Owen Walsh
Every year, billions in taxpayer dollars go directly to supporting an unsustainable system.
It makes sense that the government takes a vested interest in supporting farmers who perform the tireless work of growing the food we eat. Much of this support comes in the form of taxpayer dollars—known as subsidies—to help them through tough economic and environmental conditions.
A great deal of this taxpayer money, however, seems to be placed quite generously into the deep pockets of industrial animal agriculture. Instead of using these billions of dollars to support small, sustainable, and humane farms, agriculture subsidies mostly support the country’s biggest agriculture operations—further entrenching us in an inefficient system. Here are the top nine ways it does so:
1. Factory farms rake in the subsidies
It seems like common sense that taxpayer dollars would mostly go to small farms where hardworking farmers struggle to get by. However, the biggest and richest corporations tend to get the most help, while the smaller, struggling farms fight for what’s leftover. Studies have consistently found the top 10% largest farms in the country receive the vast majority of government payouts. On top of that, farmers who grow crops to feed animals receive more subsidies than farmers who grow crops to feed humans.
2. Farmed animals are considered ‘property’
Despite factory farming’s profound impact on countless animals’ lives and the overall health of the planet, Big Ag enjoys minimal government oversight. A particularly glaring omission is the exclusion of farmed animals from even the most basic state and federal anti-cruelty laws afforded to pets and other kinds of animals. In the eyes of the law, farmed animals are legally defined and treated as a farmer’s property, not as sentient creatures who deserve respect. This distinction makes it easier for for factory farms to maximize their own efficiency by providing animals with minimal space, cheap diets, and an overall poor quality of life.
3. Lack of pollution regulations
Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) don’t just produce animal meat. They also produce tons of animal waste. This waste doesn’t stay put; it often leaks into nearby waterways polluting streams, rivers, and entire communities’ drinking water. The putrid stink of chemicals and gases from animal waste also pollute the air, and wreak havoc on the mental and physical health of nearby communities. If that wasn’t bad enough, the methane that escapes from cow manure is a major driver of greenhouse gas pollution. Despite these profoundly negative impacts, the US government has remained notoriously lax in holding mega farms accountable for the pollution they produce. This is good news for CAFOs looking to do things as quickly and cheaply as possible, but deeply troubling for the rest of us who have to live with the consequences.
4. Insurance without accountability
Building right off the last item, it’s troubling enough that factory farms are not made to answer for their significant contributions to climate change. To make matters worse, when climate-related disasters hit, the government pays out millions to those same farms to cover the costs of their perished livestock. No questions asked. This neatly outlines everything wrong with the current system. Factory farms act without consequences, disaster hits, animals suffer and die, the government bails the farms out, and the cycle continues.
5. Getting paid for culling animals
You may have heard about “culling” animal populations recently, as avian influenza spreads like wildfire through poultry and dairy farms. The term “culling” refers to the mass killing—often through horrific, inhumane methods—of a group of animals who have been infected by a disease. The media often reports on this issue with regard to the price of eggs in the grocery store, but there’s another facet to the story. Whenever a farm resorts to the mass killing of a flock, it receives “indemnity and compensation” from the USDA, via taxpayer dollars. Instead of forcing CAFOs to reform the conditions of their operations—conditions which public health officials have said are perfect for facilitating the spread of disease—the US government simply foots the bill over and over again.
6. Right to Farm laws
For Michigan-based advocates fighting the expansion of factory farming in their state in 2024, reforming “right to farm” laws was one of their top priorities. These are laws that were originally instituted to protect small, family farms from frivolous “nuisance lawsuits,” like noise complaints for using heavy machinery. But now, right to farm laws have been co-opted by factory farming interests as a means to ensure that corporations that operate CAFOs can avoid being held liable for practically anything they do. Michigan’s Right to Farm Act, for example, has been used in recent years to prevent local governments from imposing size restrictions on nearby agricultural facilities. Right to farm laws have also stood in the way of demanding better air and water quality standards.
7. Mandatory cow milk in school lunches
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is an invaluable government program that provides school children with low-cost or no-cost lunches every school day. While this is a critical service to underprivileged school students nationwide, the program also heavily subsidizes Big Dairy. Participating schools must provide cow milk alongside every meal. Schools are not required to provide non-dairy substitutes, unless students provide medical documentation that they’re unable to consume cow milk.
8. Ag Gag laws
The things you see within the walls of a factory farm are, simply put, nightmarish. Factory farms, unsurprisingly, don’t want that nightmare getting out. So-called “ag-gag laws” are put in place to prevent just that: to discourage whistleblowers from documenting the animal cruelty that takes place out of view of the general public. The penalty that comes with taking an unauthorized photo or video on a factory farm varies from state to state. Getting caught as a whistleblower could mean getting slapped with a hefty fine, but has even resulted in felony convictions in the most extreme cases. Since the 1990s, First Amendment advocates have succeeded in striking down many ag-gag laws as an infringement on free speech, as in this more recent case in Kansas. In other states, however, ag-gag laws have persevered and continue to help cover up abuses.
9. Subsidies for animal feed crops
Factory-farmed animals, not humans, consume most of the corn and soy that US farmers grow. The USDA reports that livestock eat about 70% of the country’s soybean supply, and about 40% of US-grown corn. It’s no coincidence that these two crops are also the most heavily subsidized crop by the US government. Since the 1990s, corn farmers have received more than 100 billion in government assistance, while soybean farmers have received almost 50 billion. This is a clear—and massive—investment into animal agriculture. But there’s a smarter way—one that doesn’t involve dumping so much money into just two crops that are mostly used to feed animals. Spreading USDA funds more equally among a larger number of crops would help lower the cost of healthy fruits and veggies, allow animals to forage and graze on more natural, sustainable foods, and give small farmers a better shot at staying in business.
Fixing a broken system
There’s no question that the government ought to provide farmers with the support they need to produce the food that feeds millions. But the current system is broken. Subsidies are mostly going to the biggest and richest corporate farms while smaller farms are floundering around the country. Factory farms receive bailouts when affected by natural disasters caused by climate change and the spread of zoonotic diseases, but are not asked to answer for their own role in these crises. And laws like right to farm and ag gag are written to favor corporate-run factory farms , while taking power from local governments and communities, and obliterating whistleblowers’ First Amendment rights.
In the midst of these issues, factory farm interests are currently pushing for a new Farm Bill that would contain some of the most dangerous language ever proposed for the safety and welfare of farmed animals and local communities.
Click here to learn more about how you can join The Humane League in urging Congress to oppose these dangerous proposals.
