers and tributaries to disperse these funds and shift that power dynamic and leadership dynamic.”

The next Farm Bill cycle will be critical in ensuring this work is continued. In November of 2023, lawmakers signed a stopgap funding bill that allows for a one-year extension on the 2018 Farm Bill. Lawmakers are currently in deliberations over the bill until September when it will be up for a vote. Young Farmers underscores the importance of the appropriations process, which is when program areas that are authorized in the farm bill are allocated funding.

Back-to-the-landism has waxed and waned throughout the last hundred years, booming in the pre-Depression years of the 1930s, dying in the war years and then storming back in the 60s and 70s. When my generation’s own farming revolution came along in the early 2000s, I was similarly swept up. I imagined when I chose to farm that the path would be lifelong. What I hadn’t accounted for, as a determined, starry-eyed changemaker, was the toll that a decade of farming through wildfires, evacuations, floods, power outages, and a global pandemic would take on my mental health.

Don’t get me wrong:  I was happy working hard with my two feet planted firmly on the land. In a better world I and people like Scott Chang-Fleeman would have kept getting our hands dirty, making an honest, if modest, living providing good and wholesome food in synch with the rhythms of the planet.

But to borrow a word from the world of ecology, being a young farmer in today’s economy is “unsustainable.” The numbers don’t work economically and, eventually, any mind trying to square this un-squarable circle is going to break. The economic, physical and mental challenges are all interconnected.

It’s hard to find an American, Republican or Democrat, red or blue state resident that doesn’t want more young hands on the land. We all rightly see agriculture as a pathway to personal fulfillment and a way to make our food supply healthier and more secure. But words and intentions can only do so much. We must answer these very real problems with very real subsidy.

If we don’t, my generation might be the last to think of going “back-to-the-land” as something actually worth doing.

More Must-Reads From TIME

• The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
• Coco Gauff Is Playing for Herself Now
• Scenes From Pro-Palestinian Encampments Across U.S. Universities
• 6 Compliments That Land Every Time
• If You're Dating Right Now , You're Brave: Column
• The AI That Could Heal a Divided Internet
• Fallout Is a Brilliant Model for the Future of Video Game Adaptations
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Contact us at [email protected]