Factory farming now produces the vast majority of the world's animal products. Understanding its scale is essential to understanding the magnitude of the animal welfare challenge it represents.
The scale of factory farming makes it the single largest source of animal suffering on Earth. Billions of animals live short lives in conditions that prevent expression of natural behaviours, cause chronic physical harm through selective breeding, and impose psychological suffering through confinement and social disruption. Individual welfare interventions exist but are insufficient without systemic change. Reducing demand through dietary change, combined with regulatory reform, certification, and alternative protein development, are the most promising pathways to change.