Factory farming

There is no uniform definition of factory farming. It is often defined as “a system of farming in which a lot of animals are kept in a small closed area, in order to produce a large amount of meat, eggs, or milk as cheaply as possible”¹.

In addition to factory farming, one also speaks synonymously of intensive animal husbandry or industrial animal husbandry.

The term can be seen critically, as it makes animals as individuals and subjects disappear behind a mass. This puts into the background that each individual animal has its own interests, social ties and needs. Seen in this light, the once militant term plays into the hands of the narrative of the anonymous mass of animals with no will.

Even though there are no clearly defined characteristics for factory farming, certain criteria can be delineated. Some of them, but not all, must apply at the same time:²

• high livestock numbers
• Specialization in one type of animal (e.g. pig fattening, chicken fattening)
• Feed and young animals are purchased and not grown or bred in-house
• Feeding exclusively with concentrated feed for rapid weight gain
• Use of imported feed (corn and soybean meal)
• Delivery of the slurry to other farms
• Many animals per worker
• Extensive automation of work processes
• inappropriate husbandry (no access to the outdoors, lack of bedding, high stocking densities)
• the use of “high performance” animals

So the point is mass production of animal products. Mass production means that processes are rationalized, resulting in low unit costs to produce a high number of the same goods at low prices for the mass market³.

For the animals, this means that they have to live in huge groups in as little space as possible and that everything that can be automated is automated.

In addition, they are to produce the highest possible “output”. This means that in meat production, they should reach their maximum weight in as short a time as possible. In milk and egg production, they should give as much milk and eggs as possible. As soon as this performance decreases, i.e. they are no longer considered profitable, they are replaced and killed.

In Germany alone, around 750 million animals live and die in factory farming every year ⁴. This does not even include fish.

98% of meat in Germany comes from factory farming ⁵.

Poultry stocks in Germany have almost tripled since 1900, and pig stocks have increased by about 1.6 times, although they have been declining again in recent years ⁶.

At the same time, it can be observed that there are fewer and fewer farms despite the increasing number of animals. Three quarters of chicken fattening farms have given up operations in the last 20 years ⁷. Thus, more and more animals are concentrated on fewer and fewer farms.

The number of animals per farm that constitutes factory farming is not officially defined in figures. Based on threshold values from the building laws¹⁰ one could speak of factory farming as of the following numbers of animals:

• 600 cattle
• 560 sows
• 1.500 Fattening pigs
• 15.0000 Laying hens or turkeys for fattening
• 30.000 Chickens for fattening

Most people, however, already assume mass livestock farming at lower numbers. 90% of consumers already see facilities with 500 cattle, 1000 pigs and 5000 chickens as mass livestock farms¹¹.

Thelargest factory farm in Germany is in Brandenburg, with 1.6 million laying hens¹². One of Europe’s largest pig fattening facilities in Alt-Tellin gained sad notoriety in 2021 when almost all of the more than 60,000 animals kept there burned to death in a major fire¹³.

The largest pig farm in the world is in China, where 84,000 animals are kept in one facility. Every year, 2.1 million animals pass through these barns alone, where they live in multi-story high-rise buildings^14,15.

Emergence of factory farming in Germany

The emergence of factory farming is closely intertwined with industrialization. The industrial revolution was accompanied by the industrialization of agriculture.

Through mechanization, yields could be increased, through rail networks, in turn, imports and exports could be realized and, last but not least, production steps could be outsourced¹⁶.

Thus, more and more specialization took place. Instead of a classic farm with many different animals and its own fodder cultivation, farms emerged that specialized in one sub-sector and were dependent on buying or selling for the other sub-sectors^17,18.

Factory farming prevents animals from living out their many needs. They are forced to live in a barren, stimulus-poor environment.
In addition, they live in far too large groups in very confined spaces, while in some forms of husbandry they see virtually no daylight throughout their lives.

In connection with factory farming, the term “animal welfare” cannot be used under any circumstances.

