The livestock is an important industry that has a bearing on people's livelihood. Among them, factory farming (adopting a factory-like form to organize and arrange the production and operation of livestock and poultry products), one of the main methods of livestock and poultry farming in China, plays an important role in ensuring the supply of livestock products. However, due to its characteristics of large-scale, high concentration, high density and homogeneity, factory farming faces challenges from various aspects such as resource demand and environmental impact, quality and safety of livestock products, animal welfare, and so on, when compared with traditional decentralized small-scale farming. Therefore, there is an urgency to promote the transformation and upgrading of livestock and poultry factory farming to build a new pattern of high-quality development in the livestock industry.

This report uses publicly available data, literature, statistical analysis, focus interviews, and case studies to conduct an in-depth analysis of the current status of livestock factory farming and its impact. 

Key Findings 

1) On the demand side, the food consumption habits of residents have changed dramatically, with the demand for meat, eggs, and milk, increasing each year, together with an increasing demand for livestock products. The average meat consumption of Chinese residents (especially urban residents) is already way higher than the recommended dietary amount at present. 

2) On the supply side, the total domestic production of livestock products fluctuates upwards, and there is an strong trend towards large-scale production, with an ever-increasing number of factory farms coupled with an increase livestock products, and with an increasing dependence on the import of certain products such as beef. 

3) On the policy side, farming policies and support subsidies are biased towards large-scale farming, and the industry's 14th Five-Year Plan proposes to promote further improvement of the large-scale farming rate, while the State Council has issued a document in 2020 to promote high-quality development of the livestock industry. 

4) From the nutrition and health perspective, due to the large-scale nature and high density of factory farming, there is greater pressure on the nutritional health of residents in terms of product quality and safety, disease prevention and control, work and community health environment, etc. There is an urgent need for a continuous transformation in terms of antibiotic reduction and product quality improvement. 

5) From the ecological and environmental perspective, due to the high regional concentration, treatment of dye materials, waste emissions, high pressure on resource utilization, disposal of the huge amount of livestock manure and resource utilization have become increasingly challenging. 

6) From the animal welfare perspective, at present, China's livestock and poultry factory farming is paying more attention to animal welfare through the efforts of industry associations, but there is still a relative lack of knowledge, laws, standards, and measures for animal welfare.

Policy Recommendations 

First, agricultural support policies must be reformed to promote innovation in livestock and poultry farming operation "models", and promote the transformation and upgrading of factory farming entities towards environmental friendliness and creating common prosperity for small-scale farmers, while encouraging the exploration of innovations in farming and operation models such as combined farming, circular farming and animal husbandry, and welfare farming. 

Second, industry standards and regulations must be further improved, with food safety as the bottom line, for all aspects of livestock and poultry products, while constantly improving industry standards and regulations, strengthening supervision and guidance, and promoting quality improvement of livestock and poultry products across the industry. 

Third, research, development, and application of win-win agricultural technologies, and the use of scientific and technological means should be encouraged to reduce the negative impact of industrial farming, as well as to encourage the research development of alternative proteins and new protein products, to diversify protein sources. 

Fourth, the "big food concept" should be used to promote the adjustment and optimization of the dietary structure of the population, avoid excessive meat intake, and practice a balanced diet as recommended by the dietary program, so that the demand side can drive the transformation of factory farming towards nutritional health and environmental sustainability, and reduce the pressure of farming on resources, environment, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Factory Farming of Livestocks in China.pdf