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See Also: Industrial agriculture


Industrial animal agriculture is a modern form of Intensive Farming that refers to the Industrialized production of Livestock , including Cattle , Poultry (in " Battery Farms ") and Fish . Most of the Meat , Dairy and Egg s available in Supermarket s are produced by industrialized agriculture.

Confined industrial animal agriculture of livestock and poultry are commonly referred to as Factory Farming Factory farming. Webster's Dictionary definition of Factory farming Encyclopaedia Britannica's definition of Factory farm and are criticised by opponents for the low level of animal welfare standards The Welfare of Intensively Kept Pigs and associated pollution and health issues. Commissioner points to factory farming as source of contamination Rebuilding Agriculture - EPA of UK

The practice is widespread in Developed Nation s. According to the Worldwatch Institute , 74 percent of the world's poultry, 43 percent of beef, and 68 percent of eggs are produced this way."State of the World 2006," Worldwatch Institute, p. 26.


History

The practice of industrial agriculture is a relatively recent development in the History Of Agriculture , and the result of scientific discoveries and technological advances. Innovations in agriculture beginning in the late 1800s generally parallel developments in Mass Production in other industries that characterized the latter part of the Industrial Revolution . The identification of Nitrogen and Phosphorus as critical factors in plant growth led to the manufacture of synthetic Fertilizer s, making possible more intensive types of agriculture. The discovery of Vitamin s and their role in animal Nutrition , in the first two decades of the 20th Century , led to vitamin supplements, which in the 1920s allowed certain livestock to be raised indoors, reducing their exposure to adverse natural elements. The discovery of Antibiotic s and Vaccine s facilitated raising livestock in larger numbers by reducing disease. Chemicals developed for use in World War II gave rise to synthetic Pesticide s. Developments in shipping networks and technology have made long-distance distribution of agricultural produce feasible.


Factory farming


See Also: Factory farming


Industrial raising of farm animals indoors under conditions of extremely restricted mobility is commonly known as ''factory farming'' Online source of McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms definition of "Factory farming" - McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th edition, published by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. It is done as part of industrial agriculture which is a set of methods that changes as laws and technology change knowm as industrial agriculture which is designed to produce the highest output at the lowest cost, using economies of scale, modern machinery, modern medicine, and Global Trade for financing, purchases and sales."Is factory farming really cheaper?" in ''New Scientist'', Institution of Electrical Engineers, New Science Publications, University of Michigan, 1971, p. 12."Factory farming," ''Encyclopaedia Britannica concise'', 2007.

Factory farms under United States Laws and regulations are called, ''Concentrated animal feeding operations'' (CAFOs), "Concentrated animal feeding operations" , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States Department of Health and Human Services., and in Canada they are called ''Confined animal feeding operations'' (CFOs) or ''intensive livestock operations'' (ILOs).[http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/nm/municipal/caldwl04b.htm "Managing the Transition Between Municipal and Provincial Governance as Required by the Regulations Under the Nutrient Management Act" Section:"Lessons From Michigan: Strategies For Regulating Intensive Livestock Operations- Right To Farm And The Role Of The State", Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs; Government of Ontario, Canada]

Factory farming is widespread in Developed Nation s. According to the Worldwatch Institute , 74 percent of the world's poultry, 43 percent of beef, and 68 percent of eggs are produced this way. In the U.S., four companies produce 81 percent of cows, 73 percent of sheep, 60 percent of pigs, and 50 percent of chickens;Testimony by Leland Swenson, president of the U.S. National Farmer's Union, before the House Judiciary Committee, September 12, 2000, cited in Scully, Matthew. ''Dominion'', St. Martin's Griffin, p. 29. according to its National Pork Producers Council, 80 million of its 95 million pigs slaughtered each year are reared in industrial settings.Scully, Matthew. ''Dominion'', St. Martin's Griffin, p. 29. Proponents of industrial agriculture argue for the benefits of increased efficiencies, while opponents argue that it harms the environment, creates health risks,12 and abuses animals. "Commissioner points to factory farming as source of contamination" , CBC, July 28, 2000.

