Almost all livestock in the United States is factory-farmed

It’s difficult to quantify animal suffering in a single number, but one metric often used to measure living conditions is the number of animals raised on “factory farms”.

Factory farms are defined as “concentrated animal feeding operations” where many animals are held in an intensive feeding operation for more than 45 days.

99% of livestock in the United States is factory-farmed. This latest estimate comes from the Sentience Institute and is based on definitions and data from the US Environment Protection Agency.

The chart shows the share of different forms of livestock that are factory-farmed. More than 98% of chickens, turkeys, hens, pigs, and farmed fish are factory-farmed. Cows are a bit less likely to be factory-farmed, but three-quarters still spend much of their lives in these conditions.

Read more about factory farming, including estimates of how much livestock globally is factory-farmed →

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This page was imported from Our World in Data. “Almost all livestock in the United States is factory-farmed” by Hannah Ritchie, published by Our World in Data under CC BY 4.0. Changed here: set as a page, its interactive charts shown as pictures. Data from third parties keeps its own licence.

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