The effects of intensive husbandry and profit maximization on the bodies of animals are evident in numerous ways. Therefore, only a few examples are listed here:

In the case of dairy cows, for example, the enormous, unnatural amounts of milk they have to give, housing that is not appropriate for the species, and frequent parturition lead to²²:

• Painful udder inflammation in an estimated 20 – 35 % of cows
• Laming
• Reproductive organ disorders
• Circulatory and behavioral disorders
• Susceptibility to injuries of the skin and hooves

In pigs, due to the conditions under which they are kept, there are²³:

• Bursitis
• Couch calluses due to the concrete slatted floors without bedding
• Claw injuries
• Stomach ulcers
• Fertility disorders in sows
• Cinstipation
• Behavioral disorders such as tail and ear biting, navel sucking, “belly nosing” of piglets, urine drinking, empty chewing and pole biting, and “griefing” (apathetic sitting in a “doggie” position with head down and eyes closed)²⁴

The natural behaviors and needs find no place in factory farming:

The natural social structures of animals find no place in factory farming. Forced to live with thousands of other animals in a confined space, normal social behavior cannot be lived out. The animals are stressed, prone to behavioral disorders and also aggression.

In addition, injuries are regularly caused by the housing equipment itself. Slipping on slippery slatted floors, standing on cage grids in laying hens or rabbits, calluses from hard floors and chewing on constricting bars are just a few examples.

However, factory farming also creates direct hazards for humans. In addition to the negative effects on the climate and the environment, which also affect humans indirectly, there are specific health hazards.

Pandemics and contaminations

Industrial animal husbandry favors pandemics. 75% of all pandemics are zoonoses⁴⁶. Zoonoses are diseases transmitted from animals to humans. They are transmitted either directly from wild animals to humans (through consumption of meat from wild animals or contact) or from wild animals to so-called farm animals⁴⁷.

With the ever-increasing presence of humans and the concomitant reduction of pristine wildlife habitats, humans and human-owned animals are coming into contact with novel wildlife viruses more frequently.

On the other hand, the huge stables themselves make perfect breeding grounds for viruses and other pathogens. Highly lethal viruses, which do not spread so quickly in wild animals because they kill individual animals quickly, spread rapidly in stables because the distances from one host to another could hardly be shorter.

Due to the fact that the animals here are genetically identical, new viruses can spread excellently in animal husbandry⁴⁹.

Apart from the danger to humans, complete animal stocks of thousands of animals are also repeatedly emergency slaughtered due to epidemics and pandemics – for example, due to avian influenza and swine fever⁵⁰.

“Food scandals” caused by contaminated meat, eggs or milk also occur time and again. So too the occurrence of BSE⁵¹, caused by feeding animal protein to cattle, or the Dixion scandal with eggs in 2011⁵².

Antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance is also a major threat. According to the WHO, this is one of the greatest threats to global health and food safety⁵³.

This is understood as the ability of microorganisms to resist antimicrobial treatment. In short, antibiotics no longer work because a bacterium has become multiresistant, i.e. has adapted⁵⁴.

Antibiotic resistance is attributed to overuse or misuse of antibiotics.

In factory farming, antibiotics are administered to promote growth (banned in the EU since 2006, but not yet in other parts of the world) and prevent disease⁵⁵. It is estimated that 70-80% of the world’s antibiotics are used in animal agriculture⁵⁶.

Mass use poses an immense threat. Multi-resistant germs can develop here and the effectiveness of antibiotics can be reduced.

If zoonotic, resistant bacteria are involved, there is a serious risk to humans, as treatment with antibiotics is ineffective from the outset.

In addition, it is also becoming increasingly difficult or impossible to treat numerous bacterially triggered diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, sepsis, gonorrhea or salmonella infections⁵⁷.

The bottom line is that common illnesses and minor injuries can once again have fatal courses, as they did in the days before the discovery of penicillin⁵⁸.

Hormones

In the EU, although the administration of growth hormones to animals is prohibited, sex hormones are routinely administered.

In pig breeding, for example, the hormone PMSG is administered to sows. This is obtained on horse farms from the blood of pregnant mares, whose foals are aborted as soon as the hormone is no longer present in the blood⁵⁹.

The sexual cycle of the pigs is thus synchronized for “improved” fertility management and the sows give birth to unnaturally large numbers of piglets⁶⁰.

Substances with hormonal effects, such as carcinogenic and mutagenic steroids, also end up on fields and in drinking water with the slurry⁶¹.

Since the hormones are present in the meat and milk of animals, they are absorbed by humans who consume them. According to studies, there is a connection with breast and prostate cancer in humans⁶².

Intensive livestock farming is anything but sustainable and is responsible for devastating environmental pollution and climate damage. In connection with industrial animal husbandry, there are:

• Rainforest clearing
• Species extinction
• Displacement of indigenous peoples
• Biodiversity loss
• Greenhouse gas emissions
• High water consumption
• Soil pollution
• Groundwater contamination

90% of the world’s crop yields are fed to animals. Soy accounts for a large proportion of this. It is used as a cheap source of protein in animal fattening as concentrated feed. 80% of the soy grown is processed into food for animals⁶³.

