Intensive pig farming, also known as pig factory farming, is the primary method of pig production, in which grower pigs are housed indoors in group-housing or straw-lined sheds, whilst pregnant sows are housed in gestation crates or pens and give birth in farrowing crates.
The use of gestation crates for pregnant sows has lowered birth production costs; Gestation crates or individual stalls are used as a way to nurture the animals and protect them first during pregnancy. Because the animals are vulnerable during this time, with some sows more aggressive than others, the practice of separating the animals in crates keeps them from fighting and injuring each other. In addition, the case has also been made that crates make it easier for hog farmers to monitor individual sow health and administer vaccines as needed.[1] Many of the world's largest producers of pigs (US, China, and Mexico) use gestation crates. The European Union has banned the use of gestation crates after the fourth week of pregnancy.[2] Intensive pig farmers often cut off tails, testes or teeth of pigs without anaesthetic.[3] Although combined use of an anesthetic and analgesic appears to be the most effective method for controlling pain associated with surgical castration, regulatory requirements and cost remain obstacles to practical application. Use of pharmaceuticals can burden producers with direct and indirect costs; the latter are associated with time delays and a potential need for additional veterinary assistance. Extra-label use of anesthetics and analgesics, while an option, is not ideal. Knowledge of effectiveness is not as great as it is for drugs approved for particular species and purposes. Extra-label use can also discourage research and development necessary to approve drugs for specific purposes.[4]
Sows in gestation crates.A young piglet, note the dismembered tail to the left.The result of tail docking a piglet.Indoor group pens, note the slatted floor designed for waste removal.
Intensive piggeries are generally large warehouse-like buildings or barns with little exposure to sunlight or the outdoors. Most pigs are officially entitled to less than one square meter of space each.[7] Indoor pig systems allow many more pigs to be monitored than historical methods, ensuring lowered cost, and increased productivity. Buildings are ventilated and their temperature regulated.
Most domestic pig varieties are susceptible to sunburn and heat stress, and all pigs lack sweat glands and cannot cool themselves. Pigs have a limited tolerance to high temperatures and heat stress can lead to death. Maintaining a more specific temperature within the pig-tolerance range also maximizes growth and growth-to-feed ratio. Indoor piggeries have allowed pig farming to be undertaken in countries or areas with unsuitable climate or soil for outdoor pig raising.[8] In an intensive operation, pigs no longer need access to a wallow (mud), which is their natural cooling mechanism. Intensive piggeries control temperature through ventilation or drip water systems.
The way animals are housed in intensive systems varies, and depending on economic viability, dry or open time for sows can sometimes be spent in indoor pens or outdoor pens or pastures.
The pigs begin life in a farrowing or gestation crate, a small pen with a central cage, designed to allow the piglets to feed from their mother, the sow, while preventing her from moving around, crushing her children, and reducing aggression.[9] The crates are so small that the pigs cannot turn around.[10][11]
Artificial insemination is much more common than natural mating, as it allows up to 30-40 female pigs to be impregnated from a single boar.[12] Workers collect the semen by masturbating the boars, then insert it into the sows via a raised catheter known as a pork stork.[13] Boars are still physically used to excite the females prior to insemination, but are prevented from actually mating.[14]
When confirmed pregnant, sows are moved to farrowing crates, with litter, and will spend their time in gestation crates from before farrowing until weaning.[15] Injections with a high availability iron solution often are given, as sow's milk is low in iron. Vitamin D supplements are also given to compensate for the lack of sunlight. As the sows' bodies become less capable of handling the large litter sizes encouraged by the industry, the frequency of stillborn piglets generally increases with each litter.[16] These high litter sizes have doubled the death rates of sows, and as many as 25%-50% of sow deaths have been caused by prolapse, the collapse of the sow's rectum, vagina, or uterus.[17] Pig breeders repeat the cycle of impregnation and confinement for about 3 to 5 years or until the sow succumbs to her injuries, at which point she is then slaughtered for low-grade meat such as pies, pasties and sausage meat.[18]
