an el) and much more an course i sil at sre ee Seay pes oudaten fr hana cra, The ak Fc gris ad ass og cons rs Gonly megan then convaticinn, ra amc the ec) ent me hhoofprint seeks to highlight. Tag Wes, Te Lalor fofpmnl-: fla Gltal Brae 7 Iedshed Liethh | Linden: Zed Books. 2018. 3 | THE INDUSTRIAL-GRAIN-OILSEED- LIVESTOCK COMPLEX Scale imperatives: mechaniza simplification ‘standardization, and landscapes to Inc ao eee I copter stein tue Ss p Zain of sgricutural production and the biophysical instabilities tan fer cstablished or exacerbated, nd the ways that these get overidden This focus on insta yn are funda Xe Competitiveness in capitalism, one of the most elemental vem-wide tendencies is for eapitel to search for technological io- Brera (itt increase ousput per worker, from assembly lines and ne sObotes in manufacturing, to tractors, combines, pedcides, Uigher-yielding ceeds in agriculture. This implies chat the nature reductive technologies tends to reinforce existing social relsione 3 Sener! sense, to achieve economies of scale and displace labor94 | THREE puts it, these new technologies ‘helped revolutionize farming and reconfigure the relation between American land, lsbor, and capital! vastly incressing the amount of land that a family farmer could work? Both diffused rapidly with the expansion of railways 2s the USA raced across its westward frontier, and had an invaluable role in helping prairie farmers cope with shortages (and the ensuing high costs) of animals from this key historic function, and further expanded the scale of plowing, planting, and harvesting that was possible. q scavenging here and there. Instead, they need big volumes of the! same thing that can be sown, grown, and harvested across expansive! areas at the same time. Thus, the physical separation of animals from fields and their concentration into factories and feediots is necessi for mechanization and economies of scale in cultivation, part of « organizing logic that wiped out attention to biological cycles, specie complementarity and intercropping, and animel multifunctionality) ‘Mechanization and standardization also struck at historic soil com servation practices like land terracing and hedgerows. Tn the decades following the Second World War, continued in‘ novation in farm machinery was coupled with momentous genet ‘advances in high-yielding crop varieties, which contributed to the rapid narrowing of both crop diversity and control on = world scale. A god reflection of this is that a single indigenous village in Mesoam ‘may maintain more kinds of maize than the [US] Corn Belt heard of: These new enhanced varieties drove a further surge if global agricultural productivity, along with the ongoing conversioi cf land for agriculture and the explosion of agro-iaputs, which bbe discussed soon. This is very much in line with Jason Moo insistence that “intensive copitalization and extensive appropriati form a dialectical unity!" The net result was a doubling of total food production in the second half of the twentieth century. ‘As emphasized in Chapter 2, the booming productivity of indus monocaltures and the ascension of factory farms and feedlots having 2 pivotal role in fortifying chronic grain and oilseed sur ‘First, it enabled continuing growth when this would otherwise ist monoculture fields of sorghum, oats, and rapeseed/canola ‘entrated pigs, poultry, and cattle - must be se, wheat, soybeans, barle > barley, owed by spaces of cone Ming to: make animals grom, each sexual maturity repro fustes become more uniform; and suginent the mange nt Yaluable body parts, such as pont Process of genetic enhancement al breeds. On 2 world scale 7 ee Genetic Resources lists more then 7, sc 1ports that 190 have recently become extn and toe i ‘Sxtinction,° though this only hints at the profound 's used within industrial systems, The | bodies supports multiple objectives, the FAO's Global Databank96 | THREE abetting the standardization of animal enclosures, the speeding pace of and the growing scale and consisteacy of meatpacking slaughter Lines, operations. ‘More than any other species, chickens have been at ‘the vanguard “of the technological innovations in industrial livestock production. A fundaonental part of this was their genetic specialization into mest | : Tbroilre and egg “ayers) reared in distinct systems, Por broilers and a terer turkeys, it was found that thousands of birds could be reed anwhile abruptly wenned Pigg ee Te sso astm Eve ot "Sis, eatin odie logs wih ist operations) and sometimes to diferent together on 2 single crowded floor. For I to the most extreme form of snimal confinement, the battery cast, tions entirely. Though ‘which began to be commercially manufactured in the 19308 in order he ‘big three” livestock Daun remain the least industrial ft ns. By the tai 4: *» the ‘ing scal ” ons. By the dhiry production tare led tring denna qn me tanizion ties in many regions, as to collect non-demaged eggs from growing hen popuiatic 1950s, growers began cramming three birds into tiny spe jntended for one, and as early as 1962 an industry trace magazine described ‘the modern layer” as being ‘only a very efficient conv machine” between feed and egg,’ The battery cage disseminated from the USA, and though it hes since been contested in a summbery seactcings most notably the EU, legislative victories won by animal welfare organizations have generally brought only modest gains in ts ‘minimal area afforded to each hen (caging has never worked for birds) destined for meat because it causes too much damege to the “Another important part of the mechanization and standardi of livestock production is the subdivision of different life phe ‘agency over reproductive activity and are effect ee ces of iin — oe er ey nea te ind! greed x ih OM con ste the ated ‘easing eo pple om ce ons eo seeing ol clot tnd ces initially leon feedlots before slaughter, wherein animals lose all ability to maintain maternal and familial bonds. Animals ‘on fast-moving but spatially disaggregated production jes intent on outsourcing f Senval aim of this chapter is, placed of efficiency, which are integrated by large compani Jowest-margin, highest-rsie phaser the growing, At the start of lines are specislized sites for breeding and hatching which treat breeding stock as veritable reproductive machines, locking fer into near-constant states of pregnancy or lactation, sith the m of young either cut short or out off entirely. In industrial hatcheries, specialized breeder flocks never see young, as eggs are artificially incubated, ha to growers in large bundles (with the exception of male layer ¢ which are promptly destroyed, as discussed below). In indus breeding sites, sows ere inseminated and confined for the dup of their sixteen-meek pregnancy, at best in small group pens worst in gestation crates, individualized enclosures so tight they ¢ therefore, to deconstruct this Promise of industrialefficiency98 | THREE ‘unit values, the pressure to keep expanding persists. Skewed subsidies in e number of major industrial countries, with the USA the most ‘extreme case." For champions of industrial agriculture, high-yielding | ‘monocultures are celebrated for having liberated hundreds of millions ‘of people from the poverty and drudgery of peasant agriculture, and as having saved billions of people from starvation. Related 10 | this, labor productivity in agriculture is given as a key foundation for development itself, Output per farmer did indeed increase to ani astonishing and highly uneven degree across the twentieth century, 4 and the disparity in labor productivity between high- and low-input agricultural systems is now of tae order of 2,000 to 1." Today, farmee make up only about 4 percent of the total workforce across the| industrialized counties in the Organization for Economic Cooperate, and Development (OECD), whereas farmers continue to comprise J by far the largest segment of the workforce in most of the worl poorest and most food-insecure nations. In addition to the obviow isparities in mechanization, leading industrialized counties tend i hove the greatest crop yields Ts instructive eb consier the US areal stem ova i ‘been enabled - in an cau sense ppSsPacity of livestock, as emphasized in Chay fermen ta ea 8 given; on the cont il april fp te on tay gree i iso Pi pon arpa seem nc it lals yield flesh, ‘eggs, and milk, ecient j (Just like y ie reer ted US-based corporations have been on. In 2007, fewer than 8,000 mega-t Sh ecumitoee 8 Peet of al iy wl ing err ts eye eres Se in 9 ve Cael es a fr 89 percent of al baer chickens soles non hey corporations driving leading-edge techaologial development. the late twentieth century, an average US farmer cultivated roughly fifteen times more land than a century befor," and benefited rnuch greater relative increases in capital investment. Todsy farm represent less than 2 pereent of the US workforce, a small num ‘havin sil somemat Geceiving, as fewer than 300,000 farms a forthe grett majority ofall production, led by the more tan BocogMMURYPons avin farms that are larger than S00 ha (2,000 aces). The tendency man) sheds on a property. Catle remain much fewer and larger farms to dominate production is also reflected in fact that one fh of US landholders control more than four of all irrigated land." US grain yields per hectare are roughly twice the world avery of the nation’s 25 times those of South Asa, ‘and almost five times those of Ali beef Droluction gets fattened on @ few hundred differentials that are even greater when the focus shifts to coal grains alone. With fewer than one in every 500 farmers worlds the USA produced roughly one sith of the world’s cereals be 2000 and 2010 nctuding almost one third of all coarse gINDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE | 101 andandization, and simplification, the ways that these get overridden, tnd the resource budgers this entails, When viewed in this way, the j, ‘essing volumes of cheep meat fowing from the industrial grain- gf “lseed-livestock complex can he seen to greatly magnify the fand, water, energy, and other resources needed for agriculture, aad the ‘ological burden that ensues, too | THREE heaves, and : scent heavier, and | eavier chan s half-century ealien, a cov was 59 pe | ee ee tinos the times mre mik pe yar andthe avenge yer Den produced one quarter more eggs pet year. In 2010, chic {USA were 24 pesent larger at siughter than the world average, Pi | 16 percent large, ows were 62 percent larger, while a layer her were 16 percent larger, ; re | CrOsepesgpotniolonerg-ahencd apmenennanengr eromnnsnl ch eit nes more mk. Convery te avenge clicks i RU Potent See ee ee ae a aay weal Celebratory accounts of economies of scale typically leave out or Ha salle ha wos venges, COMn CAMMME omrply big pre ar the story, including the unidervalued costs of livestock sectors have generally 1c ‘ergy (both in rw and in moving things over space) and eossing ae ‘missions and pellation loeds. This is eopecially tue in agricalure, ere real yell mine ave amplifies by the dramatic acceleration lil phere mechankation and stundandiation mre fr-oe diene ae sare camate are being turned on, which eseaily meats ML er induaralseing, sth frreaching vimana rene ino fact sas ae being rumed vein wh etn Bens intensifies the biological and physical challenges inherent in Fea eee leer twenty years or more, cod cates MME ening abd eabiches new pote cattle, boars, and jungle fowl ‘ett ‘on mixed farms, beef MMs‘ Central to this are the soil problems that were at the basis of pis, an ctiskens fin ve fr many yrs of mit brought MBE Po Marx conceived of the metabolic rift. Some peasant egricaltone cre sated om eres nd aed on cos anno = Da jf been reaarkably duvabl, effectve not only in maintaining bat eo ans wat brie chicken ina mere six weeks. FAM in eahancing sll frdity tough the teed eeee eet oes coin tra inne a ok cy en ot on ee ee ee ee aes fothe decline of many civilizations Yet whether previous practices were shat in aton to growing two-tier ihn balsa? pesaisable over the long term or aot industrial agriculture serves to a ee acura jfestly accelerate the loss of soil organisms and nutrients, depleting industrislized layer hens, the Se Se eae gar els atleast ren times faster than it is formed in the temperite world, now lay almost an eBg a dy, over vastly shostene® ns uch fheer na : Jheontas to tadonal frm Ret which pel lay tity 11 Faas ae a aaevan nd mld jungle fowl which ny wound thy eggs aye AMM Perf isi rooted in the davinshed ground cover in mone eggs a year and wild gy and the ld of individual nel reas to more divesifled smal frm which ca expy a Tn the end, if Inbor productiviy eae of more labor-intensive soll conservation practices The decline ; cover simultaneously inereases the erosive impacss cf rain jock complex are oun es one ee ae es oe ‘wind while redacing sil moistare retention, made worse by anual Sere ae aaat eh aes hiae ioe of tillage and the compaction caused by large machines in the een coax ais canon ba Bp of fering, spraying, and harvesting although annual tage for svat eclogcl burden. To unpack tis bunds, it Fsingly being replaced by ‘precision’ or no-till seeding, where seeds rrene Feeney gaan ie tie oC hi averted directly ito the ground, which helps to maintain u degree and oilseed monocultures, ‘pound together by heavy flows of fel pJtound cover). The loss of organic material is further exacerbated livestock production, which are a nite corakher ‘re biopl OY the decline of rotations, fallow cycles, and livestock manure, and ree ee mented in the entte of modmniaillAt r-prodoct of prolitunieg checza rence che the same cal instabilities uhat are generatso2 | THREE ‘time, the ability to respond to the loss of soil is inhibited by shortened time horizons asociated with intense competvon, small margins, large capital investments, and the frequency of high debr loads. Another basic biophysical problem posed by monoculture produc- tion is that ft expands the range of undesirable orpenisms which ray have once hed benign or beneficial roles in more diverse agro" conysiems. In short, the definition of pest widens, at the same time as the loss of diversity weakens previous interrelations that ‘once