Water Usage by Factory Farms & Slaughterhouses
How much water is consumed on factory farms? Broadly estimated, livestock water consumption on farms accounts for about 2% of total national water consumption.[1-3] The USGS reports that in 2015, livestock water withdrawals were estimated at 2 billion gallons of water per day (Bgal/d), with 62% of total withdrawals coming from groundwater.[4] Factory farms, and […]
Externalities Overview
What is an externality? An externality is “a consequence of an economic activity that affects unrelated third parties. The externality can be either positive or negative. Thus, an externality is a transaction spillover that creates a cost or a benefit not transmitted through market prices.”[1] In slightly different words, an externality “affects the welfare of […]
Clean Water Act Animal Ag Regulations
Which agency regulates water pollutants from industrial animal ag? The Clean Water Act (CWA) authorizes the EPA to implement the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), a program that prohibits any point source from discharging pollutants into “waters of the United States” unless they have an NPDES permit.[1,2] Point sources are commonly understood to be […]
Slaughterhouse Numbers & Locations
5 KEY POINTS – Slaughterhouse Numbers & Locations 1. There are ~350 poultry slaughter plants under federal inspection, accounting for over 99% of total poultry slaughter. 2. There are ~1000 livestock slaughter plants under federal inspection. 3. There are approximately 1,950 non-federally inspected poultry and livestock slaughterhouses. 4. Including plants that do further processing, there […]
Factory Farm Worker Totals
What are the BLS categories that closely align with factory farm workers? The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) does not try to determine the number of workers specifically on factory farms. Rather, the BLS uses the term “Animal Production and Aquaculture” (NAICS 112) as a classification of industries that “raise or fatten animals for the […]
Animal Ag Commodities
How is commodity production connected to animal ag? The key economic characteristic of animal-sourced foods is that they are largely made up of commodities. Live animals along with their end products – pork, milk, eggs, chicken, beef – are generally viewed and sold as commodities. What is a commodity? A commodity is an item that […]
Mutilations & Amputations – Dairy Cows
What are the common mutilations and amputations performed on dairy cows? The most common amputations performed on dairy cows are disbudding, dehorning, teat removal, tail docking, and for some male calves, castration.[1] USDA (2018) Dairy 2014: Health and Management Practices on U.S. Dairy Operations, Report 3, pp. 62-78. What is “disbudding” and “dehorning” of cows? […]
Mutilations & Amputations – Cattle
What are the common mutilations and amputations performed on beef cattle? Typical procedures performed on cattle raised for meat include castration, disbudding, dehorning, branding, ear tagging, ear notching, and sometimes tail docking.[1,2] Castration and dehorning are part of a group of procedures commonly referred to as “preconditioning practices.”[3] USDA (May 2020) Beef 2017: Beef Cow-calf […]
Mutilations and Amputations – Pigs
What are the common mutilations and amputations performed on pigs? Common procedures include tail amputation, castration, teeth clipping, ear-notching, and ear tagging.[1-3] In the industrial animal ag system they are collectively known as “processing.”[4,5] Commercial operations commonly perform these procedures at the same time or within days of each other.[6,7] Temple Grandin (ed.) (2021) Painful […]
Groundwater & Aquifer Depletion
What is groundwater and what are aquifers? Groundwater is water that underlies the earth’s surface. It makes up ~98-99% of all freshwater on earth.[1] Aquifers are permeable underground structures where groundwater flows, accumulates in usable quantities, and is relatively accessible from above ground.[2,3] Margat, J. & Van der Gun, J. (2013). Groundwater around the […]