industrial agriculture
This Giant Vertical Farming Robot Is Coming For Your Crops
It's designed to grow grains for livestock while saving farmers money on labor. But that means it's also coming for some human jobs.
China Is Building a Giant Animal-Cloning Factory to Feed the Masses
While the rest of the world sorts out its feelings about the safety and ethics of cloning animals for food production, China is charging ahead and building the world’s largest animal cloning factory, set to begin operations in 2016.
An Anti-Burping Drug for Cows Might Save the Planet
You probably know by now that gassy cows expel a huge amount of methane into our atmosphere, leading to global warming. But a new feed additive out of the Netherlands might change all that. Enter "Project Clean Cow."
Bird Flu Is Forcing Egg Prices to Skyrocket
Remember those 5 million sad Iowa chickens, sentenced to death to stave off an avian flu epidemic? Well, industry analysts are now reporting supermarket egg prices up 58 percent from just one month ago.
5 Million Chickens Are About to Be Killed to Prevent the Spread of Avian Flu
An additional 27,000 turkeys in Buena Vista Country, about an hour and a half away, were euthanized last week after the same virus was discovered in their flock. Although the culls may seem extreme, the virus is so deadly to birds that it can eradicate...
We Spoke to a Monsanto Exec About Solving the World's Food Crisis
Best known for its genetically modified seeds, Monsanto is increasingly styling itself as an information technology company. And it may well hold the future of a hungry humanity in its hands.
North Carolina’s Black Communities Are Sick of Pig Shit
In North Carolina, environmental groups say factory hog farms' vast lagoons of pig waste are disproportionately affecting poor and minority communities.
Big Data Is Headed to Pasture, and Farmers Want to Cash In
As Monsanto and DuPont buy into the big data game, farmers wonder if collecting all this data leaves them vulnerable to an "overall-clad Snowden."
The Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Is This Summer's Shittiest Trend
We may not have a summer jam yet, but at least we have an epidemic.
'The Vegetarian People' File the First Lawsuit for The Right to Whistleblow on Farms
On Monday, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and PETA, among others, filed the first suit of its kind to legally challenge the development and spread of these laws, which shield industrial farming operations from whistleblowing.