controlled their population. These vulnerabilities grow further'j with the genetic homogenization bound up in the diffusion of new | varieties of high-yielding crops, which have also served to. displace} ne of sgricuture’s most basic regenerative cycles: seed saving end | selection. As the International Commission on the Future of Food i put it in its Manifesto on the Future of Seed, ‘until very recently, seedy has resisted basic principles of capitalist market laws, the mest im portant barrier being the aature of the seed, which reproduces aseVMlMNMconstained by the fd mmuliplies? meking it “both « mesns of production 25 well s mo reypimleic sity of aaisal meabolame product itsel? — which is not to say that seed was never purcha the total quansty of werk ty ee ete biological lit’ on both ‘before this time.'" While conventional seed enhancement occurred at people or ar naturally crossing different varieties within the same species, creatis indust feeds that could reproduce and be saved and replanted, in practi alized end specaized food must necessarily move ave farmers were increasingly propelled into markets for seeds owing to ‘ a diminishing returns from seed progeny as well ss the cost efficieaci ines requires de ‘and time savings from large-scale plant breeding (though beceuse o lores ney eas Packets of combustible energy, the asture of innovation and the fact that farmers maintsined controll i could be sustainabiy harvested tho over the progeny, there was prospect of democratic control sd 7 decentralized innovation), Ta tel, che desire for higher-yehting plants and animal is cbvio and indisputable; obviously every fazer woud be happy if each pa and animal on the farm grew bigger. Indeed, improving yields hs been a central objective of peasant farmers over the eges. as Jen Douwre van der Ploeg emphasize, enlincing yield in pete toocs, as inpurs a farming hasta invoWed not onl past breeding but highly inputs aod cups must be tnesprtd nee Soe ized ecological knowledge and, crucial, che tmznficaton of feared tomaed improving the soil In industial monoculture, this effectively reversed: yield gains are part of a proces of reducing local specificity of agriculture and the intensity of labor in fermi as well as being implicated in impovershing the sil.* ; ‘Another importent dimension of high-yielding monocular optimal conditions and require sé mokne ree in monocular a EE onset say and ate sg tpt Brow further still with the oe higher temperatures and aridity associated Finally, the process of mech f fon °F agravian history, the fiction of cistance eee ft , f fi ted by both pevishabiity and the restraints ther r y both perishabi restraints that rel Pronounced, lim- ‘ing on biological stems) and ‘strictly =: ee ‘est monceiare si seen atin mont ng Wheat Blof the USA andthe Sartecy ee ofthetn South America, This scale and speciaiontns "uth America, This scale and specialization then amplify ampl ts in a range of bio-tog | THREE response is to override these problems with the zepected application & of external inputs, which amount to a series of perpetual short-term fines that must frequently be moved over considerable distances. Yet 4 these biophysical overrides not only fail to resolve the basic contradic~ tions necessitating their use, which makes them like a treadmill, but ver time they can serve to make problems much worse, more lke a quickening treadmill. This is powerfully reflected in the fact that | the tremendous rates of yield growth discussed earlier have been for surpassed by the growth in industrial agro-input usage, #8 discussed ‘below. Thus, in place of organic eycles, new flows of non-renewable materials are established, slong with new Sows of inorganic wastes and GHG emissions. INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE | 105 ‘Deused on the “big three’ nutrients that are the greatest constraints *e plant growth, eg ound the period of Licbigh great breakthrough, anew, ualikely bj (source emerged on the world stage: guano, bird droppings aged into B & sitrogen- and phosphorus-rch fertilizer, The large-scale export of g fano began fom Peru and Ister Chile to Europe, followed by the B GSA setsng out to annex smal islands around the world containing {hi relatively are resource, ina scramble that has been dubbed “fuans pind irate imperialism, While most guano reserves were used up PSY auch, they gave clear evidence ofhow concentrated doses of hey _furiets could keep organically depleted soils productive, ultimately Relbing to set the course for industrial fertilizer development ~ snd fnith it the dedline of historic sol conservation practices leguminous. b) Tolations, and integrated livestock populations. Overriding soil mining The modern understanding of soil