The designation of CAFOs in the U.S. resulted from that country's 1972 Federal Clean Water Act, which was enacted to protect and restore lakes and rivers to a "fishable, swimmable" quality. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified certain animal feeding operations, along with many other types of industry, as point source polluters of groundwater. These operations were designated as CAFOs and subject to special anti-pollution regulation.Sweeten, John et al. "Fact Sheet #1: A Brief History and Background of the EPA CAFO Rule" . MidWest Plan Service, Iowa State University, July 2003.


Chickens

See Also: Chicken


chickens]]
In the United States , chickens were raised primarily on family Farm s until roughly 1960. Originally, the primary value in poultry was eggs, and meat was considered a byproduct of egg production. Its supply was less than the demand, and poultry was expensive. Except in hot weather, eggs can be shipped and stored without refrigeration for some time before going bad; this was important in the days before widespread refrigeration.

Farm flocks tended to be small because the hens largely fed themselves through foraging, with some supplementation of grain, scraps, and waste products from other farm ventures. Such feedstuffs were in limited supply, especially in the winter, and this tended to regulate the size of the farm flocks. Soon after poultry keeping gained the attention of agricultural researchers (around 1896), improvements in nutrition and management made poultry keeping more profitable and businesslike.

Prior to about 1910 , chicken was served primarily on special occasions or Sunday dinner. Poultry was shipped live or killed, plucked, and packed on ice (but not eviscerated). The "whole, ready-to-cook broiler" wasn't popular until the Fifties , when end-to-end refrigeration and sanitary practices gave consumers more confidence. Before this, poultry were often cleaned by the neighborhood Butcher , though cleaning poultry at home was a commonplace kitchen skill.

Two kinds of poultry were generally used: broilers or "spring chickens;" young male chickens, a byproduct of the egg industry, which were sold when still young and tender (generally under 3 pounds live weight), and "stewing hens," also a byproduct of the egg industry, which were old hens past their prime for laying. "The Dollar Hen", Milo Hastings , (1909)

The major milestone in 20th century poultry production was the discovery of vitamin D, which made it possible to keep chickens in confinement year-round. Before this, chickens did not thrive during the winter (due to lack of sunlight), and egg production, incubation, and meat production in the off-season were all very difficult, making poultry a seasonal and expensive proposition. Year-round production lowered costs, especially for broilers.

At the same time, egg production was increased by scientific breeding. After a few false starts (such as the Maine Experiment Station's failure at improving egg production"The Dollar Hen", Milo Hastings , (1909), success was shown by Professor Dryden at the Oregon Experiment StationDryden, James. Poultry Breeding and Management. Orange Judd Press, 1916..

Improvements in production and quality were accompanied by lower labor requirements. In the Thirties through the early Fifties, 1,500 hens was considered to be a full-time job for a farm family. In the late Fifties, egg prices had fallen so dramatically that farmers typically tripled the number of hens they kept, putting three hens into what had been a single-bird cage or converting their floor-confinement houses from a single deck of roosts to triple-decker roosts. Not long after this, prices fell still further and large numbers of egg farmers left the business.

Robert Plamondonhttp://www.plamondon.com reports that the last family chicken farm in his part of Oregon, Rex Farms, had 30,000 layers and survived into the Nineties . But the standard laying house of the current operators is around 125,000 hens.

This fall in profitability was accompanied by a general fall in prices to the consumer, allowing poultry and eggs to lose their status as luxury foods.

The Vertical Integration of the egg and poultry industries was a late development, occurring after all the major technological changes had been in place for years (including the development of modern broiler rearing techniques, the adoption of the Cornish Cross broiler, the use of laying cages, etc.).

By the late Fifties, poultry production had changed dramatically. Large farms and packing plants could grow birds by the tens of thousands. Chickens could be sent to content of Red Meat in the 1980s and 1990s further resulted in increased consumption of chicken.

Today, eggs are produced on large egg ranches on which environmental parameters are well controlled. Chickens are exposed to artificial light cycles to stimulate egg production year-round. In addition, it is a common practice to induce Molt ing through careful manipulation of light and the amount of food they receive in order to further increase egg size and production.

