Factory Farming

Legislation was introduced to the US congress in January 2012 that would require egg producers to switch from conventional cages to "enriched cages." Enriched cages refer to "colony housing," which would need to be phased in over 15 to 18 years. Sponsorship of the survey and the question wording was not made publicly available.

This is a report provided by the U.S. beef industry that summarizes research addressing attitudes toward beef and how to communicate with consumers in the United States. This is an annual survey and the results are compared with previous years.

This literature review presents research about the practice of tail docking in cows, pigs and sheep. The authors find that there is no precedence of tail docking in cows and that the U.S. is the only industrialized nation that does not ban the practice. They note a lack of comprehensive knowledge about utility and effects of tail docking in sheep and pigs and suggest further research in the area needs to be done. Notably, they highlight that though prevention of fly strike is the primary reason given for tail docking in sheep, there is little scientific evidence to support that it is effective.

In this study researchers test eight indicators of sheep welfare that do not require people to physically handle sheep. They find that four of the measures--cleanliness of the breech area, lameness, demeanor, and wool loss--were reliable and suggest these findings indicate that the welfare of farmed sheep can be assessed without physical intervention.

Both organic farmers and veterinarians were surveyed regarding their interaction and experiences with each other. Overall, there was little interaction between the two groups. Further, there was a disconnect between the groups in that organic farmers rarely sought veterinary help, and veterinarians tended to be unaware of organic production guidelines.

This report examines the amount of money that the private sector of the food, agricultural, and biofuel industries spend on research and development (R&D). From 1994-2007, R&D grew by about 4.3% in the food and agricultural industries, with animal breeding experiencing some of the largest growth.

To evaluate the readability of such materials in a more robust and transparent manner, the Humane Research Council (HRC) partnered with VegFund and FARM to test a selection of outreach materials that are commonly used by vegan advocates. The average readability scores placed these materials in the range of the 11th grade reading level or higher, which is three to four grade levels higher than the average U.S. adult.

By conducting a literature review of previously published studies, this paper evaluates the role of group housing for farm animals. According to the author, past research suggests that allowing animals to be housed together will be a proactive way to increase welfare for farm animals.

Since 1945 the US government has surveyed how public and private land in the US is being used. This is the most recent report, which is published every five years, detailing land use as of 2007. Of particular relevance to animal advocates is the amount of land reserved for wildlife as well as pasture- and range-land for farmed animals.