High mortality rates in intensive animal farming reveal the scale of suffering embedded in food production.
On-farm mortality rates in industrial animal agriculture are remarkably high and largely invisible to consumers. Billions of animals die annually from disease, injury, and environmental stress before even reaching slaughter — deaths that represent both welfare failures and economic losses. High mortality is a systemic indicator of welfare conditions that are inadequate for many individuals to survive. Lower-density, higher-welfare farming consistently shows lower mortality rates, demonstrating that the trade-off between production and welfare is not inevitable.