On average, a chicken lays one egg a day, but not on every day of the year. This varies with the breed and time of year. In 1900, average egg production was 83 eggs per hen per year. In 2000, it was well over 300. In the United States, laying hens are butchered after their second egg laying season. In Europe, they are generally butchered after a single season. The laying period begins when the hen is about 18-20 weeks old (depending on breed and season). Males of the egg-type breeds have little commercial value at any age, and all those not used for breeding (roughly fifty percent of all egg-type chickens) are killed soon after hatching. The old hens also have little commercial value. Thus, the main sources of poultry meat 100 years ago (spring chickens and stewing hens) have both been entirely supplanted by meat-type broiler chickens.

Some believe ''The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu is essentially a problem of industrial poultry practices.'' Grain international, non-profit foundation BBC news CNN Others have a more nuanced position. According to the poultry) is one way. Providing wild birds with restored wetlands so they naturally choose nonlivestock areas is another way that helps accomplish this. Political forces are increasingly demanding the selection of one, the other, or both based on nonscientific reasons. Breitbart News article ''Key West Chickens Raise Bird Flu Fears'' published April 13, 2006. Todau on line article ''Restoring wetlands key to curbing bird flu: UN'' published April 13, 2006.


Pigs

See Also: Intensive pig farming



Intensive piggeries (or hog lots) are a type of concentrated animal feeding operation specialized for the raising of Domestic Pig s up to slaughterweight. In this system of pig production grower pigs are housed indoors in group-housing or straw-lined sheds, whilst pregnant sows are confined in sow stalls ( Gestation crates) and give birth in farrowing crates.

The use of sow stalls (gestation crates) has resulted in lower production costs, however, this practice has led to more significant Animal Welfare concerns. Many of the world’s largest producers of pigs ( U.S. , Canada , Denmark ) use sow stalls, but some nations (e.g. the UK ) and some US States (e.g. Florida and Arizona ) have banned them.

Intensive piggeries are generally large warehouse-like buildings. Indoor pig systems allow the pig’s condition to be monitored, ensuring minimum fatalities and increased productivity. Buildings are ventilated and their temperature regulated. Most domestic pig varieties are susceptible to 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. In an intensive operation pigs will lack access to a wallow (mud), which is their natural cooling mechanism. Intensive piggeries control temperature through ventilation or drip water systems (dropping water to cool the system).

Pigs are naturally omnivorous and are generally fed a combination of grains and protein sources (soybeans, or Meat And Bone Meal ). Larger intensive pig farms may be surrounded by farmland where feed-grain crops are grown. Alternatively, piggeries are reliant on the grains industry. Pig feed may be bought packaged or mixed on-site. The intensive piggery system, where pigs are confined in individual stalls, allows each pig to be allotted a portion of feed. The individual feeding system also facilitates individual medication of pigs through feed. This has more significance to intensive farming methods, as the close proximity to other animals enables diseases to spread more rapidly. To prevent disease spreading and encourage growth, drug programs such as Antibiotic s, Vitamin s, Hormone s and other supplements are preemptively administered.

Indoor systems, especially stalls and pens (i.e. ‘dry,’ not straw-lined 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, odor remains a problem which is difficult to manage.

The way animals are housed in intensive systems varies. Breeding sows will spend the bulk of their time in sow stalls (also called gestation crates) during pregnancy or farrowing crates, with litter, until market.

Piglets often receive range of treatments including castration, tail docking to reduce tail biting, teeth clipped (to reduce injuring their mother's nipples and prevent later tusk growth) and their ears notched to assist identification. Treatments are usually made without pain killers. Weak Runt s may be slain shortly after birth.

Piglets also may be Wean ed and removed from the sows at between two and five weeks old {Link without Title} and placed in sheds. However, grower pigs - which comprise the bulk of the herd - are usually housed in alternative indoor housing, such as batch pens. During pregnancy, the use of a stall may be preferred as it facilitates feed-management and growth control. It also prevents pig aggression (e.g. tail biting, ear biting, vulva biting, food stealing). Group pens generally require higher stockmanship skills. Such pens will usually not contain straw or other material. Alternatively, a straw-lined shed may house a larger group (i.e. not batched) in age groups.

Many countries have introduced laws to regulate treatment of farmed animals. In the USA, the federal Humane Slaughter Act requires pigs to be stunned before slaughter, although compliance and enforcement is questioned.[http://www.awionline.org/pubs/Quarterly/summer2001/hsaintroduced.htm .


