FOOD

Factory Farms in Pennsylvania

Fact Sheet • February 2011

O ver the last two decades, small- and medium-scale livestock farms have given
way to factory farms that confine thousands of cows, hogs and chickens in
tightly packed facilities. In Pennsylvania, there were 998,000 hogs, 35,300 beef cattle,
54,600 dairy cows and 25.5 million chickens on the largest operations in 2007,
according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture. Pennsylvania
ranks fifth in the nation in factory-farmed egg-laying hens.

meatpackers and processors that dominate the links in the

food chain between livestock producers and consumers.

Dairy
In recent decades, small- and mid-sized dairy farms disap-
peared and were replaced by factory-farmed dairies that
now dominate milk production. Between 1997 and 2007,
the United States lost 52,000 dairy farms — about 5,000
farms every year.1

Food & Water Watch found that although Pennsylvania

more than quadrupled the number of dairy cows on the
Concentration of factory farms in Pennsylvania, taken from largest operations over the decade, from 11,900 in 1997
factoryfarmmap.org. Dark red indicates the most severe density. to 54,600 in 2007, the growth of factory dairy farms in
Pennsylvania was overwhelmed by the size and growth of
The silos and gentle meadows pictured on the labels of factory-farmed dairies in Western states. In 2007, there were
the food most Americans buy have little relation to how more than 2.7 million cows on factory-farmed dairies in
that food is actually produced. The significant growth in
industrial-scale, factory-farmed livestock has contributed
to a host of environmental, public health, economic and
Total Factory-Farmed Animals in Pennsylvania
food safety problems. Tens of thousands of animals can
generate millions of tons of manure annually, which pol-
lutes water and air and can have health repercussions on
nearby communities. Consumers in distant markets also
feel the impacts, either through foodborne illness outbreaks
or other public health risks, or through the loss of regional
food systems. As consumers saw during the 2010 egg re-
call, food safety problems on even a few factory farms can
end up in everyone’s refrigerators. Even the producers are
not benefitting from this system of production because they
are not getting paid much for the livestock they raise.

The rise of factory farming was no accident. It resulted from

policy choices driven by big agribusinesses, especially Source: USDA.
California, Idaho, Texas and New Mexico. The emergence
of Western factory-farmed dairies has contributed to the
decline of local dairy farms in the Southeast, Northeast, Up-
per Midwest and parts of the Midwest.2 The average number
of cows on Pennsylvania factory farms was 815 in 2007,
significantly lower than the national average of 1,480.

Small dairies generate less manure than factory farms and

can either apply it to cropland or incorporate it into pasture
as fertilizer at rates that the land can absorb. Big dairies
generate far more manure than they can use as fertilizer,
so it gets stored in lagoons or is over-applied to cropland
where it can run off into nearby waterways. In 2010, Fulton
County dairy operators agreed to pay a $12,920 fine and
shut down their farm after tens of thousands of gallons of
manure spilled into a tributary of the Licking Creek and
Potomac River and killed 650 fish.

Poultry
Chicken meat comes from billions of chickens raised on
large-scale broiler chicken operations where farmers raise
birds on contract for the few poultry processing companies
that dominate the industry. The scale of poultry farms has
grown rapidly, as growers try to eke out a living by increas-
ing the volume of birds they produce. Pennsylvania has
increased its factory-farmed broiler chickens by more than
80 percent in 10 years, adding 4.7 million broilers between
1997 and 2007, 4 million of which were added between
2002 and 2007. In 2007, Pennsylvania had a total of 10.4
million broiler chickens on factory farms.

Eggs
Take action: Go to www.factoryfarmmap.org to learn more
Almost all eggs are produced on large-scale operations with about factory farms in Illinois and to take action to stop the
hundreds of thousands of layer hens in each facility. A hand- spread of factory farms.
ful of egg companies produce a large proportion of the eggs
most Americans eat. In 2009, the four largest firms owned
30.2 percent of the laying hens in production.3 Egg produc-
tion is concentrated in only a few states. Nearly half the Endnotes
hens in 2007 were located in the top five states. Pennsylva-
1 USDA NASS. Agricultural Statistics Database. Accessed August 5,
nia is the fifth-largest producer of factory-farmed eggs, with 2008. Available at http://www.nass.usda.gov/QuickStats; MacDon-
15.2 million layers on the largest farms in 2007. The average ald, James M. and William D. McBride. USDA ERS. “The Transfor-
size of a Pennsylvania factory-farmed egg facility rose 75 mation of U.S. Livestock Agriculture: Scale, Efficiency, and Risks.”
percent between 1997 and 2007 to almost 372,000 birds. EIB-43. January 2009; Miller, James J. and Don P. Blayney. USDA,
ERS. “Dairy Backgrounder.” (LDP-M-145-01). July 2006 at 7.
2 USDA NASS. Agricultural Statistics Database.
Factory farms cause extensive environmental damage and 3 Dr. Shane, Simon. “2008 Egg Industry Survey.” Watt Egg Industry.
leave communities with fewer independent family farms, Vol. 114, No. 3. March 2009.
unsafe water, reduced air quality and depressed economies.
Instead of benefitting, consumers face foodborne illness
outbreaks and public health threats like antibiotic-resistant
bacteria, and fewer real choices about how their food is
produced.
For more information:
Congress, regulatory agencies and state goverments need to
web: www.foodandwaterwatch.org
put a stop to the policies that have allowed these facilities
email: info@fwwatch.org
to proliferate. They must create and enforce farm and food
phone: (202) 683-2500 (DC) • (415) 293-9900 (CA)
policies that allow farmers to make a living and do not
harm communities, the environment or public health.
Copyright © February 2011 Food & Water Watch