Of the piglets born alive, 10% to 18% will not make it to weaning age, succumbing to disease, starvation, dehydration, or being accidentally crushed by their trapped mothers.[19][20] This death toll includes the runts, unusually small piglets who are considered economically unviable and killed by staff, typically by blunt trauma to the head.[21][22]
Piglets often have the following performed: castration, earmarking, tattooing for litter identification, tail docking, teeth clipping to prevent cannibalism, instability, aggression, and tail biting that is induced by the cramped environment.[19][23][24] Because anesthetic is not legally mandated and often economically unviable, these invasive procedures are usually done without any pain killers.[25] While wild piglets remain with their mothers for around 12 to 14 weeks, farmed piglets are weaned and removed from their mothers at between two and five weeks old.[3][26] They are then placed in sheds, nursery barns or directly to growout barns. While capable of living 10–12 years, most pigs are slaughtered when they are 5–6 months old.[9][27]
Indoor systems allow for the easy collection of waste. In an indoor intensive pig farm, manure can be managed through a lagoon system or other waste-management system. However, waste smell remains a problem which is difficult to manage.[28] Pigs in the wild or on open farmland are naturally clean animals.[19]
In the UK there are around 11,000 pig farms. Approximately 1,400 of these units house more than 1,000 pigs and contain about 85% of the total UK pig population.[29][30] Because of this, the vast majority of the pork products sold in the UK come from intensive farms.[31]
In Australia, there were around 50,000 pig farms in Australia in the 1960s.[32] Today, there are fewer than 1,400, and yet the total number of pigs bred and slaughtered for food has increased.[33] As of 2015, 49 farms housed 60% of the country's total pig population.[34][35]
In the United States, three-quarters of pork comes from large operations with 5,000 or more pigs. The animals are most often kept in crowded confinement buildings without fresh air or sunshine. [36]
Intensive pig farming adversely affects the surrounding environment, mainly driven by the spread of feces and waste to surrounding neighborhoods, polluting air and water with toxic waste particles.
Regulation
Many countries have introduced laws to regulate treatment of intensively farmed pigs. However, there is no legal definition for free-range pigs, so retailers can label pork products as free-range without having to adhere to any standards or guidelines.[37] Only 3% of UK pigs spend their entire lives outdoors.[38]
European Union
As of 2016, The European Union legislation has required that pigs be given environmental enrichment, specifically they must have permanent access to a sufficient quantity of material to enable proper investigation and manipulation activities.[39]
Under the legislation tail docking may only be used as a last resort. The law provides that farmers must first take measures to improve the pigs' conditions and, only where these have failed to prevent tail biting, may they tail dock.[40]
United States
As of 2023, ten states have banned the use of gestation crates: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, and Rhode Island.[41]Proposition 12, a California ballot measure passed in 2018, also bans the sale of whole, uncooked pork cuts throughout the state if the producers are noncompliant with the ban, affecting both in-state and out-of-state pig farmers.[42]
Discharge from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) is regulated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2003, EPA revised the Clean Water Act to include permitting requirements and discharge limitations for CAFOs. In 2008[update], EPA revised the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) by requiring CAFOs to apply for permits before they can discharge manure.[43]
The federal Humane Slaughter Act requires pigs to be stunned before slaughter, although compliance and enforcement is questioned. There is concern from animal liberation and welfare groups that the laws have not resulted in a prevention of animal suffering and that there are "repeated violations of the Humane Slaughter Act at dozens of slaughterhouses".[44]
Criticism
Sows are often confined in gestation crates, which usually does not allow the pig to turn around or lay down comfortably. Confinement farming methods have come under increasing public scrutiny due to animal welfare and environmental concerns.Footage of a 'Quality Assured' labeled pig farm in EnglandStaff behaviour in pig farms.Slaughterhouse footage showing pigs shocked, beaten, and boiled alive.
