Point: Industrial Agriculture has Improved Farming for Hundreds of Years

Factory Farming: An Overview

Counterpoint: Industrial Agriculture Causes More Problems than it Solves

Factory Farming: Guide to Critical Analysis

Thesis: Industrial techniques have been used in farming for nearly 200 years and will continue to be used as a means of making food widely available to everyone.

Summary: Using machinery to make agriculture more productive has been going on for nearly two centuries; producing food to sell for a living (as opposed to growing vegetables for yourself in the backyard) is not fundamentally different than producing automobiles. Thanks largely to machinery developed for the purpose, "industrial agriculture" has greatly increased the productivity of agricultural workers and at the same time caused food to be affordable to virtually every American. Specialty products, such as "organic" foodstuffs, are available to those who want and are able to afford them.

Cyrus McCormick lived from 1809 until 1884, and at age 22 he introduced the first mechanical reaper just six weeks after he conceived the plans, built and tested one. What is called industrial agriculture could well be said to date from that time--1831.

The essence of industrial agriculture is similar to the application of industrial principles to other enterprises: the introduction of machines--as opposed to tools--to assist humans in carrying out specific tasks. This process, introduced into the English textile industry in the early eighteenth century, has for nearly four centuries dramatically increased the productivity of human beings in nearly every area of enterprise.

Although we often like to think of history as having major turning points, the reality is slightly different--events contribute to changes gradually and it's for the convenience of historians (and students of history) that we seize upon one as the moment of change. In the case of McCormick's reaper (1831), for example, he in fact perfected an idea of his father's and went on to introduce mass-assembly techniques so that reapers were affordable by many farmers. But that invention is a convenient symbol of how the improved machinery of the industrial revolution, which was about two hundred years old when McCormack introduced his reaper, contributed to changes in other areas of American life.

In the case of agriculture, however, the industrial revolution had another impact: it attracted non-landowners from the countryside to the city. Machinery increased the work productivity per person; individuals who had previously been doing tasks by hand were attracted to cities to work in newly-built factories. It is the latter phenomenon that we usually associate with the Industrial Revolution, but the introduction of machinery in the countryside was also important.

By the beginning of the twenty-first century a second "revolution" had begun taking hold in agriculture--the emergence of biotechnology, or genetic engineering, under which laboratory scientists began experimenting with manipulating crops so they would be resistant to diseases. This phenomenon aroused widespread suspicion, especially in Western Europe, but was not, strictly speaking, part of the industrial revolution.

The use of biotechnology to produce food has been around for over 8,000 years. Enzymes in microorganisms are used to produce bakery, dairy and many other food products. Biotechnology is expected help improve agriculture by improving quality, nutrition, safety and the processing of raw crops.

Another aspect of agriculture also took hold in the early twenty-first century: an extension of humanitarian idealism to animals raised for feed, both those that were meant to be consumed and those that yielded food, notably laying hens and dairy cows. Concern was raised about techniques, such as keeping hens in crowded cages, utilized to maximize profits from agriculture. Oddly, similar arguments were seldom made about the working conditions of human beings on assembly lines. In both cases, living creatures have been fit into a production system meant to maximize output of products with a minimum input of resources. This system, foremost in the United States, has meant enormous benefits for human beings, including those who work in factories.

If automobiles, for example, were assembled by hand by skilled artisans, the working conditions might be regarded as ideal by some--but cars would remain the playthings of the wealthy. Henry Ford's contribution to the car industry was not so much the Model T as it was efficient production methods--the assembly line--that for the first time made cars available to people of ordinary means.

So it is with agricultural systems. To illustrate the point, check out the dairy case in one's local supermarket. There, in 2009, a dozen "ordinary" eggs can be bought for $1.89; eggs produced from "free-range" or "cage-free" chickens cost significantly more, and in some cases twice as much. There are similar comparisons to be made for milk products, and some companies specialize in beef that has been fed only grains.

Buying "organic" products is partly a social statement that more affluent consumers can afford to make, and partly a means of avoiding feelings of distaste. The nutritional value of both types of food products are the same. One might be tempted to draw a parallel between ordinary foods and inexpensive cars on the one hand, and "organic" foods and expensive cars on the other.

With the world's population at six billion and heading higher, there is no practical alternative to "industrial agriculture."

In 1798, Economist Thomas Malthus said that unless the size of families declined, there would be a worldwide famine that might wipe out the human race. Fortunately, agricultural innovations from industries such as biotechnology are advancing agricultural production.

