Industrial agriculture is a type of modern farming that involves the large-scale production of crops and animal products such as eggs and milk. Methods used in industrial agriculture include advances in farming equipment and techniques, genetic technology, producing large amounts of goods efficiently, creating new markets for food, protecting genetic information with patents, and participating in global trade. These practices are common in developed countries and are becoming more widespread around the world. Most of the meat, dairy, eggs, fruits, and vegetables found in supermarkets are made using this type of farming.

Historical development and future prospects

Industrial agriculture began at the same time as the Industrial Revolution. Scientists discovered that nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus (called NPK) are important for plant growth, which led to the creation of synthetic fertilizers. This allowed for more intensive farming methods. Later, in the early 1900s, scientists found that vitamins are important for animal health, leading to the development of vitamin supplements. By the 1920s, these supplements made it possible to raise livestock indoors, protecting them from harsh weather. The discovery of antibiotics and vaccines helped reduce disease in animals kept in large, controlled groups. Chemicals used during World War II were later used to make synthetic pesticides. Improvements in transportation and shipping technology made it easier to move agricultural products over long distances.

Between 1820 and 1975, global agricultural production doubled four times. In 1800, the world had about one billion people, but by 2002, the population had grown to 6.5 billion. During this time, fewer people worked in farming because machines and automation made farming more efficient. In the 1930s, 24% of Americans worked in agriculture, but by 2002, that number dropped to 1.5%. In 1940, one farmer could feed 11 people, but by 2002, one farmer could feed 90 people. The number of farms also decreased, and larger companies took control of more farmland. For example, in the 2000s, farmland prices in the United States rose due to a farming crisis in the Midwest. This made it harder for small and medium-sized farms to stay in business, forcing some farmers to use new methods from industrial agriculture, such as financialization.

Financialization involves turning farming into a business focused on money. Financial institutions, like banks, became more involved in farming decisions. This changed how farming work is organized, how it is valued, and how people work together. In Brazil’s Cerrado region, farmers used financial methods to expand soy farming. Investors were interested because farming there seemed to have low risks and high profits. They used insider knowledge about the Brazilian market to make decisions. In an article titled Financialization of Work, Value, and Social Organization Among Transnational Soy Farmers in the Brazilian Cerrado, Ofstehage explains how farming has become a management model.

A management model includes rules and structures that guide how farming work is done. Farming tasks are often outsourced, but management and financial decisions are also part of this system. The way farming is valued changed under this model. Farmers now consider whether farming methods are good or bad based on new rules. Some farmers avoided changing their methods because it could affect their family businesses. Management styles differ between farmers who see farming as a lifestyle and those who focus only on profit. In the Cerrado, farming is based on increasing profits, which influences decisions about management and labor.

In the United States, four companies control most of the meat production: 81% of cows, 73% of sheep, 57% of pigs, and 50% of chickens. This is an example of "vertical integration," where a few large companies control many parts of farming. In 1967, there were one million pig farms in the U.S., but by 2002, there were only 114,000 farms. That year, 80 million pigs (out of 95 million total) were raised on factory farms. According to the Worldwatch Institute, 74% of global poultry, 43% of beef, and 68% of eggs are produced in large-scale farming systems.

The British Agricultural Revolution describes a period in Britain from the 16th century to the mid-1800s when farming became much more productive. This increase in food production supported population growth and helped create jobs for people who could then work in other industries, such as manufacturing. Historians believe four changes helped this revolution: enclosing farmland, using machines, rotating crops in four fields, and improving animal breeding. These changes were credited to a small group of people, though the exact reasons for the revolution are still debated.

Challenges and issues

Industrial agriculture has challenges and issues that affect global and local society, the agriculture industry, individual farms, and animal rights. These challenges include the costs and benefits of current farming methods and any changes proposed for them. Industrial agriculture is a continuation of thousands of years of using technology to feed growing populations.

The goal of industrial agriculture is to produce food at lower costs, increasing productivity and improving living standards through more available goods and services. However, industrial methods have both positive and negative side effects. Industrial agriculture is not a single, unchanging system but is made up of many parts that can be changed based on market needs, government rules, and scientific progress. For each part of industrial agriculture, the question is: Are the harmful effects serious enough that the financial benefits and positive effects are no longer worth it? Different groups have different opinions about this and suggest different solutions, which can influence market conditions and government rules.

Major challenges and issues related to industrial agriculture include:

Maximizing benefits:
– Affordable and plentiful food
– Convenience for consumers
– Economic contributions at many levels, from farming to selling

Minimizing downsides:
– Environmental and social costs
– Antibiotic resistance
– Harm to fish populations
– Cleaning up water polluted by animal waste
– Health risks from pesticides
– Ozone pollution caused by methane from animals
– Global warming from heavy use of fossil fuels

An example of industrial agriculture providing cheap and plentiful food is the United States' agricultural success. From 1930 to 2000, U.S. agricultural productivity increased by about 2% each year, leading to lower food prices. By the end of the 20th century, the percentage of U.S. disposable income spent on food at home dropped from 22% in 1950 to 7%.

Economic problems for industrial agriculture include reliance on limited fossil fuel resources used in farming equipment, food processing, transportation, and chemical production. Rising energy prices, as predicted by the International Energy Agency, may increase food costs. This highlights the need to reduce dependence on non-renewable energy in farming. Another issue is the limited supply of phosphate, a key ingredient in fertilizers.

