Is Factory Farming Real?

Factory farming is one of the biggest buzzwords currently surrounding the agriculture industry.

When you see/hear those words, what do you think of? Greedy corporations? Too many cows not being cared for? Bad environmental practices?

What about family? No? Not what you think of?

Well, our farm would probably be classified as a factory farm by activists because of the size. That classification only looks at one thing, size. Not any of the other factors that go into farming.

But what is our farm really? A FAMILY FARM.

Our dairy supports 7 families in our family, including us. It also supports about 40 families of our employees. That is just the job directly related to your farm. Then there are the hundreds of indirect jobs and their families it supports.

In fact, factory farms really aren’t a thing in real life. Of all the farms in the United States, 98% are family-owned and operated just like ours.

And size, big or small, doesn’t determine cow care or environmental impacts. Just because a farming operation is larger does not mean the level of respect for the animals or land changes. Dairies of all sizes strive for the best cow care practices and are working toward our industry-wide goal of being carbon neutral or better by 2050!

Next time you hear the term factory farming. Ask a few more questions to see what kind of farm it actually is. In a vast majority of the cases, it is a FAMILY FARM, not a factory farm.

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