Dispute regarding farming methods
Intensive piggeries have been negatively contrasted with free range systems. Such systems usually refer not to a group-pen or shedding system, but to outdoor farming systems. Those that support outdoor systems usually do so on the grounds that they are more animal friendly and allow pigs to experience natural activities (e.g., wallowing in mud, relating to young, rooting soil). Outdoor systems are usually less economically productive due to increased space requirements and higher morbidity, (though, when dealing with the killing of piglets and other groups of swine, the methods are the same.) They also have a range of environmental impacts, such as denitrification of soil[45][46] and erosion. Outdoor pig farming may also have welfare implications, for example, pigs kept outside may get sunburnt and are more susceptible to heat stress than in indoor systems, where air conditioning or similar can be used.[47][48] Outdoor pig farming may also increase the incidence of worms and parasites in pigs.[49][50] Management of these problems depends on local conditions, such as geography, climate, and the availability of skilled staff.
In certain environmental conditions – for example, a temperate climate – outdoor pig farming of these breeds is possible. However, there are many other breeds of pig suited to outdoor rearing, as they have been used in this way for centuries, such as Gloucester Old Spot and Oxford Forest. Following the UK ban of sow stalls, the British Pig Executive indicates that the pig farming industry in the UK has declined.[51] The increase in production costs[52] has led to British pig-products being more expensive than those from other countries, leading to increased imports and the need to position UK pork as a product deserving a price premium.
In 1997, Grampian Country Foods, then the UK's largest pig producer, pointed out that pigmeat production costs in the UK were 44 p/kg higher than on the continent. Grampian stated that only 2 p/kg of this was due to the ban on stalls; the majority of the extra costs resulted from the then strength of sterling and the fact that at that time meat and bone meal had been banned in the UK but not on the continent. A study by the Meat and Livestock Commission in 1999, the year that the gestation crate ban came into force, found that moving from gestation crates, to group housing added just 1.6 pence to the cost of producing 1kg of pigmeat. French and Dutch studies show that even in the higher welfare group housing systems – ones giving more space and straw – a kg of pigmeat costs less than 2 pence more to produce than in gestation crates.[40]
Sow breeding systems
Organized campaigns by animal activists have focused on the use of the gestation crate, such as the 'gestation crate' and farrowing crate. The gestation crate has now been banned in the UK, certain US states, and other European countries, although it remains part of pig production in much of the US and European Union.
The sows selected for breeding will be confined in a gestation crate. Hogs (males) are kept confined in caged crates of the same size for the duration of their lives in order to have their sperm repeatedly extracted by workers. In an intensive system, the sow will be placed in a crate prior to insemination and will stay there for at least the start of her pregnancy, depending on each country's laws and local regulations. The typical length of the sow's pregnancy is 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days. In certain cases, sows may spend this time in the crate. However, a variety of farming systems are used and the time in the crate may vary from 4 weeks to the whole pregnancy.
There is also current controversy and criticism of 'farrowing crates'. A farrowing crate houses the sow in one section and her piglets in another. It allows the sow to lie down and roll over to feed her piglets, but keeps her piglets in a separate section. This prevents the large sow from sitting on her piglets and killing them, which is quite common where the sow is not separated from the piglets.[53] Sows are also prevented from being able to move other than between standing and lying. Some models of farrowing crates may allow more space than others, and allow greater interaction between sow and young. Well-designed farrowing pens in which the sow has ample space can be just as effective as crates in preventing piglet mortality.[40] Some crates may also be designed with cost-effectiveness or efficiency in mind and therefore be smaller.
