Here in the UK factory farming was less common in the past, but it has grown just recently in the production of livestock.
Typical campaign in the UK:
“©CIWF
OUR CAMPAIGNS
FACTORY FARMING MAP
FACTORY FARMS ARE RISING ACROSS THE UK
It’s a sad fact that around 85% of farmed animals are confined in factory farms here in the UK. This intensive method of farming is the single biggest cause of animal cruelty on the planet, and yet in our latest data we can reveal the number of intensive factory farms is on the rise, instead of in decline.
Our new interactive Factory Farming Map plots the number of farmed animals confined across the UK by county. Overall, there has been a 12% increase in the number of UK factory farms from 2016 to 2023. Even more concerning, is the 20% increase of large factory farms in pig and poultry units over this seven-year period. “
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Cruelty to animals is therefore on the rise in the UK.
However, agriculture is a major source of methane emissions and suggestions by the UN to decrease emissions may be too expensive for small farmers to implement.
See:
Livestock emissions – from manure and gastroenteric releases – account for roughly 32 per cent of human-caused methane emissions.
Apparently, with more mouths to feed in the world, there is an unprecedented demand for animal protein. Factory farming has been happening in the US for decades. Rural farmers are unable to compete with world trade prices, and simply sell up or become slave workers under harsh factory farm conglomerates.
Vigliotti (book, Before It’s Gone) tells us how corporates rig the game in the US:
The first step is usually obtaining low-interest, federally backed loans to establish a foothold in an agricultural region. Once enough land is secured, the corporate farm then floods the market with everything from meat and milk to produce and grain. The resulting surpluses reduce the value of commodities so much it’s nearly impossible for their less-funded and smaller family-owned competition to break even. And here’s another added layer of fucked-up: Corporate farms know the government will eventually buy their surplus in an effort to stabilize prices for the smaller guys. But by the time such a stabilization does happen—and the reality is these factory farms are constantly overproducing and thus always driving down prices—the small farm can no longer hold on. And for those who can manage to squeak by, another layer of unfair competition awaits. Entire sectors of the industry have grown around big corporate players, including megawholesalers and slaughterhouses, which put smaller main street operations known for competitive pricing out of business and treat the small farmer that walks through their new doors like a beggar off the street. It’s no surprise Chapter 12 bankruptcies were up nearly 13 percent in the Midwest from July 2018 to 2019 and 50 percent in the Northwest, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. The vast majority of these losers are the small guys. Now back to that earlier question of how much land their Goliath competitors control. We’ll never truly know. Under the Obama administration, the EPA began to take stock of the nation’s factory farms, but halted the effort after industry groups sued. “[The industry] has avoided any effective regulation and accountability for a long time,” former EPA lawyer Michele Merkel told PBS shortly after quitting over the agency’s reluctance to take action against megafarms. This unregulated monopolizing of American agriculture explains why, even as more than four million small farms have disappeared since 1948, total farm output has more than doubled, according to the USDA, carried out largely by corporate-backed factory farms who hollow out main streets and overwork the land. “You can only abuse the land so much before it stops giving back,” warned Barb. Factory farms, though, are showing no sign of slowing down. While these megaproducers only account for around 10 percent of all American farms, they produce around 80 percent of the food in supermarkets, according to the USDA. Put another way: While around 90 percent of America’s farms are classified as “small,” they only provide about 20 percent of the country’s food. “This doesn’t just impact us. Less competition also means less variety, which ultimately hurts you,” Barb said, pointing at me as we continued our tour by car, coming to a stop sign that looked as if it hadn’t seen traffic in years. “When more of our food comes from a single source, what happens to our food security if there’s a recall and the factory farm is forced to shut down? We’re getting to the point where a few corporations control who eats and who doesn’t.” And the threat is even greater than that. As the family farmer disappears, along with them goes the generational knowledge of the earth that corporate farms don’t have. Family farmers know the weather and its impact on everything from seeds to the soil they’re planted in. Studies show family farms also use less pesticide and fertilizer, and produce higher yields per acre than factory farms. The research suggests if more land was owned by family farms, it would be healthier and produce more. The lessons from the Dust Bowl, while a century old, are part of every small farmer’s DNA. “Factory farms, especially the ones that raise livestock, are often automated facilities operated remotely with minimal staff, and don’t have the same knowledge and certainly not the same community investment. A lot of the equipment is run by a computer,” Barb said as we passed land that had recently been purchased by a corporate farm. “So, in some cases, you’ve got a guy in an office somewhere in Timbuktu, not even on the farm, running the land remotely. Now you’ve lost the innate understanding of the land. What happens when all that wisdom is gone for good? Most farmers aren’t in this line of work to make money, and that’s a good thing, because most don’t. We’re just trying to look after the land for the next generation.” They sounded like the fading words of farmers from more than a century ago.
Powerful food industry lobbyists threaten to sue governments if they try to regulate them to reduce methane, improve and protect soils, reduce fertilizers and pesticides and, essentially carry out the careful guardianship necessary to protect the land.
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