Environmental damage

Climate change

Factory farming intensifies climate change, releasing vast volumes of greenhouse gases.

We now know that man-made climate change is real and that it poses a great threat to the planet and its inhabitants. Current data suggest that we need to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in developed countries by at least 80% by 2050 in order to have a chance of staying below an average temperature rise of over 2ºC ¹. Factory farming is a major contributor to the climate change challenge, releasing vast volumes of greenhouse gases.

A wide variety of sources of carbon dioxide

Factory farming produces greenhouse gases throughout the 'supply chain'. For example, forest clearance to grow the crops and rear the animals reduces vital carbon 'sinks' and releases gases previously stored in the soil and vegetation.

An energy-hungry industry

Factory farming also requires large amounts of energy in order to function. This isn't just to rear the animals, but also to grow the vast amounts of feed they need. According to a study published by The Royal Society ², feed is the dominant energy user, taking around 75% of the total energy required. The rest is needed for factors such as heating, lighting and ventilation.

But carbon dioxide isn't the only issue

It's not just carbon dioxide that's the problem: gases including methane and nitrous oxide, also produced in significant quantities, are released through various sources including animal waste and fertiliser use. Livestock farming produces 37% and 65% of our global methane and nitrous oxide emissions respectively ³. Both gases are much more potent than carbon dioxide.

Climate change will make farming harder

Climate change is already harming food production ⁴ and these impacts are projected to increase over time, with potentially devastating effects. Higher temperatures, for example, could place further stress on water-scarce regions and make it harder to rear animals and grow food crops. According to the Convention on Biological Diversity ⁵ climate change may affect plant growth and production by promoting the spread of pests and diseases, increasing exposure to heat stress and encouraging soil erosion due to stronger winds.

But don't just take our word for it

Factory-farmed beef requires twice as much fossil fuel energy input as pasture-reared beef.

Pimentel (2004)⁶

LIVESTOCK FARMING ACCOUNTS FOR AROUND 14.5% OF OUR GLOBAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2013)⁷

Added heat stress, shifting monsoons, and drier soils may reduce yields by as much as a third in the tropics and subtropics, where crops are already near their maximum heat tolerance.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (2001)⁸

So what?

Factory farming intensifies climate change. By taking action against factory farming, we are not just creating a food and farming revolution; we are also tackling one of the world's greatest sustainability challenges.

Biodiversity loss

Factory farming endangers the natural world, threatening the survival of many animals and plants.

We rely on the health of ecosystems for our general well-being - they provide our food, our water, even our air ⁹. In 1997, a group of scientists stated that the services provided by our ecosystems, if properly valued, would be worth around US$33 trillion every year. Despite this, the survival of countless plant and animal species around the world is currently threatened ¹¹. While there is a range of factors driving this extinction crisis, a critical component is factory farming.

Toxic outputs

Factory farming can create a range of pollution problems, fragmenting and even destroying natural habitats. This can drive out or even kill the animals and plants that inhabit them. The range of wastes from factory farms can be particularly problematic, leaking into water courses and, in the worst cases, leaving vast "dead zones", where few species can survive. Some of the nitrogen will also become gaseous, turning into ammonia, for instance, which creates problems such as water acidification and ozone layer depletion.

The rush for land

The deliberate destruction of natural habitats is also a significant driver of biodiversity loss. Because the farm animals need to eat so much, we need a lot of land to grow the feed. In fact, around one third of the world's crop lands are already given over to growing animal feed ³. Unfortunately, because space for crops is already at a premium, we are seeing a push for land in parts of Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, including environmentally valuable grasslands and forests. Between 1980 and 2000, an area over 25 times the size of the UK was created in the developing world for new farmland - over 10% of this was at the expense of existing tropical forests. The scientists who discovered this concluded that intensive agriculture, rather than family farms, was the dominant driver ¹². The problem isn't just limited to tropical regions though; increasing pressure on crop lands around Europe, for example, is leading to the disappearance of a wide variety of plants and animals ¹³.

A changing climate

As covered in our climate change section, factory farming produces substantial greenhouse gas emissions - 14.5% of our total emissions in fact, which is more than the global transport sector ³. These emissions are intensifying climate change and making certain habitats increasingly hostile to live in. According to the Convention on Biological Diversity ⁵, climate change may affect plant growth and production by promoting the spread of pests and diseases, increasing exposure to heat stress and changing rainfall patterns, and encouraging soil erosion due to stronger winds.

But don't just take our word for it

169 marine areas have been identified as "dead zones" as of 2008 - up from 44 in 1995. One of the largest, found in the Gulf of Mexico, was estimated in 2002 to be the size of Massachusetts - 22000 square kilometres.

World Resources Institute (WRI) (2008)¹⁴

Current trends suggest that agricultural expansion in the Amazon for grazing and crops will see 40% of this fragile, pristine rain forest destroyed by 2050.

Nature (2006)¹⁵

Factory farming endangers the survival of other animals and plants, with impacts including pollution, deforestation and climate change.

FAO (2006)³

So what?