chemistry and ferilzation is indelibly associated with the advances made by ‘The game-changing advance in orerriding declining soil fertity Justis von Lietig in the sineteenth century. One of Libig's mest GUB\Poccurred in the early cwentieds century, wher Hite Hisber inn crucial discoveries was the ‘Law ofthe Minimum which deciphered MJ process for manufacturing sythete mitogen teuises ect es how plants need a certain mix of nutrients and how their growth Bosch commercialized it, In the Haber-Bosch process, nitrogen and is constrained by whatever suttient is lest abundant in relation} i to its requirements, with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium the! manufacturing took off in the immediate wake of the Second World UE. Party owing to the easy conversion of plants that had been geared deplee sitrogen in sil, Thin becrse plans ae incapable of A Making trogen bombo, and ths boom crucialy uederset ne t yield gains of the twentieth century, placing it among the most extracting nitrogen from the atmosphere, and instead must rely ot! .cting 7 ‘fluential technologies ever established. The Fi ‘8 world scale, predominantly using natural gas. material. Ber nitrogen, the depletion of phosphorus and potassiom fom ‘Through history, farming cultures tended to appreciate the impor tance of intercropping and using rotations with leguminous plants tht have nitrogen-fixing bacteria in order to entich soil fertility. But ss) ‘hese practices were broken and monocultures with nitrogen-depleting ‘crops proliferated, the danger soon became clear, Having established in to supply crop growth.” Although declining soil fertility stems ult since the manufacture of phosphorous fertilizer involves lange the lit of iologia! complex, organi content, and a range sues of ulpric cic. Higharade phosphate om raceov eae, ‘nutrients, the expansion of industrial fertilizers was overwhelming World scale, us only afew counties eee106 | THREE ‘most of what remains, and this might well pose another considerable resource challenge for industrial agriculture in the coming decades.” be seen to be systematically linked to both the are injected beck into them. On s world scale, the total volume chemical fertilizers consumed increased more than fivefold from 1961 to 2010, from 31 to 178 million tonnes, led by synthetic nitrog fertilizer, which grew by a factor of nine. Since the ear nitrogen fertilizer has accounted for roughly three-fifths of st consumed. The USA has the highest lev consumption per farmer, as 0.25 percent of in monocultutes is no-t tillage and leaves more ground cover. However, though does not alter the estentisl biophysical contra in the totel annual consumption of scale, which grew by roughly one th Overriding pest problems The heightened vulnerability to @ wi ‘overridden reach, the seed . cides (for weeds) insecticides, fungicide, i fental to save, breed, or eee roteetions cogether deny any ‘As with fertilizers, the use of synthetic dl seeds, and hence bind farmers to ‘both manufacturing end transportation al problems are never resolved, Secondly, development ly scent on tee major fed aps me cts wich in tuen permeate industriel venock foods. Feed bas provided a way aroundyo8 | THREE consumer fears sbout GMOs, to diffuse their place in 4 the food system. As Hanie Ellis suggests, feed has been an essential ‘money-spinner for the GM industry: if people won't eat it, give it to animals’® Thirdly, GM crops have diffus lands of the industrial grain-oilseed-livestock complex qj ‘America, the southera cone of South America, and / Fourthly, GM crops have failed to ignite another j with the two predominant traits in commercial GM ij INDUSTRIAL AGRicU : i LTURE | 109 Seti & distance Tae inbitty of cal renewable Power mechanization and long-distance flows lees 28s. The notion ie inrevoy Popular way of marking the oil that ih inden, RONETIEN of food, which aes Roundup Ready® varieties that ate spectrum herbicide) and in-built pe icular bs Ge. ‘climate proofing! seeds) “However one might view these modified promises for GM ‘what is clear is thet the absence of new yield gains has i in agricultural labor productivity — one majot 1g the continuing supply of cheap food which ha secumulation on a world scale.” rough-flow of industrial mo ‘n relatively localized, durable agriculcural system mocultures The practi ice of farm loop biophysical cycles has ae irrigation demar gineering advances overwhelmed virtualh sivers and freshwater ecceystems that could be 4 arne for agriculture and energy. The pumping of underground saul provides @ vital override in some highly productive regions, jn many instances rates of withdrawals are so much faster th of recharge that this is akin to a non-renewable resource." associated