Industrial agriculture uses large amounts of water, energy, and chemicals, which pollute land, water, and the air. Herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers, and animal waste are found in groundwater and surface water. Some negative effects of farming, like nitrogen pollution from the Midwest, travel far from farms, harming fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. Other problems occur within farming systems, such as pests becoming resistant to chemicals, making them less effective. Chemicals and farming practices like growing only one crop at a time (monoculture) are also linked to Colony Collapse Disorder, which causes bee populations to drop. Bees are vital for pollinating many plants, fruits, and vegetables.

A study by the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment found that industrial agriculture harms living conditions in nearby rural communities. Rising food prices, caused by energy costs and reliance on fossil fuels, could hurt poor people the most. For example, the 2007–2008 food price crisis showed how higher prices disproportionately affect those with low incomes, as they spend a large share of their income on food.

Industrial farming depends heavily on inputs like fertilizers and pesticides. If these supplies are disrupted by conflicts or disasters, food production could drop significantly. It is estimated that global agricultural yields might fall by 35–48%, and in highly industrialized areas like Central Europe, yields could drop by up to 75%.

Animals

"Concentrated animal feeding operations," also called "intensive livestock operations," are large farms where many animals, sometimes hundreds of thousands, are kept indoors. These animals are usually cows, pigs, turkeys, or chickens. A key feature of these farms is that they keep a large number of animals in a small area. The goal of these operations is to produce large amounts of meat, eggs, and milk as cheaply as possible while keeping food safe.

Food and water are provided directly to the animals on the farm. Artificial methods are often used to keep the animals healthy and increase production, such as giving them medicines, vitamins, and growth hormones. Growth hormones are not used in chicken meat production or in the European Union for any animals. In meat production, methods are sometimes used to control behaviors that animals might show when kept in close spaces, such as fighting. These methods include using calmer animal breeds, separating animals with physical barriers, or altering their bodies, like trimming chickens’ beaks to reduce harm from fighting. Animals bred for weight gain are given plenty of food to help them grow quickly.

The term "confined animal feeding operation" (CAFO) was created in the United States in 1972 with the Federal Clean Water Act, which aimed to improve the quality of lakes and rivers so they could be used for fishing and swimming. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified CAFOs, along with other industries, as sources of pollution that can harm groundwater. These operations are called CAFOs and must follow special rules to prevent pollution.

In 17 U.S. states, some cases of groundwater pollution have been linked to CAFOs. For example, the 10 million pigs in North Carolina produce 19 million tons of waste each year. The U.S. government requires that animal waste be stored in large pools called lagoons. These lagoons can be as big as 7.5 acres. If lagoons are not lined with materials that stop leaks, waste can seep into groundwater. Heavy rain can also cause waste from fields to run off into water sources. In 1995, a lagoon in North Carolina burst, releasing 25 million gallons of waste into a river, which reportedly killed 8 to 10 million fish.

Keeping large numbers of animals, along with their waste and dead animals, in a small area raises concerns for some people. Animal rights and welfare groups argue that raising animals in such conditions is harmful to them. As CAFOs become more common, worries about air and water pollution, and the effects of pollution and antibiotics on human health, have also grown.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), farms where animals are raised in large groups can cause health problems for workers. Workers may develop lung diseases, injuries to muscles and bones, or infections that spread from animals to humans. However, these infections are very rare because diseases that move from animals to humans are uncommon.

Crops

The projects of the Green Revolution shared technologies that already existed but were not commonly used outside of industrialized countries. These technologies included pesticides, irrigation systems, and artificial nitrogen fertilizer.

A major new technology from the Green Revolution was the creation of "miracle seeds." Scientists developed special strains of corn, wheat, and rice called HYVs, or "high-yield varieties." These HYVs can absorb more nitrogen than other types. However, plants that take in too much nitrogen often fall over before harvest, so scientists added genes that make the plants shorter. Norin 10 wheat, created by Orville Vogel using Japanese dwarf wheat, helped develop the wheat used in the Green Revolution. IR8, the first widely used HYV rice made by the International Rice Research Institute, was created by crossing an Indonesian rice called "Peta" with a Chinese rice called "Dee Geo Woo Gen."

With the help of molecular genetics in plants like Arabidopsis and rice, scientists found the genes responsible for shorter plant height (rh), reduced sensitivity to gibberellin (gai1), and slender rice (slr1). These genes are part of a system that controls how plants grow using a hormone called gibberellic acid, which affects cell division in stems. Plants with these genes have shorter stems, making them more stable. This means the plant uses less energy on growing stems and more on producing grain. This change makes fertilizers more effective in increasing crop yields.

HYVs perform much better than traditional varieties when there is enough water, pesticides, and fertilizers. However, if these resources are not available, traditional varieties might do better. A criticism of HYVs is that they are F1 hybrids, which means farmers have to buy new seeds each season instead of saving seeds from previous harvests. This increases the cost for farmers.

Sustainable agriculture

The idea and practice of sustainable agriculture developed because of problems caused by industrial agriculture. Sustainable agriculture has three main goals: taking care of the environment, making farms profitable, and helping farming communities thrive. These goals have been studied by many different fields and can be viewed from the perspective of farmers or consumers.

Organic farming uses some scientific knowledge and limited modern tools along with traditional farming methods. It accepts some methods from industrial agriculture but rejects others. Organic farming depends on natural biological processes, which often take time, and a whole-system approach. In contrast, chemical-based farming focuses on quick, separate effects and methods that break down problems into smaller parts.

Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) is an example of this whole-system approach. IMTA is a practice where waste products from one type of aquatic species are reused as resources, such as fertilizer or food, for another species. Raising fish and shrimp (fed aquaculture) is combined with growing seaweed (inorganic extractive) and raising shellfish (organic extractive) to create balanced systems. These systems support environmental sustainability, economic stability through diverse products and reduced risks, and better farming practices that are accepted by society.