Factory farming

Producing animal protein emphasizing greatest productivity per unit of building space and of food costs, and maximum immediate profit through intensive confinement, environment controls, and high technical inputs.

Farming was once man's most unpredictable occupation. A bewildering array of catastrophes could strike. Within the past thirty years, the technological inputs towards greater overall productivity has transformed agriculture. Large farmers have become as routinized and mechanized as manufacturing plants. These large commercial operations are known as factory farms. Farms of this sort supply over 75% of foods sold in the USA, and continental Europe is starting to catch up.

Animal factories require vertical links for marketing plus guaranteed sources of input. Risk of widespread disease or other breakdown must be counterbalanced with a large enough capital base to absorb losses.