with ‘mining to micro-scale diesel and electric pumps thet tap many’ reservoiss around the world and direct surface water in ways in it could not otherwise flow. Product hes moved but also ferilizers and pesticides produced and how fer have than ers and ps Pro heINDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE ‘Approsching industrial grain and oilseed production this way helps wake se0se of the many external recourees and un- and ander, are subsidizing high yields and high output per wuikes at the narrow conceptions of Of this chapter. It also establishes such a big probiem to be cycling these crops through livestock, biophysical Sane Stl @ besis for understanding why i muassive and growing volumes of [The magnifying effect of industrial livestock, parti: habilty Bad distance One roing table sa f wih ncaa i the tepid growth of meat = a a ay ’ 2 *e —_—. =| Lamu ee (= r Comm ww udtralleations though flow pened apatebeat ba vteemol apt rmonecaitures dsarteatton of chenical pesticides Is instabilities ws been fortified again and again.2* tive levels of nutritional wastage jon has been given to reducing feed conversion - Losses have been reduced in sail ining an catile ‘the superior feed conversion of chickens why they are the cheapest, most industrialized, of world meat production. The second smechaination ‘ertotfom and Tecan farms and eedots creneeswa | THREE mocked off the tiny life span of the broiler chicken is greeted with ‘enthusiasm by the industry?" Since then, about « month more has ‘been ‘knocked off? This pressure is reflected in a series of attempes to override the bodily limits and biorhythms of animals, ie INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE | 113, 2 fom an extra! aie realest I ~ : lecing it tin 2 tous th sing i ino bretng son ih pecan Bemioning te: Hormone how hr oon deed 0 a sition of sows from lactation to reinseminat ion > round of pregnancy. Ulinatly, jus a with ance high os Dragan end the commoifaion of new genes vee Overriding limits 10 animal yield Efforts to increase bodily yield start from the that is exerted over the sexual activity and reproduc tive lives of animals. While husbandry has slways involved a degree of intervention in animal reproduction, this has been transformed into fa relation of utter domination, with extremely invasive procedures ized and performed again and egain upon the small minority fe population that is cast into near-constent cycles of breed toward a nat : sana anova font edhe eng ets popes a ao ae stops, the pursuit of advances beyond enhancements spn into ibe gual a ae of crossing genetics across species, fe oa of incesing bodily sed hs nse tena th sega of nds! ervronment Itentne coninenene sake te i ond sive connect aly heed paces meas tht animals ars fel nee hurding t copult- ‘keys, neari ‘uniform animals, and to chum out more materi ‘conveyor belts. The transformation of bodies is se tion is physically impessible for genetically enhat impossible for broiler chickens, and increasingly difficult for pies Specialized breeding populations are also necessitated by the fac that most of their offspring are Killed before reaching sexual maturit “Another extreme outcome of the genetic trensformations can seen in layer hatcheries, where male offepring are deemed = product upon their birth. That is, because layer chickens are biologi ally programmed to pamp out eggs rather than to quickly add fleshy js not economically worth the feed and other inputs aceded to gr ‘males, This population, which numbers in the hundreds of milo: electrocuted, chopped up alive, Bass enclosures is especial ‘ cially needed like chickens and pigs which original tj Bodily yields have also be animal en extended by mani Hoy Ys y rmanipulatin . if ay snd ight. Ths bean Wid teaser ney, wi on the natural biorhythms of hens (Le. rat ving rie longer days and shifts in hormonal bela flesh is sutconall deficient dies (he us of vel cries 1 Brod es fiesh pre-dates the rise of industrial dairy operetions, but this pract ee ucs thereby quickening the onset of a second but shorter nar Javing cre, Once lnyag rates slow down, betmeen one and Yat nda lye ected oe eal pe peerage need for Jow-gade fet, modiy destined for range eds. Forced molting has been succeosflly challenge acimel welfare i sane welfare rprzatns tin mon conceal e S,6 | Ree oor hp pi wp fe pens sth pe inter specer relations ond responsibiies. j Toe socerton of eee bedi fr isi st gem snd of more valuble body parts), appetite, and rapid growh has | see the gene makeup of ei wed in nd tens i we bat fice ek oie cela and muses pens Catrina td towing oles wih eco reasing Strain on hearts, lungs, bones, joints, and tendons, whic Sg i asoneted aia ck of mob, One exe ment ot weakened