Chapter 21. Chapter 21: Agriculture: Raising Livestock

What agricultural policies have been pursued in the United States...?

Why You Should Care

Laws passed during the Great Depression, especially the U.S. Farm Bill, were originally intended to protect the interests of small-scale farmers by paying them to produce less. This may not make a lot of sense at first, but in times of surplus, producing less will keep demand and profits higher than producing all that one's farm will allow. That means that farmers make more money and can stay in business. However, somewhere along the way, the system began to break down. Loopholes and changes in the Farm Bill and other policies began to subsidize farmers producing too much or producing at greater cost than their crops were worth. Eventually, industries began to take advantage of the surplus of artificially inexpensive corn, soybeans, and other “commodity crops.” They found ways to turn corn into convenience and snack foods, and feeding cattle grain rather than grass became standard practice. The origin of the CAFO method, then, became a viable option because companies could purchase corn at less than cost and use it to grow more beef in less space. Helping this effort were gaps in drug and environmental policies that allowed CAFO owners to use antibiotics almost indiscriminately and to avoid treating animal waste with the stringent standards set for municipal wastewater. Some of these policies have recently been changed, so it will be interesting to see if CAFO methods will become more environmentally responsible. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization recommends just that. It is the FAO's recommendation that wealthy nations such as the United States, where the nutritional needs of citizens have largely been met, should focus policies on reducing the environmental impact of meat production. This would mean a shift to more grass-fed meat and perhaps an education campaign about the advantages of non-industrial methods.