Farms: Factory Farming
Productivity | Information | History | View | Quality
This is a cow. These are two cows. It would take 1000 of these cows to reach the minimum number needed for a 'Large CAFO' or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation' Also known as a factory farm. There are approximately 19 000 Large CAFO's in the United States, each with an average of 3810 cows in each. I'm getting there... Factory farms present a real danger to our environment and health all while slowly destroying the traditional family farm. They generate millions of tonnes of manure every year and have extremely negative effects on the environment. Which can be broken up into three sections: Water Quality, Air Quality, Animal Welfare. According to the EPA, States which have high concentrations of CAFOs have an average of 20-30 water quality problems per year as a result of poor waste management. Including a spill in 1995 which dumped 25.8 million gallons of waste into the nearby watershed and killed 10 million fish. The decomposition of cow manure releases methane, a gas 20 times better than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere, and because of this 18% of all green house gases are produced by livestock operations. The treatment of animals is concerning for two main reasons, one is quite simply that some people feel that animals shouldn't be treated like things. They feel that keeping thousands of animals in tight confined spaces with almost no where to move and sometimes quite literally standing in their own filth from birth to slaughter house is unethical and that animals, even ones we plan on eating, deserve some sort of minimum quality of life that factory farms violate. Others who take the view that animals don't think, so it doesn't matter what we do, are also concerned with Factory Farms. And that is due to the danger to human health. To prevent disease caused by keeping animals in such close proximity, factory farms have taken to injecting all livestock with antibiotics in order to avoid the cost of paying for more space. However, the World Health Organization (the WHO?) warns that this practice should be reconsidered as it greatly increases the chance of anti-biotic resistant strains of bacteria to emerge. These strains pose some of the greatest health concerns that exist in the western world today. So there you have it, a quick low down on CAFOs. Along with their Environmental and Health Impacts... Factory Farming is the furthest thing away from traditional farming one can get. In fact, the rise of corporate factory farming is exactly what is killing traditional farmers. Since Factory Farming began in the 1930's the number of farms in the United States has dropped from 7 million to 2 million. And between 1969 and 2002 the number of family farms dropped by 39%. Many farmers now find it difficult to make a good income due to Factory Farms driving down the prices of animal products. That is an extremely difficult question to answer and it will require taking a deeper look at how we see food production and what we really value as a society. A question we will look into in the future. But one thing that we cannot allow is CAFOs to go on without some safety nets and regulations because although they may seem harmless, they pose a serious threat to humanity and the world we live on.
Comments
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Thank you!
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guys I found Tysons foods phone number it's on maps search it up and I dare u to yell at them and stop killing it's not animals fault
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non vegans will still eat meat eggs and dairy. They don't know what true pain is.
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the video is barely over 3 minutes, how much more in depth do you want the arguments to get lol it is simply a basic informative "quick lowdown" video
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Correction... easy solution: Don't buy meat & dairy.
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I support factory farming 100 percent. i have seen first hand, the conditions that these cows live in, being from central wisconsin where there are many of these "factory farms". these cows are almost pampered for every need and everything they desire. Employees are not even aloud to talk or play music for fear of stressing out the animal while milking. they are kept cool in the summer and warm in the winter and by no means are they in a tiny space in which they cant move. they are not chained up or locked into stalls, like many small barn operations by the way. they are in barns that are larger than anything you can imagine and are free to roam, drink, eat, laydown or do what ever they want in there. when a cow is happy and healthy it obviously produces better. so why in the world would any farmer put any stress on the animal. In a growing world, where the human population is predicted to be nine billion by the middle of the century, farmers are struggling to keep up with the demand for food. There is currently a very small population of farmers. In America, only two percent of the population are farmers and 97 percent of all farm operations are family owned and operated. The average size of the 97 percent is a farm of less than 100 head of cows. As you can see it is becoming difficult for farmers to keep up with the demand of food especially since the population increases but the number of people willing to take on this responsibility is decreasing. This can be due to the lack of education and exposure to agriculture in schools now days. The average age of todays farmer is 60 years old. this proves that todays generations is not interested in agriculture. Farming may not be perfect, yet, but agriculture is trying everything they can to keep up with the demand for food. Ill admit, there are problems and issues that need to be straightened out, as there is with any industry. Maybe instead of people talking about how factory farming is going to ruin the environment and humanity in general, we try to help an industry that really needs support. Instead of saying how bad they are maybe we need more people to help come up with ideas about how we can fix this. the bad truth, for some of you, is that factory farming is not going to go away. It is needed to support the people of this world. another thing that will burn your eyes to read is that this can not be done with organic farming or small family farms of a few cows. advances is GMO's and factory farming are currently the best way to be producing enough food for the growing society. so if you want to try and make enough food for the world with your organic garden and hobby farm chicken coop be my guest but you will fail miserably.