eetovscula esters ithe pronenes fo ender bes stil an aces epitome (ele © a ing Ineo "ate ely) im bole cckong he ler occuring when carivasat Sp lo pp enough agen Dao gown ae and onge-deneted Dood ening fom ves becomes stk and he ses bahar hee tack of ie vo | sstering ect. The arn of socal ety Doses co wean Bones end joint is sugmented by the rigid euttaces of concrete ted ste and wite mes, the design of which @ determined above INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE | 199 Srisses, stale, end other roughage like hey, and the substitution of rain alters the microorganisms and acidity levels and leads tp & range of digestive problems, including rampant diarthee, Thinser coats and feathering also make skin more prone to chafing withia fight enclosures and increase the loss of body heat, Thus, while the increased demand for heating stems in part from the drive ta reduce metabolic losses, it becomes self-reinforcing as the exteraal defences of animals weaken. ‘ammonia burn, which can end in blindness), legs (‘hock burn’), and vessts, Excrement and animal respiration contribute to humid ambi Gxt environments, end the contaminated air can beccme especialy ‘fing during hot spells. Fithy and densely populated environments Greate favorable conditions for the growth of infectious microbes, the by Presence of flies, mites, lice, and other pests, and the rapid spread of ait and fluid-borne disease vectors, while large concentrations feed are enticing to rodents. As a result, systems of industritl ‘vestock production must be on constant guard agai infectious diseases such 2s swine and avian influenza Hmonella, Escherichia coli (. coll), campylobacteriosis, coccidiosis, ‘YPtosporidiosis, streptococci, giardia, Marek’s discase, and mastitir whea they are forcefully grabbed and jerked in moving the animals to another stage in the extended conveyor belt. problems. Rather than simply ‘more accurate and telling to from boredom, frustration, fear from being packed into aoisy and recking spaces, and from '§ deprived of clemental desires to move around, explore, have cial interactions with other animals, and maintain familial bonds. * Psychological states ofbeing not only recuce the general health animals but routinely i gh lengthy periods al baila up thei manne steno : uring, acs to diverse an pyslgialy ted fod sour i ning of infants of industri] production, including the truncated weaning of infant me cto ity, and the denaturalization ary change is hardest on grainatte rao | THREE nimal populations in bacteisladen environments, Drugs tiso override a range of other frequent problems, such as the arches commmoe to pigless after their premature weaning and to catle # | thei digestive systems are vnsetded by s0 much grain, while feed s : vrdditives are used to fortify diminished colors (eg. flesh, egg yolls) ee From an economic standpoint, the and weakened egg shell. ont heat 2 ROUSING ony to dhe ete sha ai ‘Ar antibiotics proiersied they were found to have the producti oppressing intestinal bacteria and enhancing digestion, ha from thie they quickly came to be seen as another means eld, promoting weight gtin and extending milking of a partial ‘with the pharmaceutical treadmill (discussed below), there to the explicit use of drugs for growth promotion ance Kpping, earn castration, which are ovecwhe! 2! les this basic logic Pushed echniques for blunting beaks chines Waren oreeeg uct) tne eto epee uber one beak every four seconde, nee today Femulany ‘ear tags, hand-held sprayers, and aerial rafters of buildings (and on feedlots, occasionally from low aircraft), while targeted rodenticides help to protect feed from and other rodents, The decontamination of filthy ¢ with many overrides, responding to one ‘something else, and the presence of airborne ‘agents further worsens the ambient environment. ‘Finally, the receat emergence of ‘bio-securitization’ rations of nutrients and ris id agto-chemical of pandemic disease jumping from pig and poultry pops nally composted manure oytan | THREE synthetic fertilizers) and bulky character (with associated transports tion and energy costs) tend to restrict its movement, At the sams time, neighboring agricultural landscapes can only absorb so much, and so often, while the slurry is generated steadily throughout the the limits to local applications and transportation jstances mean that much of the slurry generated moving slaug moderiting the pollution load of excrement and compromisi ‘been devel Jhosphorus. In blaming the fon and animal populations, and ostensi Jonathan Clark argue: in oscer to capture methane from their flatulence. is another essential override for 10 conserve to weigh the build-up of contaminated air egeinst the signi 1s associated with regular