These comfortable assumptions bear little relation to the
realitiesofmodernfarming.Forastart,farmingisnolonger
controlledbysimplecountryfolk.Duringthelastfiftyyears,
largecorporationsandassembly-linemethodsofproduction
haveturnedagricultureintoagribusiness.Theprocessbegan
when big companies gained control of poultry production,
once thepreserve of thefarmer’s wife. Today, fifty large
corporations virtually control all poultryproduction in the
UnitedStates.Inthefieldofeggproduction,wherefiftyyears
ago a big producermight have had three thousand laying
hens,todaymanyproducershavemorethan500,000layers,
and thelargesthaveover 10 million.Theremaining small
producershavehadtoadoptthemethodsofthegiantsorelse
gooutofbusiness.Companiesthathadnoconnectionwith
agriculturehavebecomefarmersonahugescaleinorderto
gain tax concessions or to diversify profits. Greyhound
Corporationnowproducesturkeys,andyourroastbeefmay
have come from John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance
orfromoneofadozenoilcompaniesthathaveinvestedin
cattlefeeding, buildingfeedlots thathold 100,000or more
cattle.^1
Thebigcorporationsandthosewhomustcompetewiththem
arenot concerned with a sense ofharmony amongplants,
animals,andnature.Farmingiscompetitiveandthemethods
adoptedarethosethatcutcostsandincreaseproduction.So
farmingisnow“factory farming.”Animalsaretreatedlike
machines that convert low-priced fodder into high-priced
flesh,andanyinnovationwillbeusedifitresultsinacheaper
“conversion ratio.” Most of this chapter is simply a
descriptionofthesemethods,andofwhattheymeanforthe
animalstowhomtheyareapplied.Theaimistodemonstrate
thatunderthesemethodsanimalsleadmiserablelivesfrom