Ponder This

  1. Are there negative affects on human health from industrial farming techniques, e.g. feeding cows materials they would never eat naturally?
  2. Does producing food for human consumption fall into a different category than, say, cars?
  3. Given what is widely perceived as a national epidemic of overweight, has modern agriculture served American society well?
  4. To combat inhumane treatment, human workers formed unions. Should humans take up a similar cause for animals who can't speak for themselves?

These essays and any opinions, information or representations contained therein are the creation of the particular author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of EBSCO Information Services.

Bibliography

Books

Ball, Charles. Building the Beef Industry: A Century of Commitment 1898-1998. Centennial, CO: National Cattlemen's Foundation, 1998.

Pyle, George. Raising Less Corn, More Hell: The Case for the Independent Farm and Against Industrial Food. New York: Public Affairs, 2005.

Periodicals

"Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces Funding to Improve Electric Service for Rural Residents and Business." usda.gov. 7 March 2011 http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os_gAC9-wMJ8QY0MDpxBDA09nXw9DFxcXQ-cAA_2CbEdFAEUOjoE!/?contentidonly=true&contentid=2011%2F03%2F0098.xml.

Bibo, Terry. "Elmwood activist to speak on factory farms." pjstar.com. 8 February 2011 http://www.pjstar.com/homepage/x199971743/Elmwood-activist-to-speak-on-factory-farms.

Charlton, Andrew. "Clear future for organics." Farmers Weekly (29 May 2009): 4-4. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 19 June 2009 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=40730361&site=ehost-live.

"County Seats Languish as County Farm Population Succumbs to Machine Age." Saturday Evening Post 06 Oct. 1956: 10+.Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 19 June 2009 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=19962548&site=ehost-live.

Donohue, Michael. "The Importance and Value of America's Poultry Farms." 25 Jan. 2005. Accessed 21 Jan. 2007. http://www.nationalchickencouncil.com/aboutIndustry/detail.cfm?id=20.

Kauffman, Janet. "The Fantasy of the Clip Art Farm." Dissent 49:3. (Summer2002): 8p. Online. EBSCO. Nov. 25, 2006.

Keller, David R., Brummer, E. Charles. "Putting Food Production in Context: Toward a Postmechanistic Agricultural Ethic." Bioscience 52:3. (Mar. 2002): 8p. Online. EBSCO. Nov. 25, 2006.

Kuyek, Devlin. "Fowl Play." Multinational Monitor 27:2. (Mar.-Apr. 2006): 6p. Online. EBSCO. Nov. 25, 2006.

Lavendel, Brian. "Pigs and the Factory Farm." Animals 133:2. (Mar.-Apr. 2000): 4p. Online. EBSCO. Nov. 25, 2006.

Layton, Lyndsey. "FDA rules won't require labeling of genetically modified salmon." The Washington Post. 18 September 2010 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/18/AR2010091803520.html?wprss=rss_nation.

"Natural Biodiversity Breaks Plant Yield Barriers." PLoS Biology 2.10 (Oct. 2004): 1502-1502. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 19 June 2009 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=14682803&site=ehost-live.

Nierenberg, Danielle. "The Commercialization of Farming: Producing Meat for a Hungry World." USA Today Magazine 132.2704 (Jan. 2004): 22-24. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 19 June 2009 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=11835383&site=ehost-live.

Novek, Joel. "Intensive Hog Farming in Manitoba: Transnational Treadmills and Local Conflicts." Canadian Review of Sociology & Anthropology 40:1. (Feb. 2003): 24p. Online. EBSCO. Nov. 25, 2006.

Singer, Peter. "Look Your Dinner in the Eye." New Scientist (191:2572). (7 Oct. 2006): 1p. Online. EBSCO. Nov. 25, 2006.

Websites

Biotechnology Industry Organization. "Food Biotechnology." http://www.bio.org/speeches/pubs/er/food.asp.

CROPP Cooperative. "2009 Midwest Egg Farmer Pay Price." http://www.farmers.coop/farmers-wanted/egg-pool/pay-prices/midwest-egg-pay-price/.

Dairy Farming Today. www.dairyfarmingtoday.org.

Farming. www.farming.com.

University of California. "Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)"http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/malthus.html.

By George Wright

Co-Author: Ed Konczal

Ed Konczal has an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business (with distinction). He has spent the last ten years as an executive consultant focusing on human resources, leadership, market research, and business planning. Ed has over ten years of top-level experience from AT&T in the areas of new ventures and business planning. He is co-author of the book Simple Stories for Leadership Insight, published by University Press of America.