Factory farming endangers the natural world. By taking action against factory farming, we are also helping to preserve valuable ecosystems and the animals and plants that inhabit them.

Pollution

Factory farming pollutes environments, contaminating the natural world with a range of potentially lethal toxins.

With hundreds or often thousands of farm animals crammed together, factory farms can create a range of pollution problems. This can affect both natural environments and the animals and plants that inhabit them ¹⁶. In 2006, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) described livestock farming as '…one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems'³.

Lots of animals equals lots of feed

More traditional farming methods can be relatively efficient, converting grass and other waste products into useful food. But the "fast-growth, high-yield" factory-farming model is far less efficient, using substantial amounts of grain and protein-rich soya. These crops often receive large quantities of pesticides and nitrogen-and-phosphorus-rich fertiliser to boost plant growth ¹⁷. This has obvious uses, helping us to achieve higher plant yields, but a large amount of the fertiliser can be wasted and lost to the environment ¹⁸.

Lots of animals equals lots of waste

Farm animals produce large amounts of nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich waste on a daily basis. This can be a good thing - animal waste can be a useful form of manure, replenishing the soil with certain nutrients ¹⁹. But in factory farms, the concentration of animals indoors generally means that the waste is concentrated in relatively small areas. This waste should be properly managed and disposed of, but this isn't always the case, and it can find its way into the natural environment ²⁰.

A potential pollution disaster

Nitrogen and phosphorus can create significant problems: for example, they can leak into water courses. This can kill plants and animals, and even leave vast 'dead zones', where few species are able to survive. Some of the nitrogen will also become gaseous, turning into ammonia, for instance ²¹, which can acidify waters and deplete the ozone layer. And we can be directly affected too, as the quality of water supplies can be threatened ²².

And there are a host of other impacts

It's not just dangerous levels of nitrogen and phosphorus that arise from factory farms - they can produce a cocktail of contaminants including pathogens such as E. coli ²³, heavy metals and pesticides ¹⁸, which can endanger both our health and that of other animals and plants.

But don't just take our word for it

Some large farms can produce more raw waste than the human population of a large US city.

US Government Accountability Office (GOA) (2008)²⁴

Livestock farming accounts for over 60% of our global ammonia emissions.

FAO (2006)³

The livestock business is among the most damaging sectors to the earth's increasingly scarce water resources, contributing among other things to water pollution from animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilisers and the pesticides used to spray feed crops.

United Nations (UN) (2010)²⁵

So what?

Factory farming pollutes environments. By taking action against factory farming, we are not just creating a food and farming revolution; we are also tackling some of the world's most pressing environmental problems.

Resource waste

Factory farming wastes resources, requiring vast inputs but giving relatively little food energy in return.

Animal farming converts plant products into meat, milk and eggs. More traditional farming methods can be relatively efficient, converting grass and other waste products into useful food. But the 'fast-growth, high-yield' factory-farming model is far less efficient, using huge amounts of resources, such as water, grain and oil, but providing relatively little energy in return.

Protein factories in reverse

Although factory-farmed animals are given a lot of feed, much is wasted - animals cannot convert everything they eat into meat because the energy is used for other activities, such as moving around and keeping warm. In 2000, it was calculated that for every kilo of meat produced, many more kilos of animal feed are required ²⁶.

High resource use

Because so much feed is used for factory farming, a large amount of other resources are needed to grow it. One of these is land, much more of which is needed to produce meat or dairy products than to produce vegetables, cereals or fruit ²⁷. And then there's water, which is often used to irrigate the crops, particularly when they are grown in countries which have lower levels of rainfall. According to the WWF ²⁸, livestock production accounts for around 23% of all water used in agriculture - equivalent to more than 1,150 litres per person per day. A lot of energy is needed too, in particular for the manufacture of synthetic fertiliser and pesticide to grow feed crops ². Furthermore, these pesticides and fertilisers require large volumes of valuable resources such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Many of these resources could be put to better use, helping us to grow enough crops for the current world population, for example.

'Peak everything'

The word 'peak' is used in relation to a range of non-renewable resources such as oil and phosphorus ²⁹, both of which are used heavily in factory farming. Essentially it means the time when the availability of a resource reaches a peak, and supplies start to dwindle. While views vary on when these materials will run out, the simple reality is that there will come a time in the future when we do not have access to some of the materials that we have come to depend on for factory-farmed food. And because these materials are now found in limited countries, there are obvious geopolitical risks for countries that are net importers ³⁰.

But don't just take our word for it

On average, it takes around 6kg of plant protein to produce just 1kg of animal protein.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) (2003)²⁷

It takes over 15,000 litres of water to produce an average kilo of beef. This compares with around 1,200 litres for a kg of maize and 1800 for a kilo of wheat.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2010)³¹

In the US, chemical-intensive farming uses the equivalent of 1 barrel of oil in energy to produce 1 ton of maize - a major component of animal feed.

World Bank (2008)³²

So what?

Factory farming wastes resources. By taking action against factory farming, we are not just creating a food and farming revolution; we are also saving vital resources, which can be put to better use elsewhere.