Comment on Question

Responses (3) to "How are America's farmers and ranchers addressing concerns about animal wel"

1. Dairygirl1962, September 21, 2011

   To address your question about factory farms, this is a term that an activist group has coined, and it is used frequently and has been picked up by others. Farms are 98% owned by family and family members. Michael Pollan has some good ideas about eating locally and healthy, but some of his perceptions about agriculture are not backed up by fact, just fiction. Please go and visit a local dairy farm and find out how much time they take in caring for their animals and their land. Milk production would be very low and crop yields as well if farmers didn't take care of their animals. Milk and crop production is on the high side right now, depending on the area you live in. Farmers are conscientious about what they are doing each and every day and feel comfortable feeding their families and consumers with their healthy, economical products.

2. qanimal, September 21, 2011

   While I agree with the idea that the term factory farm has been overused and become a political bombshell, I think the idea of factory farms or "concentrated animal feeding operations" (CAFOs). I don't believe this question implied that farmers do not care about their animals because by participating on this forum it is clear that they do. Instead, I think the question is getting more at the animal welfare aspect of this question. Should dairy cows be fed mainly silage with thousands of other cows and walk around slippery floors to be milked two or three times a day? Or should dairy cows be allowed to graze on pastures and come in to be milked? This is not an easy question to address, however as someone who has visited several types of dairy farms and worked on dairy farms I do believe the industry has some problems with animal welfare issues. Manure management, access to the outside, and consumer concerns with animal treatment (downer cows, antibiotics) are just a few to list. So truly I believe this question was looking to see what some farmers are doing to address these concerns to more sustainable practices.

3. Ifarm2, October 31, 2011

   Factory farm? Interesting if a CAFO makes you a factory farm and you have as few as 750 head, you are a medium CAFO. With 2,500 a head you are a large CAFO. At 4,800 head, my wife and I must be one of those terrible factory farms. We take care of these hogs ourselves except for a little part time help when we load out and wash out the buildings. Yes, we wash out buildings to reduce disease. The pigs always have fresh feed and water available and the manure falls into the pit away from the pigs so they stay clean. Pigs are healthier so we use less medicine and our death loss is greatly reduced. Also, as a confinement site, we are not allowed to discharge manure from our site. I just wish the whole truth was told by people like Michael Pollon.