Beyond Factory Farming Coalition

Family Farms Not Factory Farms

Loss of farmers

In its brief, A Proposal for Monitoring and Enforcing Regulations on Intensive Livestock Operations, the National Farmers Union Region 7 (Alberta) defined a family farm as “an operation that produces food or other agricultural products and where the vast majority of labour, capital, and management are provided by family members.” Furthermore, “A family farm may take the form of a farm corporation if the majority of the voting stock is held by members of a family, related to one another within the fourth degree of kindred or to their spouses, at least one of whom is a person residing on or actively engaged in the day to day labour and management of the farm.”

Family farms affected by factory farming

Factory farming has a huge impact on family farms. As livestock production is concentrated into larger operations, as ownership is consolidated into a few large corporations or vertically integrated enterprises, and as markets are dominated by contracts between a handful of packers and their factory farm suppliers, family farm producers are suffering, often to the point that they have to leave farming altogether.

Number of hog farmers in 1988 33,760
Number of hog farmers in 2002 11,565

Of the farms that were raising hogs in 1988, corporate and government policies have since forced 66% out of production. Total Canadian production is about 26 million slaughter hogs per year.

Factory farms take advantage of “right to farm” legislation which was designed for the family farm context. By labelling factory farming as a “generally accepted agricultural practice” industrial livestock operations gain exemptions from regulations that apply to other industries while forcing family farmers out of business. The new federal farm safety net program gives the most money to the largest farmers, accelerating instead of slowing farm expansion and farm loss.

Provincial governments eliminated single desk selling and paved the way for vertical integration of hog production. “Single desk selling” was the system whereby all hog farmers had equal access to the market, because everyone would sell their pigs to the central selling agency, which would in turn sell the hogs to the various packing plants. Now, packers can make their own contracts with large producers and buy hogs at a fixed price.

The switch from single desk to contract selling reversed the market power — instead of the packer paying the daily market price for hogs and farmers having guaranteed market access, now hog farmers have limited market access and packers have a guaranteed supply. Source: Living in a Sea of Cheap Grain:The corporate conversion of Saskatchewan’s hog production policy. Saskatchewan Notes Volume 1 Issue 3 December 2002

Vertical integration, where company owns or controls the inputs, the processing plant and often the distributors and the retail arm of the same business, means that an integrator can stay in business producing hogs below the cost of production - the losses on hogs are made up by profits in processing the same animals. Independent family farmers must pay the full cost of production out of revenues from the hogs, so they cannot survive long periods of low prices, so they are forced out of production.

Factory farm proponents often claim that a factory farm will provide a new market for locally produced grain. The fact is that the industrial livestock producer will buy the least expensive feed available. The price of grain is set by the world market, not by local demand.

Farmers who take liquid manure may be liable for pollution caused by any spill or leakage of manure from their property, and it may not be possible to get insurance to cover that liability.

The use of liquid hog manure compromises cropping options. Liquid hog manure from industrial livestock operations is not permitted under organic standards.

Liquid manure is variable in chemical composition, is more prone to running off than commercial fertilizer, and contains a disproportionately high level of phosphorus in relation to nitrogen. Excessive use of liquid manure can lead to salinization of soils.

When livestock production is part of a mixed farming operation the livestock assists in stabilizing farm incomes - when the price of grain is low, feeding to livestock increases the value of farm production and contributes to the economic viability of farms during price fluctuations. With livestock production being removed from the family farm, farmers no longer have this economic option. This leads to more families leaving farming, fewer people living in rural communities, a loss of neighbours, community life, rural culture and the traditional farm knowledge base.

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