Authoritative industry data indicate that moving from sow stalls to group housing added 2 pence to the cost of producing 1kg. of pigmeat.[40]
Many English fattening pigs are kept in barren conditions and are routinely tail docked. Since 2003 EU legislation has required pigs to be given environmental enrichment and has banned routine tail docking. However, 80% of UK pigs are tail docked.[40]
In 2015, use of sow crates was made illegal on New Zealand pig farms.[54]
Effects on traditional rural communities
Common criticism of intensive piggeries is that they represent a corporatization of the traditional rural lifestyle. Critics feel the rise of intensive piggeries has largely replaced family farming. In large part, this is because intensive piggeries are more economical than outdoor systems, pen systems, or the sty. In many pork-producing countries (e.g., United States, Canada, Australia, Denmark) the use of intensive piggeries has led to market rationalization and concentration. The New York Times reported that keeping pigs and other animals in "unnaturally overcrowded" environments poses considerable health risks for workers, neighbors, and consumers.[55]
Waste management and public health concerns
Contaminants from animal wastes can enter the environment through pathways such as through leakage of poorly constructed manure lagoons or during major precipitation events resulting in either overflow of lagoons and runoff from recent applications of waste to farm fields, or atmospheric deposition followed by dry or wet fallout. Runoff can leach through permeable soils to vulnerable aquifers that tap ground water sources for human consumption. Runoff of manure can also find its way into surface water such as lakes, streams, and ponds. An example of weather induced runoff having been recently reported in the wake of Hurricane Matthew.[56]
Many contaminants are present in livestock wastes, including nutrients, pathogens, veterinary pharmaceuticals and naturally excreted hormones. Improper disposal of animal carcasses and abandoned livestock facilities can also contribute to water quality problems in surrounding areas of CAFOs.[5]
Exposure to waterborne contaminants can result from both recreational use of affected surface water and from ingestion of drinking water derived from either contaminated surface water or ground water. High-Risk populations are generally the very young, the elderly, pregnant women, and immunocompromised individuals. Dermal contact may cause skin, eye, or ear infections. Drinking water exposures to pathogens could occur in vulnerable private wells.[5]
At Varkensproefcentrum Sterksel in the Netherlands, a pig farm has been created that reuses its waste streams. CO2 and ammonia from the pig manure are reused to grow algae which in turn are used to feed the pigs.[57]
Another method to reduce the effect on the environment is to switch to other breeds of pig. The enviropig is a genetically modified type of pig with the capability to digest plant phosphorus more efficiently than ordinary pigs, though the enviropig program ended in 2012 and did not reach commercial distribution.
Nutrient-rich runoff from CAFO's can contribute to Algal blooms in rivers, lakes and seas. The 2009 harmful algal bloom event off the coast of Brittany, France was attributed to runoff from an intensive pig farm.[6]
North Carolina
As of 2010, North Carolina housed approximately ten million hogs, most of which are located in the eastern half of the state in industrialized concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). This was not the case 20 years ago. The initial horizontal integration and the vertical integration that arose in this industry resulted in numerous issues, including issues of environmental disparity, loss of work, pollution, animal rights, and overall general public health. The most remarkable example of swine CAFO monopoly is found in the United States, where in 2001, 50 producers had control over 70% of total pork production. In 2001, the biggest CAFO had just over 710,000 sows.[58]
Originally, Murphy Family Farms horizontally integrated the North Carolina system. They laid the groundwork for the industry to be vertically integrated. Today[when?] the hog industry in North Carolina is led by Smithfield Foods, which has expanded into both nationwide and international production.[59]
The environmental justice problems in North Carolina's agroindustrialization of swine production seem to stem from the history of the coastal region's economy, which has relied heavily on black and low-income populations to supply the necessary agricultural labor. The industry's shift from family-owned hog farms to factory hogging has contributed to the frequent targeting of these areas.[60]