Cattle

See Also: Cattle


Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are Domesticated Ungulate s, a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the Family Bovidae . They are raised as Livestock for meat (called Beef and Veal ), Dairy Product s ( Milk ), Leather and as Draught Animal s (pulling Cart s, Plow s and the like). In some countries, such as India , they are honored in religious ceremonies and revered. It is estimated that there are 1.4 billion head of cattle in the world today.http://cattle-today.com/

Cattle are often raised by allowing herds to Graze on the grasses of large tracts of Rangeland called Ranches . Raising cattle in this manner allows the productive use of land that might be unsuitable for growing crops. The most common interactions with cattle involve daily Feeding , cleaning and Milking . Many routine husbandry practices involve Ear Tag ging, Dehorning , loading, Medical Operations , vaccinations and Hoof care, as well as training for agricultural shows and preparations. There are also some cultural differences in working with cattle- the cattle husbandry of Fulani men rests on Behavioural Techniques , whereas in Europe cattle are controlled primarily by physical means like Fence s.3

Breeders can utilise cattle husbandry to reduce M. Bovis Infection susceptibility by selective breeding and maintaining herd health to avoid concurrent disease.4 Cattle are farmed for beef, veal, dairy, leather and they are sometimes used simply to maintain grassland for wildlife- for example, in Epping Forest , England. They are often used in some of the most wild places for livestock. Depending on the breed, cattle can survive on hill grazing, heaths, marshes, moors and semi desert. Modern cows are more commercial than older breeds and having become more specialised are less versatile. For this reason many smaller farmers still favour old breeds, like the dairy breed of cattle Jersey .


=Examples












F.J. "Sonny" Faison, the CEO of Carrolls Foods in North Carolina, the second-largest hog producer in the U.S. (recently purchased by Smithfield Foods ) has said: "It's all a supply-and-demand price question ... The meat business in this country is just about perfect, uncontrolled supply-and-demand free enterprise. And it continues to get more and more sophisticated, based on science. Only the least-cost producer survives in agriculture."Scully, Matthew. ''Dominion'', St. Martin's Griffin, 2002, pp. 255-256. At one of Carrolls's farms, Farm 2105, twenty pigs are kept per pen, each pen is 7.5 square feet, and each confinement building or "hog parlor" holds 25 pens.Scully, Matthew. ''Dominion'', St. Martin's Griffin, pp. 259. As of 2002, the company kills one million pigs every 12 days.Scully, Matthew. ''Dominion'', St. Martin's Griffin, 2002, p. 258.

Carrolls' Farms switched to the total confinement of animals in 1974. The animals are better off, according to Faison: "They're in state-of-the-art confinement facilities. The conditions that we keep these animals in are much more humane than when they were out in the field. Today they're in housing that is environmentally controlled in many respects. And the feed is right there for them all the time, and water, fresh water. They're looked after in some of the best conditions, because the healthier and {Link without Title} content that animal, the better it grows. So we're very interested in their well-being — up to an extent."


Aquaculture

See Also: Aquaculture



Aquaculture is the cultivation of the natural produce of Water ( Fish , Shellfish , Algae and other aquatic organisms). The term is distinguished from Fishing by the idea of active Human effort in maintaining or increasing the number of organisms involved, as opposed to simply taking them from the wild. Subsets of aquaculture include Mariculture (aquaculture in the Ocean ); Algaculture (the production of Kelp / Seaweed and other Algae ); Fish Farming (the raising of Catfish , Tilapia and Milkfish in freshwater and brackish Ponds or Salmon in marine ponds); and the growing of Cultured Pearls . Extensive aquaculture is based on local photosynthetical production while intensive aquaculture is based on fish fed with an external food supply.

Aquaculture has been used since ancient times and can be found in many cultures. Aquaculture was used in China circa 2500 BC . When the waters lowered after River floods, some fishes, namely Carp , were held in artificial Lakes . Their brood were later fed using Nymph s and Silkworm feces, while the fish themselves were eaten as a source of Protein . The Hawaiian people practiced aquaculture by constructing Fish Pond s (see Hawaiian Aquaculture ). A remarkable example from Ancient Hawaii is the construction of a fish pond, dating from at least 1,000 years ago, at Alekoko . According to legend, it was constructed by the mythical Menehune . The Japan ese practiced cultivation of Seaweed by providing Bamboo poles and, later, nets and Oyster shells to serve as anchoring surfaces for Spores . The Romans often bred fish in ponds.