ventilation. Although vent 1s they hardly resolve all respiratory probl ce risks, and it speaks 10 the severity of the that the loss of power or malfunction of these can quickly have a lethal effect. Finally, there is an energy budget built into all of this, in ing equipment, of ‘ranspor ated ventilation systems, Yet ancthe ; wate inate the hbtoicaly hey esos of dence a Bibe overridden, ei cin in than five tousatdbroer ices l tansport truck in one loadee tag | THREE after eggs and milk are obtained, as livestock products demand more refrigeration than rew or processed cereals, oilseeds, and many othe sources of plant-based nutrition. Thus, the fuel budgets contained in the food miles for meat, eggs, and dairy products are amplified by the energy associated with running mobile refrigeration units. INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE | 125 the USA, whe meat in the ‘consumer fears, fetms tirough carcaies. Ye even in approved for commercial use on ‘rcly used owing to high costs and ; Overriding post-laughter wastes The structural wastage associated with s0 many unhewltby animals extends from the significant pre- slaughter mortality rates to the flesh that is damaged ‘and on slaughter lines and to that which is condemned post-sla ‘owing to disease. Some of the flesh that is unfit for human tion is redirected out of waste streams, along with non-edible body ports such as internal organs, bones, and feathers, and the instantly superfiuous male layer chicks, These diverted wastes are ren« and added to a variety of lower-srade products, including pet fertilizers, and protein supplements that are fed back to livestock latter yet another aspect of the broader systemic pressure to enhan rates of feed-to-fiesh conversion. But there is sill great pr to salvage for human consumption as much flesh from unhe animals as possible, which has led to a variety of processi handling techniques. Injections of coloring and flavoring 1m nitrates (which also act as a preservative) rughter method for overriding substandard sng with the development of en immense range of Pr ‘meats, from hot dogs to chicken nuggets to hambu which regularly contain pieces of many animals along with assor fillers end coagulsnts ‘Ory, musculoskeletal, in animals; omnipresent risks of con- E F 8 4 : 3 a : i E swith lange volumes 0: induced behavioral pathol. the splattered blood, guts, and excrement from various surfaces losis; : machines, and to rinse off carcasses. After rinsing, different meth ae cad overt ff cooling are then used to stop the growth and spread of danger id overridden at every bacteria among freshly slaughtered carcasses. For poultry, there divide between the use of air chills and chlorinated water chill systems, geste me, rnc sy and loon, slong wi To RHP igs err er demons Ia a in Figure 3.2, with con ic eepharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals, phypical insecticides: mutilations lsinfectants; and increased water ivechanization | “eqreducins si . therapeutic ot i Bieter hormenes 7 shiftto poultry = 2 & ‘anal ae ican sk aust |. [mame] AE factory farms fa] tossesand mesos fons) “puween meses Jase. |incresed ctance| § andteedots | =| emaductwe | = “een san | some | = Comat Se anor of tree in -manocultures ‘cere udgets 33 Tho indutria grao-oiseed westoce complexsat [nce aa sprig toc! monocatrs ndndt roe duction in parallel (compare Figures 3.1 bw Le r cee i eur and the mcr ways a which problems are ame onde id to make sease of their resource budgets and banat nto he ap oc Ce production, depicted in Fgue 33204 | Ce aiiesd adding up the great burden that 4 CONFRONTING THE HOOFPRINT: TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE, JUST, AND HUMANE WORLD part of it is here that Chapter 4 picks up, is the ecological hoofprint The ecological hoofprint ‘The introduction to this book noted how attention to of industri! livestock production is incre in relation to its magnitude. For most remains hidden in plain sight, entrenche tust double by 2050 to meet fture demand But this trajectory is not only sbout si of cheap meat has also been widely ce f marker of agricultural modernization. sxc omnivores (and the more bind technology have simply enagyfl tne ramping up of an age-old pisterclaton between humans ted animals. Such benign iPanasery is neatly encapsulat ¢ animal ‘protein has be % a factory farm operator put it 10 ms of land, water, atmosphere, conceptual framework developed in which industrial monocultures and factory farms fedifts were understood as dual through-flow processes that shagfcterized by their own sets of biophysical instabilities and Fs, and then bound together by the metabolic losses that are in cycling rising volumes of feed through rising populations