This swine production and pollution that accompanies factory hogging is concentrated in the parts of North Carolina that have the highest disease rates, the least access to medical care, and the greatest need for positive education and economic development.[61] Since hog production has become consolidated in the coastal region of N.C., the high water tables and low-lying flood plains have increased the risk and impact of hog farm pollution. A swine CAFO is made up of three parts: the hog house, the “lagoon,” and the “spray field.” Waste disposal techniques used by small-scale traditional hog farms, like using waste as fertilizer for commercially viable crops, were adopted and expanded for use by CAFOs. Lagoons are supposed to be protected with an impermeable liner, but some do not work properly. This can cause environmental damage, as seen in 1995 when a lagoon burst in North Carolina. This lagoon released 25 million gallons of noxious sludge into North Carolina's New River and killed approximately eight to ten million fish.[62]
The toxins emitted by the swine CAFOs can produce a variety of symptoms and illnesses ranging from respiratory disorders, headaches, and shortness of breath to hydrogen sulfide poisoning, bronchitis, and asthma. The potential for spray field runoff or lagoon leakage puts nearby residents in danger of contaminated drinking water, which can lead to diseases like samonellosis, giardiasis, Chlamydia, meningitis, cryptosporidiosis, worms, and influenza.[63]
Denmark
Slaughterhouses and veterinarians are obliged to report pigs with injuries to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, which forwards cases to the police. There were relatively few cases before 2006, but by 2008-9 there were about 300 per year.[64] When there are visible injuries, it represents not only a problem in animal welfare but also the farmers economy because parts or occasionally the entire carcass has to be discarded.[64] From 2006 to 2009 the number of pigs with injuries caused by hard objects, such as planks or chains received by slaughterhouses rose significantly. It was possibly related to a system introduced in 2006, which rewards "the rushed loading of animals onto vehicles", as well as a sharp increase in uneducated Eastern European farm workers unaware of Danish laws.[64][65]
Gestation crates were sometimes used on some Danish farms to restrict the movement of sows during pregnancy, as documented by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver in a television programme for the UK's Channel 4 in 2009.[66] In other fields, such as bathing facilities for the pigs and floor material Danish requirements were higher than in the UK.[66]As of 2008[update] the practice was already prohibited for pigs exported to the UK.[67] The use of gestation crates became illegal in Denmark (as part of the EU) in 2013.[68][69][70]
New Zealand
According to Scoop, in 2009 the New Zealand pork industry was "dealt a shameful public relations slap-in-the-face after its former celebrity kingpin, Mike King, outed their farming practices as 'brutal', 'callous' and 'evil'" on a May episode of New Zealand television show Sunday. King condemned the "appalling treatment" of factory farmed pigs. King observed conditions inside a New Zealand piggery, and saw a dead female pig inside a gestation crate, lame and crippled pigs and others that could barely stand, pigs either extremely depressed or highly distressed, pigs with scars and injuries, and a lack of clean drinking water and food.
Sow crate farming should be illegal and we should outlaw it right now. It is absolutely disgusting and I am sorry that I was part of it
In animal husbandry, a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is an intensive animal feeding operation (AFO) in which over 1,000 animal units are confined for over 45 days a year. An animal unit is the equivalent of 1,000 pounds of "live" animal weight. A thousand animal units equates to 700 dairy cows, 1,000 meat cows, 2,500 pigs weighing more than 55 pounds (25 kg), 10,000 pigs weighing under 55 pounds, 10,000 sheep, 55,000 turkeys, 125,000 chickens, or 82,000 egg laying hens or pullets.
An anaerobic lagoon or manure lagoon is a man-made outdoor earthen basin filled with animal waste that undergoes anaerobic respiration as part of a system designed to manage and treat refuse created by concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Anaerobic lagoons are created from a manure slurry, which is washed out from underneath the animal pens and then piped into the lagoon. Sometimes the slurry is placed in an intermediate holding tank under or next to the barns before it is deposited in a lagoon. Once in the lagoon, the manure settles into two layers: a solid or sludge layer and a liquid layer. The manure then undergoes the process of anaerobic respiration, whereby the volatile organic compounds are converted into carbon dioxide and methane. Anaerobic lagoons are usually used to pretreat high strength industrial wastewaters and municipal wastewaters. This allows for preliminary sedimentation of suspended solids as a pretreatment process.
The pig, also called swine or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus Sus. It is considered a subspecies of Sus scrofa by some authorities, but as a distinct species by others. Pigs were domesticated in the Neolithic, both in East Asia and in the Near East. When domesticated pigs arrived in Europe, they extensively interbred with wild boar but retained their domesticated features.
