Farm Bureau

I've been thinking lately about the factory farm "term." I know it irritates the animal agriculture producers, and he hacks, but sometimes I think because it's spewing mouths and keyboards of the enemies of agriculture as something vile and evil. Perhaps we overreact. It is high time I looked into this. Maybe not such a bad thing together. Texas Farm Bureau: Factory farms is not so bad after all.

The Internet is a practical tool. It's almost like a factory information. It would have taken hours with my old Webster's to find all definitions, but it took only minutes online. Here's what several online dictionaries had to say on a "factory".

aec A building where goods are manufactured or assembled primarily by machine. A building or group of buildings where goods are manufactured, a factory

Agriculture, including animal agriculture, is in some measure. There are machines that plant and harvest. There are machines that milk from cows and provide food and clean water to chickens and other animals.

aec A place of production: a place or an organization that produces something special, regular and a certain amount

It fits, too. Agriculture of the United States feeds much of the world regularly and in quantities that other parts of the world can imagine. A place of production? Darn right-productivity unmatched anywhere in the world

aec A building or complex of buildings with facilities for manufacturing. A building or other place where the manufacture takes place

I will not argue with it, either. Parts of animal agriculture, in particular, need buildings to protect animals against inclement weather and predators and keep food and drinking water.

Now we must examine some definitions of manufacturing.

aec Anything made from raw materials by hand or by machines

aec The process of making goods by hand or by machines, especially when carried on systematically with division of labor and production industry using mechanical power and machinery

Well, I'll ... These kind of crisis too! Animal farmers to materials, grass and grain and "manufacture" of protein for human consumption. As described above, there are machines.

To be fair, there were references to "industrial" in certain definitions. This is another of the words "bad" by which agriculture is often attacked, but it also indicates the efficiency and cost control.

All of these words: "the factory, manufacturing, industry" and others, can be used in different ways to suit your purposes. There is a certain resemblance to that of plants in agriculture does. Do it this way. A great big piece of the American population 100 years ago decided they wanted to leave the farm and live a new life and different. They did it en masse to work in places that meet the conventional definition of plants. The development of these places has led to lower costs and the availability of a wide range of products.

Farmers who were left had to become more efficient or go out of business. All this has happened. The result is now certified in grocery stores where Americans spend on average less than 10 percent of their income on food. The "factory farms" of agriculture in the United States to produce a safe and healthy in general that almost anyone can afford. These same factory farms create jobs, or about 20 percent of jobs in the U.S.

There would have implications for preventing this type of farming. We can send everyone to the farm. We can all keep a few chickens, a cow and grow a garden.

Some do. Not everyone can or even want. Of course, there is space on the market for organic foods and locally grown. Not bad at all in the delivery of these markets.