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I think this video is really well said. Factory farms are messed up places :(
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Okay, I know you meant well by this video, but there is just a lot of info you didn't get straight here at all. Our farm is considered a "factory farm." We have over 1000 head of cattle in our feedlot. However we are a FAMILY farm (as are 95% of farms in the USA, including most factory farms) and we care deeply about animal welfare and make sure our cattle are comfortable at all times. Factory farms did not cause the demise of family farms. Family farms simply turned into factory farms in order to make enough money to support a family. There has also been a huge decline in young farmers wanting to farm, which means there are no new farmers and so the farms just have to get bigger. Does that make sense? Just because the number of farms is less, doesn't mean the percentage of family farmers is less. Need to make sure to do a little better research on that one! And how is that you are complaining about cheap food? The current food system is the safest, cheapest, most abundant in the history of the world and you are complaining??? That's hard to understand. :/ Anyways, back to your points. Our farm and all farms have many, many waste management regulations we HAVE to follow or we will be literally thrown in jail. Our animal waste is regularly spread out onto fields to give nutrients to plants. You also mentioned how antibiotics. Antibiotics are used but at a very small dosage (less than you would give your child) and it is PRIMARILY to keep the cattle HEALTHY!!! Because we CARE FOR THEIR LIVES!!! NOT because we can't afford to give them more space lol. Our cattle are kept in pens but have PLENTY of room to exercise and move around! The drawings you made of the cattle in confinement were downright false at times. Cattle are also NOT born into tight confinement. ALL CATTLE are born onto open grass pasture where they are raised up by their mama cows. That is a fact, check it! When they are ready to be fattened they are then moved into feedlots like ours. NEVER are they confined like you drew in the pictures. That picture is a quite frankly a lie. But, hey, I'd really appreciate if you checked out our channel, and our videos (Chore and Life of a Farmer: November would be great!) as those give you much more accurate depiction of REAL cattle farming. And if you'd like to continue this conversation, send us a message on our Facebook page "Peterson Farm Bros!" We'd love to talk to you about it! We are just as concerned about the issues at hand, but want to make sure you have the facts straight and understand the issues and the processes behind them before you make the claims you have. Thanks,
Greg of the Peterson Farm Bros -
People say theres to many cows and we need to kill them! Well stop impregnating them stupid head and there won't be so many.
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Factory Farmers have spent millions and millions of dollars lobbying for ag gag laws. Why because they are desperate to hide the truth from the public. Please make it a point of telling everyone u possibly can the truth about Factory Farming.
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Factory farms exist because of some people's obsession to meat. If we replace all the CAFO's with small farm operations we will still destroy the Planet. We would require vast amount of land space for grazing and the Cows would not grow as fast as they do in CAFO's...also the Methane gas Cows produce is intensified when they eat grass. If you really want to make a difference in the World then go Vegan otherwise it's simply pick your poison.
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the factory farms are getting bigger and stronger n the animals r dieing each day. Right now in south America factory farms r cutting trees n making the water filled with oils n diseases that can kill people in south America their are people that do their own farming n the factory farms r taking over! I know they might do better for the earth but it keeps getting worst n we may not have a future if we stop them by becoming vegan n try to take over to stop!!
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I like the illiustrations, but the points you conclude aren't exactly correct. Most "factory farms" a.k.a farms over 500 are family owned operations (90%+). As and agricultural engineer, I can assure you that all buildings are designed for the animals. A productive animal is a healthy, happy animal. Farmers themselves are very innovative at reducing overhead costs and finding better ways to do things. Larger farms can invest in technology to be more efficient and better to the environment.
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nice video
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Factory farms are disgraceful! they ought to end.
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@amirhdrz91 Please feel free to provide counter arguments, as it provides a chance for us to explain our views further. Thanks very much for your interest!
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@amirhdrz91 The second is that in traditional farming much of the manure is used as fertilizer and therefore the gases released are ingested by the plants it is fertilizing, but since there is simply too much manure created by factory farms to be used in such a way it is often left to simply release it all into the air. The argument further would be that market demand would not be nearly as strong if all the externalized costs of CAFO's where directed towards the consumer.
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@amirhdrz91 A valid argument, but you appear to be missing an few important points, one is that the world simply could not handle as many cows as it currently has without the use of Factory Farming and therefore the population problem IS a factory farming problem.
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Rather informative, but the arguments need to be more coherent. If it is the concentration of the manure in one place that is the concern in this video, then the amount of the methane produced should not be part of the evidence for the argument that you’re making, since the manure is going to be produced one way or another, either in family farms or in CAFOs, due to market demand. However if the argument is that there are just too many cows there, then the population can only be blamed for it.