Smithfield Foods, Inc., is an American pork producer and food-processing company based in Smithfield, Virginia. It operates as an independent subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate WH Group. Founded in 1936 as the Smithfield Packing Company by Joseph W. Luter and his son, the company is the largest pig and pork producer in the world. In addition to owning over 500 farms in the US, Smithfield contracts with another 2,000 independent farms around the country to raise Smithfield's pigs. Outside the US, the company has facilities in Mexico, Poland, Romania, Germany, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. Globally the company employed 50,200 in 2016 and reported an annual revenue of $14 billion. Its 973,000-square-foot meat-processing plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina, was said in 2000 to be the world's largest, slaughtering 32,000 pigs a day.
A gestation crate, also known as a sow stall, is a metal enclosure in which a farmed sow used for breeding may be kept during pregnancy. A standard crate measures 6.6 ft x 2.0 ft.
Savaging is a term used in the study of ethology that refers to aggressive behaviour displayed by the mother towards the offspring. Aggressive behaviour includes being rough with, injuring, biting, attacking, crushing and killing of the offspring. While savaging behaviour has been seen in multiple species, it is predominantly demonstrated in domestic pigs. As the definition of savaging is so broad, research on the prevalence of savaging behaviour varies with reports of little savaging of offspring to savaging of offspring up to the 20th percentile. Prevalence of aggressive, non-fatal savaging is greater in gilts, or females who have not yet previously farrowed, as piglet-focused aggression is more frequent in young animals than sows, adult females who have previously given birth. Occurrence of savaging demonstrated by sows is greater if the sow has previously savaged her offspring either as a gilt or sow. Savaging behaviour usually occurs during the first two days after parturition. Prevalence of savaging is similar among first and second farrowing cycles. Savaging behaviour has a significant impact on both agricultural economy and animal welfare which is why it is currently a subject of interest in the pig industry.
Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of crops and animals and animal products like eggs or milk. The methods of industrial agriculture include innovation in agricultural machinery and farming methods, genetic technology, techniques for achieving economies of scale in production, the creation of new markets for consumption, the application of patent protection to genetic information, and global trade. These methods are widespread in developed nations and increasingly prevalent worldwide. Most of the meat, dairy, eggs, fruits and vegetables available in supermarkets are produced in this way.
Intensive animal farming, industrial livestock production, and macro-farms, also known as factory farming, is a type of intensive agriculture, specifically an approach to animal husbandry designed to maximize production while minimizing costs. To achieve this, agribusinesses keep livestock such as cattle, poultry, and fish at high stocking densities, at large scale, and using modern machinery, biotechnology, and global trade. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption.
Pig farming, pork farming, or hog farming is the raising and breeding of domestic pigs as livestock, and is a branch of animal husbandry. Pigs are farmed principally for food and skins.
Mercy For Animals (MFA) is an international nonprofit animal protection organization founded in 1999 by Milo Runkle. MFA's mission is to "prevent cruelty to farmed animals and promote compassionate food choices and policies."
Meet Your Meat is a 2002 documentary about factory farming created by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), narrated by Alec Baldwin, and directed by Bruce Friedrich and Cem Akin. The documentary explores the treatment of animals in modern animal agriculture. The film runs 12 minutes long.
New Zealand Open Rescue is an animal rights advocacy organisation, formed in 2006, by a collective of animal rights activists from across New Zealand. The organisation uses non-violent direct action and civil disobedience to promote awareness and create change on the issue of factory farming, most notably of pigs and egg laying hens.
Animal welfare in New Zealand is governed by the Animal Welfare Act 1999 and a number of organisations actively advocate for both animal welfare and animal rights. Pest control and farming practices have been scrutinised with respect to animal welfare issues. The legality of killing dogs and cats for consumption has also been criticized.
Risk assessment for organic swine health is the process of evaluating the likelihood and potential impact of various factors that may affect the health and well-being of organic swine. Risks associated with organic swine farming may differ to those associated with non-organic swine farming, and is of increasing relevance due to growth in the sector. While organic swine farming makes up a small share of U.S. swine farming overall, numbers have increased significantly in recent years. Additionally, non-certified organic swine herds are not accounted in official statistics. Consumer demand, stemming from the larger organic agriculture movement has helped spur growth in this industry.
