Thereisalsostrongevidencethatporcinestresssyndromehas
increased dramatically as confinement rearing has become
more common.^73 Confined pigs are so delicate that any
disturbancecanbring onthesymptoms,includingastrange
noise,suddenbrightlights,orthefarmer’sdog.Nevertheless,
if one were to suggest reducing stress by eliminating
confinement methods of production, the reaction would
almost certainly be that expressed in Farmer and
Stockbreeder some years ago, when confinement was still
fairlynewandstress-relateddeathswerejustbeginningtobe
noticed:
Thesedeathsinnowaynullifytheextrareturnobtainedfrom
the higher total output.^74
Inthepigindustry,incontrasttothebroilerandeggindustry,
totalconfinementisnotyetuniversal.Butthetrendisinthat
direction.AUniversityof Missourisurvey revealedthat as
longagoas1979, 54 percentofallmedium-sizedproducers
and 63 percentofalllargeproducershadtotal confinement
facilities.^75 Increasingly, it is the large producers that
dominatethe industry.In 1987 William Haw,president of
National Farms, Inc., said that “within ten years the hog
businesswillbethesameasthebroilerchickenindustry is
now,withfewerthan 100 operatorsofanysignificance.”^76 It
istheoldstory:smallfamilyfarmsarebeingpushedoutof
business by large factories, each “manufacturing” between
50,000 and 300,000 pigs a year.Tyson Foods, the largest
broiler company in the world, slaughtering more that 8.5
millionbirdsaweek,hasnowenteredthepig market.The
company runssixty-nine farrowing and nursery complexes
and sends to slaughter more than 600,000 pigs per year.^77