The difference between a factory farm and a regular family farm is that a factory
farm, “also known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, Confined Animal
Feeding Operations, or CAFOs, factory farms use industrial production techniques to
raise thousands of animals in one location”
(http://www.preservationnation.org/forum/library/public-articles/factory-
farms.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/#.Vf9Wqp3BzGd ). A factory farm has:
Beef cattle -500 head on feed (feedlot), Dairy -500 cows, Hogs -1,000 head, Broiler
chickens -500,000 sold annually, and Egg laying chickens -100,000 – where as a regular
farm would have less head. Many family farms have struggled because of factory farms
taking over. Even though we can benefit
…show more content…
Small farms help “preserve genetic diversity by raising a wide range of animal
breeds” (http://www.beyondfactoryfarming.org/get-informed/industrial-vs-family-farms-
comparison). Factory farms reduce diversity in animals and only raise only a few
selected breeds. Factory farms can also affect the animals with transportation issues.
While small farms sell locally, factory farm animals “industrial-scale livestock
production is usually centralized and therefore requires extensive transportation”
(http://www.beyondfactoryfarming.org/get-informed/industrial-vs-family-farms-
comparison).
Since the government helped the rise of factory farms, they are the ones that will
need to make changes in the reign of this industry. Congress needs to restore sensible
farm programs that should put fair prices to crop farmers first. EPA needs to help set
rules and enforce them on the pollution problem. The Food and Drug Administration can
help with the overuse of antibiotics. The U.S Department of Agriculture needs to enforce
regulations that allow independent livestock producers fair access to markets
(http://www.beyondfactoryfarming.org/get-informed/industrial-vs-family-farms-