Animal welfare in the United Kingdom relates to the treatment of animals in fields such as agriculture, hunting, medical testing and the domestic ownership of animals. It is distinct from animal conservation.
Animal welfare and rights in South Africa is about the treatment of and laws concerning non-human animals in South Africa.
The environmental impact of pig farming is mainly driven by the spread of feces and waste to surrounding neighborhoods, polluting air and water with toxic waste particles. Waste from pig farms can carry pathogens, bacteria, and heavy metals that can be toxic when ingested. Pig waste also contributes to groundwater pollution in the forms of groundwater seepage and waste spray into neighboring areas with sprinklers. The contents in the spray and waste drift have been shown to cause mucosal irritation, respiratory ailment, increased stress, decreased quality of life, and higher blood pressure. This form of waste disposal is an attempt for factory farms to be cost efficient. The environmental degradation resulting from pig farming presents an environmental injustice problem, since the communities do not receive any benefit from the operations, and instead, suffer negative externalities, such as pollution and health problems. The United States Agriculture and Consumer Health Department has stated that the "main direct environmental impact of pig production is related to the manure produced.
Iowa Select Farms is a pork production operation headquartered in Iowa Falls, the largest in Iowa, and the fourth largest in the United States. It grew in the 1970s, was officially founded in 1992 and as of 2023 produced more than 5 million pigs on 800 CAFOs in 50 Iowa counties. Throughout the 1990s there was rural backlash against the expansion of factory farming with its negative environmental impact of pig farming, but Iowa's hog industry, led by Hansen, has successfully lobbied state politicians to roll back regulations pertaining to CAFOs.
Muyuan Foodstuff is a Chinese food company specializing in pork production. As of 2023, Muyuan raises approximately 60 million and slaughters 13 million pigs per year. They operate the world's largest pig farm.
Feedback is a common practice used in the pork industry where infected deceased pigs and their manure are fed to breeding pigs. It is also called controlled oral exposure or sometimes oral controlled exposure. It is done in an attempt to make the breeding pigs garner some degree of immunity to circulating diseases. There is no standard protocol, resulting in some swine researchers calling the procedure potentially risky and noting that it is often done in an unsafe manner. The practice has also been criticized by animal welfare and animal rights groups calling it disturbing and/or unethical.
↑ G. Galvin; K.D. Casey S.A. Lowe; N.A. Hudson; M.A. Atzeni; E.J. McGahan (12 October 2003). "Spatial Variability Of Odor Emissions From Anaerobic Piggery Lagoons In Queensland". Air Pollution from Agricultural Operations III, Proceedings of the 12–15 October 2003 Conference (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina USA). St. Joseph, MI: American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. pp.292–302. 701P1403. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2008.
↑ Roepstorff A, Murrell KD (May 1997). "Transmission dynamics of helminth parasites of pigs on continuous pasture: Ascaris suum and Trichuris suis". Int. J. Parasitol. 27 (5): 563–72. doi:10.1016/S0020-7519(97)00022-2. PMID9193950.
↑ Ladd, Anthony; Edwards, Bob (2002). "Corporate Swine, Capitalist Pigs: A Decade of Environmental Injustice in North Carolina". Social Justice. 29 (3): 26–46.
↑ Wimberley, Ronald C., Morris, Libbly V. (1997). The Southern Black Belt: A National Perspective. Lexington: University of Kentucky.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ Raine J. Environmental Justice Issues of the North Carolina Swine Industry [Masters thesis]. Durham, NC:Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment, 1998.
↑ Orlando, Laura. McFarms Go Wild, Dollars and Sense, July/August 1998, cited in Scully, Matthew. Dominion, St. Martin's Griffin, p. 257.
↑ Donham K. (1998). "The impact of industrial swine production on human health". In Thu K, Durrenberger E (eds.). Pigs, Profits, and Rural Communities. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. pp.73–83.
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