For the ever-increasing demand of the global market for animal products, huge areas of rainforest are being cleared for soy plantations and other pastures, especially in Brazil ⁶⁴.

The importance of rainforests for the world’s climate is enormous. They are called the green lungs of the world and store huge amounts of CO2 in their plants and soils^65.

They are also home to 90% of all primates, 80% of all insects, 40% of all birds and 60% of all plants on earth65 Furthermore, in the course of deforestation, indigenous peoples are being driven from their homes⁶⁷.

Environmental pollution is also manifested by significant emissions of, for example, harmful ammonia, gases that affect the climate, odors, dust, bioaerosols, fungi and bacteria⁶⁸.
Cows emit large amounts of the greenhouse gas methane. Methane is considered ten to twenty times more harmful to the climate than CO2. In fact, almost 40% of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions could be attributed to animal digestion alone⁶⁹.

Soy, corn and cereals for animals are mainly grown in huge monocultures. Outside the EU, the varieties are mostly genetically modified for higher yields⁷⁵. Since they are used for food for animals, the EU ban on genetic engineering for food does not apply.

Cultivation in monoculture strongly leaches the soil, as nutrients are removed very unilaterally, and is a major factor in the destruction of ecosystems and biodiversity⁷⁶. Especially since high amounts of pesticides are used in this area, which are harmful to humans, animals and the environment⁷⁷.

For their meat, milk and eggs in this country mainly

• Chickens
• Turkeys
• Pigs
• Cattle

are kept in industrial animal husbandry. But rabbits, goats and sheep are also kept in factory farms. For the latter, there are not even legal requirements on how they are to be kept.

There are also factory farms for fish and marine animals in the form of so-called aquacultures, which causes many separate problems for oceans and wild fish. Even for octopuses, which are actually solitary, the world’s first industrial factory farm was built in Spain⁷⁸.

Furthermore, intensive animal farms exist not only for the production of animal-based foods, but also for wool, fur, pearls and silk.
For example, huge farms of merino sheep in Australia, fur farms with mink, arctic foxes or dogs, breeding farms of oysters and factory farming of silkworms.

Intensive animal husbandry creates suffering, environmental damage, and health hazards.
But also in smaller farms the animals are subject to exploitation.

Only a form of husbandry in which the bodies of animals are not subjected to the profit interests of humans can offer animals a fulfilling life according to their own interests.

In the transformation phase until the end of factory farming, animals rescued from industrial production can live a peaceful and species-appropriate life at animal sanctuaries.

In addition, repurposing existing agricultural land for plant-based human food could save resources, feed more people, and reduce climate and environmental damage.

In order to avert the damage and dangers in all areas, the following is therefore necessary until the end of factory farming:

• a gradual reduction in the number of animals (Link zu englischen Artikel einfügen)
• Promoting the cultivation of plant proteins for human nutrition
• Conversion of agricultural land currently used for animal feed production
• the prohibition of prophylactic antibiotic use and hormone administration
• higher animal welfare standards that make life in the animal industry more bearable
• stronger controls and higher penalties for violations

Turning away from factory farming is in the interest of all living beings on this planet, but first and foremost of the animals living there, who are subjected to unspeakable suffering, pain and death.

FAQs

What is the argument against factory farming?

The main argument against industrial livestock farming is that the animals suffer greatly and are exploited. Factory farming also poses risks to humans due to pandemics, antibiotic resistance and hormones, and damages the environment and climate due to overfertilization, rainforest clearing and high water consumption.

How do animals feel in factory farming?

Animals suffer in intensive livestock farming. They have hardly any space, no access to fresh air and daylight. They cannot have family relationships and friendships, they often suffer from behavioral disorders, stress and injuries. The barn facilities are barren and uncomfortable and the animals are unable to meet their needs.

Where is factory farming most prominent?

The most factory farming in Germany is in Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and North Rhine-Westphalia. Worldwide, China is the country with the most pig farming (more than half of all pigs are kept there), the most beef is produced in the USA, Brazil and China, and most broiler chickens also live in the USA.

Can factory farming be abolished?

Almost 70% of Germans want a ban on factory farming. An abolition of factory farming is also necessary and possible: with a gradual reduction of animal stocks and a restructuring of agriculture by promoting the cultivation of plant proteins for human nutrition.