Where can I find good information about industrialized animal farming practices?

June 29, 2004 10:23 AM

Where can I find good information about industrialized animal farming practices, mainly in the states but also worldwide, online?

i am trying to find information on the practices used in industrialized animal farms and hard data associated with those practices. things like statistics for speed of production, use of antibiotics and the effect on the 'crop', containment and the like. basically, i am looking for unbiased information about practices used and the data supporting why they use the current practices be it monetary, law, etc.

i have found few things on google that give me solid information. most are reports put out by peta and other similar groups that have a strong bias in the information. any google sleuths out there that can point me in the right direction?

posted by chrisroberts to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

I suggest that you look to the suppliers for that kind of information. The folks peddling, say, cattle feeding systems, are going to tell you how much they can feed a cow each day. The peddlers of nutritional supplements are going to tell you how much per animal per day they recommend, etc.

There are animal-specific industry web sites, often tied to trade publications, that might be doorways to this kind of info. Those publications/web sites will also contain articles regarding feedlot data (animals per area, feed types and volumes, etc.). They're sponsored by the big ag suppliers, who have a vested interest in promoting the benefits of their products. It just so happens that, in the process of making comparisons, they reveal a lot of good data on the related practices.

And you might want to try the USDA web site. They'll give you statistics regarding market data and volume.
posted by yesster at 10:52 AM on June 29, 2004

Fast Food Nation has a lof of information about this stuff and is pretty open minded about the topic.

It is really just an overview though, and might not give you the detail you are looking for. It does have a good bibliography though, and that might be useful to deeper inquiry.
posted by shotsy at 11:35 AM on June 29, 2004

I found http://www.factoryfarm.org/ by watching The Meatrix to the end.
posted by scarabic at 1:21 PM on June 29, 2004

I posted this in the blue a while back. It's more anecdotal than statistical, but it's from the NYT, so it's an unbiased source.
posted by zpousman at 2:44 PM on June 29, 2004

BTW thanks for posting that article zpousman it's the article that got me buying grass-fed beef from local farmers.
posted by stbalbach at 4:01 PM on June 29, 2004

..the NYT link is archived pay-only now but it can still be found google under "power steer".
posted by stbalbach at 4:03 PM on June 29, 2004