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33 Main Pros & Cons Of Factory Farming

“I’ve always had issues with factory farming. That was always something

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that bothered me.”
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Paul Wesley, Actor
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Advantages & Disadvantages of

Factory Farming

FactoryFarming

Pros Cons

Cheapmeatproduction Animalsaretreatedquitepoorly
Ratheruncomplicatedforfarmers Animalsmightbullyeachother
Highprofits Low-qualitymeat
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Spaceoptimization Animalsareraisedtounnaturalgrowth
Processesaroundfactoryfarmingareoptimized Fastfamilyseparation
Ensureslargevarietyofmeatproducts Someanimalsarekilledsolelyduetotheirgender
Fastmeatproduction Unnaturalformofanimalraising
Highlevelofautomation Geneticengineeringmightbeusedforfactoryfarming Terms & Privacy Policy
Maystrengthenthelocaleconomy Fractionoffatinthemeatisquitehigh
Meatsupplyforlargenumberofpeople Meatmaybecontaminatedwithantibiotics

Almostnogeographiclimitations Highlevelofwaterconsumption
Meatproductionallyearlong Soilpollution A!liate Disclosure
Groundwaterpollution
Globalwarming
Joblossesthroughautomation As an associate, I may earn
Smallfarmersmaygooutofbusiness
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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 Sites Designed to Sell
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under which circumstances they have to grow up as long as the
profits are high. OPEN
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Animal rights activists often claim that factory farming should be

abandoned since animals would su!er quite a lot from the adverse
conditions in those farms.

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

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Advantages of Factory Farming

1. Cheap meat production

2. Rather uncomplicated for farmers
3. High profits
4. Space optimization
5. Processes around factory farming are optimized
6. Ensures large variety of meat products
7. Fast meat production
8. High level of automation
9. May strengthen the local economy
10. Meat supply for large numbers of people
11. Almost no geographic limitations
12. Meat production all year long

Cheap meat production

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.

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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.

Rather uncomplicated for farmers

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 e!orts anymore.

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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.

High profits

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.

Space optimization

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Through factory farming, also the space for raising cattle and other
animals is used in a quite e"cient 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 e"ciency standpoint, factory farming has an

important edge over organic farming since many more animals can
be raised on a given area of land.

Processes around factory farming are optimized

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.

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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
e"cient 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.

Ensures large variety of meat products

Since many di!erent animals can be raised in factory farms, a large

variety of di!erent meat products can be ensured for the customer.

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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.

Fast meat production

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.

High level of automation

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 sta!
of those factory farms.

May strengthen the local economy

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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.

Meat supply for large numbers of people

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.

Almost no geographic limitations

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.

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This makes it quite easy to construct those farms in many di!erent

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 e"cient manner.

Meat production all year long

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.

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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

1. Animals are treated quite poorly

2. Animals might bully each other
3. Low-quality meat
4. Animals are raised to unnatural sizes
5. Fast family separation
6. Some animals are killed solely due to their gender
7. Unnatural form of animal raising 

8. Genetic engineering might be used for factory farming

9. Fraction of fat in the meat is quite high
10. Meat may be contaminated with antibiotics
11. High level of water consumption
12. Soil pollution
13. Groundwater pollution
14. Global warming
15. Spread of diseases