The practice of aquaculture gained prevalence in Europe during the Middle Ages , since fish were scarce and thus expensive. However, improvements in transportation during the 19th Century made fish easily available and inexpensive, even in inland areas, causing a decline in the practice. The first North American fish hatchery was constructed on Dildo Island , Newfoundland Canada in 1889, it was the largest and most advanced in the world.

Americans were rarely involved in aquaculture until the late 20th century, but California residents harvested wild kelp and made legal efforts to manage the supply starting circa 1900 , later even producing it as a wartime resource. (Peter Neushul, Seaweed for War: California's World War I kelp industry, Technology and Culture 30 (July 1989), 561-583)

In contrast to agriculture, the rise of aquaculture is a contemporary phenomenon. According to professor Carlos M. Duarte About 430 (97%) of the aquatic species presently in culture have been domesticated since the start of the 20th century, and an estimated 106 aquatic species have been domesticated over the past decade. The Domestication of an aquatic species typically involves about a decade of scientific research. Current success in the domestication of aquatic species results from the 20thcentury rise of knowledge on the basic Biology of aquatic species and the lessons learned from past success and failure. The stagnation in the world's Fisheries and overexploitation of 20 to 30% of marine fish species have provided additional impetus to domesticate marine species, just as overexploitation of land animals provided the impetus for the early domestication of land species

In the 1960s, the price of fish began to climb, as wild fish capture rates peaked and the human population continued to rise. Today, commercial aquaculture exists on an unprecedented, huge scale. In the 1980s, open-netcage salmon farming also expanded; this particular type of aquaculture technology remains a minor part of the production of farmed finfish worldwide, but possible negative impacts on wild stocks, which have come into question since the late 1990s, have caused it to become a major cause of controversy. {Link without Title}

In 2003, the total world production of fisheries product was 132.2 million tonnes of which aquaculture contributed 41.9 million tonnes or about 31% of the total world production. The growth rate of worldwide aquaculture is very rapid (> 10% per year for most species) while the contribution to the total from wild fisheries has been essentially flat for the last decade.

In the US, approximately 90% of all shrimp consumed is farmed and imported. {Link without Title} In recent years salmon aquaculture has become a major export in southern Chile , especially in Puerto Montt and Quellón , Chile's fastest-growing city.

Farmed fish are kept in concentrations never seen in the wild (e.g. 50,000 fish in a two-acre area. "Fuss Over Farming Fish", Alaska Science Forum, June 27, 1990 ) with each fish occupying less room than the average bathtub. This can cause several forms of pollution. Packed tightly, fish rub against each other and the sides of their cages, damaging their fins and tails and becoming sickened with various diseases and infections. This also causes stress. "Facts about Fish and Fish Farming", Advocates for Animals.

Some species of sea lice have been noted to target farmed coho and farmed Atlantic salmon specifically. University of Maine, Department of Animal, Veterinary and Aquaculture Sciences, "Sea Lice Information". Such parasites may have an effect on nearby wild fish. For these reasons, aquaculture operators frequently need to use strong drugs to keep the fish alive (but many fish still die prematurely at rates of up to 30% P. CIWF Trust report, "In Too Deep - The Welfare of Intensively Farmed Fish" (2002) ) and these drugs inevitably enter the environment.

The lice and pathogen problems of the 1990's facilitated the development of current treatment methods for sea lice and pathogens. These developments reduced the stress from parasite/pathogen problems. However, being in an ocean environment, the transfer of disease organisms from the wild fish to the aquaculture fish is an ever-present risk factor. OF THE EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF FISH PATHOLOGISTS 22 (2): 117-125 2002 .

The very large number of fish kept long-term in a single location produces a significant amount of condensed feces, often contaminated with drugs, which again affect local waterways. However, these effects are very local to the actual fish farm site and are minimal to non-measurable in high current sites.


=Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture

See Also: Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture


Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) is a practice in which the by-products (wastes) from one species are recycled to become inputs ( Fertilizer s, Food ) for another. Fed Aquaculture (e.g. Fish , Shrimp ) is combined with inorganic extractive (e.g. Seaweed ) and organic extractive (e.g. Shellfish ) aquaculture to create balanced systems for environmental sustainability (biomitigation), economic stability (product diversification and risk reduction) and social acceptability (better management practices). Chopin T, Buschmann AH, Halling C, Troell M, Kautsky N, Neori A, Kraemer GP, Zertuche-Gonzalez JA, Yarish C and Neefus C. 2001. Integrating seaweeds into marine aquaculture systems: a key toward sustainability. Journal of Phycology 37: 975-986.

"Multi-Trophic" refers to the incorporation of Species from different Trophic or Nutritional levels in the same system. Chopin T. 2006. Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture. What it is, and why you should care… and don’t confuse it with polyculture. Northern Aquaculture, Vol. 12, No. 4, July/August 2006, pg. 4. This is one potential distinction from the age-old practice of aquatic Polyculture , which could simply be the co-culture of different fish species from the same trophic level. In this case, these organisms may all share the same biological and chemical processes, with few Synergistic benefits, which could potentially lead to significant shifts in the Ecosystem . Some traditional polyculture systems may, in fact, incorporate a greater diversity of species, occupying several Niche s, as extensive cultures (low intensity, low management) within the same pond. The "Integrated" in IMTA refers to the more intensive cultivation of the different species in proximity of each other, connected by nutrient and energy transfer through water, but not necessarily right at the same location.

Ideally, the biological and chemical processes in an IMTA system should balance. This is achieved through the appropriate selection and proportions of different species providing different ecosystem functions. The co-cultured species should be more than just Biofilters ; they should also be harvestable crops of commercial value. A working IMTA system should result in greater production for the overall system, based on mutual benefits to the co-cultured species and improved Ecosystem Health , even if the individual production of some of the species is lower compared to what could be reached in Monoculture practices over a short term period. Neori A, Chopin T, Troell M, Buschmann AH, Kraemer GP, Halling C, Shpigel M and Yarish C. 2004. Integrated aquaculture: rationale, evolution and state of the art emphasizing seaweed biofiltration in modern mariculture. Aquaculture 231: 361-391.

Sometimes the more general term "Integrated Aquaculture" is used to describe the integration of monocultures through water transfer between organisms. For all intents and purposes however, the terms "IMTA" and "integrated aquaculture" differ primarily in their degree of descriptiveness. These terms are sometimes interchanged. Aquaponics , fractionated aquaculture, IAAS (integrated agriculture-aquaculture systems), IPUAS (integrated peri-urban-aquaculture systems), and IFAS (integrated fisheries-aquaculture systems) may also be considered variations of the IMTA concept.


=Shrimp

See Also: Shrimp farm


A s. About 75% of farmed shrimp is produced in Asia , in particular in China and Thailand . The other 25% is produced mainly in Latin America , where Brazil is the largest producer. The largest exporting nation is Thailand.

Shrimp farming has changed from traditional, small-scale businesses in Southeast Asia into a global industry. Technological advances have led to growing shrimp at ever higher densities, and Broodstock is shipped world-wide. Virtually all farmed shrimp are Penaeid s (i.e., shrimp of the Family '' Penaeidae ''), and just two species of shrimp—the '' Penaeus Vannamei '' (Pacific white shrimp) and the '' Penaeus Monodon '' (giant tiger prawn)—account for roughly 80% of all farmed shrimp. These industrial Monoculture s are very susceptible to Disease s, which have caused several regional wipe-outs of farm shrimp populations. Increasing Ecological problems, repeated disease outbreaks, and pressure and criticism from both NGO s and consumer countries led to changes in the industry in the late 1990s and generally stronger regulation by governments. In 1999, a program aimed at developing and promoting more Sustainable Farming practices was initiated, including governmental bodies, industry representatives, and environmental organizations.


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FURTHER READING

;Government regulation

;Commissions assessing industrial agriculture

;Proponent, neutral, and industry-related

;Criticism of factory farming