Ben Goldsmith

Executive Director, Farm Forward

1960
According to the USDA, nearly 4 million farms operated in the United States.

1961
2.5 billion chickens, turkeys, cattle, and hogs were slaughtered annually.

1962
“The modern layer is, after all, only a very efficient converting machine, changing the raw material—feedstuffs—into the finished product—the egg—less, of course, maintenance requirements.” —Farmer & Stockbreeder

1976
“Forget the pig is an animal. Treat him just like a machine in a factory. Schedule treatments like you would lubrication. Breeding season like the first step in an assembly line. And marketing like the delivery of finished goods.” —Hog Farm Management

1989
“Broilers blooming to market size 40 percent quicker, miniature hens cranking out eggs in double time, a computer "cookbook" of recipes for custom-designed creatures—this could well be the face of animal production in the 21st century.” —U.S. Department of Agriculture

2007
Only 2.2 million farms remain.

2008
9.5 billion chickens, turkeys, cattle, and hogs were slaughtered annually. Industrial animal agriculture began in the 1920s and grew largely unchecked and out of public view.

In the last 50 years, industrial methods have taken over virtually all animal agriculture, replacing long traditions of animal husbandry with factory farming. Conscientious consumers have cut down on the amount of meat, eggs and dairy they eat, or they have insisted on buying from local family farms. For the first time in more than half a century, the number of farms in the United States is beginning to rise.