The Pros And Cons Of Livestock Farming

The livestock farmer is starting to realize that it is in their bottom line best interest to treat their animals humanely.

Livestock farming “is breeding animals solely to maximize production of meat, milk and eggs” (Weeks). Historically, the livestock farmer (including egg producers); in the United States and around the world, has treated the animals that they are raising and slaughtering horribly. Over the last thirty years thanks to animal welfare activists, the abysmal treatment of these animals is being made widely known. Slowly but surely, the consumer is making their preference for more civilized care of our food sources known to the meat industry.

“A study funded by the American Farm Bureau Federation found that 95 percent of

Temple Grandin thought early on that properly designed equipment would solve many of the problems and aid animals, but discovered that sound management was especially key and systems must be in place to ensure people are using effective equipment (Weeks).

I developed an objective [scoring] system for slaughter farms that uses numbers to measure how well they perform…The scoring system forces people to manage the process. When we put that [scoring] system in place for McDonald’s in 1999, I saw more improvement than I had seen in 25 years before that. McDonald’s required plants to get good scores, or it would drop them as suppliers. Large buyers have the economic power to enforce standards (Weeks).

There is an industry standard organization for the chicken industry called the National Chicken Council that set forth guidelines called the NCC Animal Welfare Guidelines and Audit Checklist. Certain key points on their checklist

It would seem to any reasonable person that most of the items on this checklist are just common sense. Of course a chicken should be dead before being scalded. Why does the chicken processing industry need to be reminded and audited regarding something so basic? However, we do have companies that are working toward insuring humane third party audited standards.

Chicken processor family-owned Foster Farms has “announced that its fresh chicken products have earned humane certification from American Humane Association” (Foster). This program created in the early 2000’s submits all of the Western Foster Farm operations to stringent audits by the American Humane Certification program and its independent auditor Validus (Foster). “’We know that consumers want more choices for humanely raised poultry,’ said Ira Brill, Foster Farms Director of Corporate Communications. ‘Our longtime commitment to the welfare of our birds has made this possible and certification provides consumers with that assurance.’” (Foster). “The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association agrees chickens and other animals raised for food should be treated humanely while meeting the safest food standards for consumers” (Starkey). Not everyone is on board with the better welfare equals better profits