What are the advantages and disadvantages of intensive pig farming? As far as I am concerned, the disadvantages of any type of intensive factory farming far outweighs the advantages. Intensive pig farming is not ideal in any given situation and the only advantage it has is mostly profitability to pig farmers.
What is Intensive Pig Farming?
Intensive pig farming is a system where a large number of pigs are raised in factory conditions for meat. Intensively farmed pigs are the biggest providers of pig meat in the U.S. market today. In intensive farms, pigs are literally caged up and don’t have adequate space to move freely or express their natural behaviors. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of intensive pig farming.
Advantages of intensive pig farming
- One of the advantages of intensive pig farming is that since the animals don’t have enough space to move, they spend less energy. This makes feed conversion to meat more efficient, and pigs are fattened for the market more quickly.
- Intensive pig farming is much less costly than other methods as it saves space and time. Thousands of pigs are raised in a short amount of time and sold as meat. Mass production results in high profits for farmers and cheaper meat for consumers. Intensive pig farming also saves on space, so many pigs can be raised in a few square feet of space.
3. Pigs of similar groups are kept together, making it easy to keep a tab on. The intensive system is highly efficient in calculating the cost, feed given, the weight of pigs and profit outcome. Different compartments are allocated for different groups of pigs.
4. Intensive pig housing systems are constantly evolving with the latest innovations and technology to develop herd health, welfare and productivity. They utilize state-of-art housing where all water points are mechanized.
5. One of the advantages of intensive pig farming is that they have the facility to maintain the right temperature for the pigs at all times. This is important because pigs have environmental and climate requirements during different stages of growth.
6. Most domestic pigs are susceptible to sunburn and don’t have sweat glands to control their own temperature. Therefore, indoor farming may be ideal for them.
7. The feeding system is efficient in intensive farming systems and saves labor. Due to feeding efficiency, the growth rate is also high.
Disadvantages of intensive pig farming
8. Intensive pig farms provide grossly inadequate space for pigs to grow. The welfare of pigs is not considered important. Pigs are forced to lie and wallow in their own dung, causing them distress as they are naturally clean animals. Some pigs are tethered to stalls with chains. As you can imagine, no animal likes being chained up.
9. Less space means less movement for pigs. So standing still on hard concrete or metal surfaces create a hoard of foot, leg and joint problems for them. Pigs are friendly and social animals, but when they are restricted within closed confines, they develop aggressive behavior due to frustration and try to attack one another.
10. Frustration at not being allowed to behave freely as their nature allows, like nesting, rooting and foraging, leads to mental stress. Pigs in intensive factory farms show constantly repeated movements called “stereotypes.” They constantly repeat movements like head-waving and bar-biting. Though these pigs are selectively bred to meet commercial needs and have no experience in the wild, they still have innate natural behaviors that must be allowed to express freely.
11. Most intensive pig farms are focused on money making, and their primary motive is to make as much money as quickly as possible. So pigs are fattened up unnaturally fast through synthetic growth hormones. No regard is given to what effects this may have on them.
12. Violence against pigs is common. When workers are faced with pressure to achieve maximum output and appalling work conditions, they tend to beat pigs that show resistance or strength. Pigs are beaten when moving from one section of the farm to another.
13. When animals are kept close together in confined areas, disease outbreaks are common and spread fast. Factories try to prevent this by feeding them high doses of antibiotics and other drugs, which leads to many problems, like antibiotic-resistant bacteria in pig waste and the meat consumed by humans.
14. Mass commercial slaughter is also very inhuman. Most pigs are not stunned properly before slaughter. They are killed before each other, causing them a lot of fear and distress.
15. Atrocities against animals in intensive pig farms include physical mutilations to prevent cannibalism. Shortly after birth, their needle teeth are clipped, and their tails are cut off without anesthetic or veterinary attention. Most of the disadvantages listed above are regarding the welfare of pigs. Let’s now look at the disadvantages of intensive pig farming on the environment.
16. Intensive pig farms are the biggest contributors to environmental pollution in the livestock farming industry. No other type of animal farming produces as massive and endearing a problem as pig waste disposal. Pig waste from factory farms is pumped into open-air pits called lagoons, where they pollute the air for kilometers around and seep into groundwater.
Pig waste contains many harmful bacteria, which are mostly antibiotic-resistant and salmonella. They are also high in ammonia and nitrogen. They are toxic to breathe in and contaminate drinking water. There is no feasible solution yet for this problem. Neighboring communities suffer from a multitude of health problems due to this pollution. Health risks include increased heart rate, respiratory problems, mood changes, heart disease and even cancer. Please refer to this article for a detailed analysis of the effects of pig waste on the environment.
Advantages and disadvantages of intensive pig farming: Conclusion
I have mentioned many advantages and disadvantages of intensive pig farming, but which outweighs the other? Intensive pig farming can be very advantageous to farmers in terms of efficiency, cost saving and space. But with regard to animal welfare, intensive farming is not the best option as they are restricted, and their rights are violated in many ways. It also causes the major problem of environmental pollution, and personally, the only way intensive farming systems are beneficial is to profit farmers. Intensive farming systems for any kind of livestock are highly disadvantageous as opposed to free-range organic farming.
