In recent years, Bishops throughout the United States have reiterated their continuing concern that environmental issues such as degradation of air, land, and water resources; adverse human health effects; detrimental impacts on the well-being of rural communities; along with the mistreatment of animals with less than the dignity and respect due them (Catholic Catechism); are recurrent problems associated with factory farming. The support for sustainable agriculture includes, therefore, a criticism of industrialized livestock systems.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, "For I Was Hungry and You Gave Me Food—Catholic Reflections on Food, Farmers, and Farmworkers," November 2003
"Catholic teaching about the stewardship of creation leads us to question
certain farming practices, such as the operation of massive, confined,
animal feeding operations. We believe that these operations should be
carefully regulated and monitored so that environmental risks are minimized
and animals are treated as creatures of God."

Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, October 18, 2001
"The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference is mindful of the fact that agriculture is the number one industry in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. … And we know of rural communities who have been devastated by a declining farm economy and, due to the loss of family farms, the new threat of factory farms which can hurt their environment and well being of communities."

Catholic Bishops of Nebraska, "Economic Hardships Affecting Rural Life", 2001
"We are concerned about the state of production agriculture, but even more we are concerned about the future of a cherished way of life. That is what is at stake in the struggle to save and sustain family-based, owner-operated farms and ranches. These institutions are being severely tested; by the trend toward corporate farming and ranching, which creates excessive concern about efficiency and market control and leaves little room for independent producers; by the shift from small and moderate sized, family-based production to industrial scale, "factory like" production systems; by the increase in concentrated ownership; and by vertical integration of production, processing, marketing and retailing. All these factors have contributed to the diminishment of open and competitive grain and livestock markets."

Catholic Bishops of Illinois, "A Catholic Perspective on Rural Life in Illinois"
Catholic Conference of Illinois, Spring 2001
"For centuries a system of sustainable agricultural practices has developed in our nation around the most basic and fundamental unity of society, the family. It has become the model for the world to emulate. Today, however, this approach to providing our basic foodstuffs is imperiled by a host of forces.

Today we are seeing the industrialization of farming which threatens to undermine the cherished institution of the family farm. It also poses a new threat to the critical natural resources of Illinois. Today we are seeing animal confinement operations on a scale well beyond what a family farm could sustain.

These operations raise serious concerns for the quality of land, water and air in our state. The concentration of ownership of both the land and the means of production is a concern."

Catholic Conference of Indiana, "Care for the Earth", May, 2000
"Mega-operations concentrate wastes in a small area, polluting groundwater and depleting water resources."

Bishops of the Boston Province, "And God Saw That It Was Good", October 4, 2000
"Businesses controlled from afar by persons who do not know the local circumstances can more easily be tempted to introduce environmentally hazardous practices such as large-scaled confined animal feeding operations."


Catholic Bishops of North Dakota on the Crisis in Rural Life, "Giving Thanks Through Action," 2000
(W)e urge citizens, local, state, and federal government, and all persons of good will to:

"Seriously examine and, if necessary, restrict the operation of large-scale animal confinement operations, looking not only at ownership and environmental questions, but also how such operations affect the common good of the community.

Some may dismiss such actions and concerns as contrary to notions of "progress" and "efficiency." To them, the loss of family farms and vertical integration is inevitable. The economy, however, is a human-made institution and not an inevitable force. Moreover, in his encyclical, The Gospel of Life, Pope John Paul II reminds us that when cultural, economic and political currents encourage an idea of society excessively concerned with efficiency, a "conspiracy against life" is unleashed and a "culture of death" is promoted. We cannot embrace such a culture in the name of progress."

Minnesota Bishops' Statement on the Farm Crisis, 2000
"It is not crop failure alone that forces the closure of small farms, but faulty policy decisions favoring large agribusiness operations concentrating both land and means of production into the hands of fewer and fewer while taking control out of the local community. The shift toward large animal confinement operations in rural Minnesota raises serious concerns for the quality of land, water and air in our state. The continued overuse of chemicals and the lack of land stewardship adversely affect both environment and health."

Francis Cardinal George, OMI, the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago, 1999
"At some point in time, we crossed the line and some of these facilities became factories, not farms as we once knew them. We believe now is the time for the General Assembly to pass legislation that will halt the construction of any new large-scale facilities ... until solutions can be developed that will address the impact these facilities are having on the environment and on small farmers."

Iowa Catholic Conference, "A Call to Reflect on God's Creation in Preparation for the Millennium," November 5, Fall 1998
"When Pope John Paul II visited Iowa in 1979, he encouraged us to ‘keep the land well.’ The shift toward large confinement operations in the Iowa countryside has raised serious concern for the quality of the land, water and air in our state."

His Eminence Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles
Chairman, Domestic Policy Committee and Most Reverend Raymond Burke
Bishop of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, Chairman, National Catholic Rural Life Conference, 1999

Letter to: The Honorable Richard Lugar United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510, May 19, 1999

"(W)e are also alarmed by the new livestock production systems. Many farmers now contract with processors to raise livestock in factory-like conditions. Too often, these contracts require the farmer to assume most of the risk including the financing of barns and equipment as well as environmental cleanup of animal waste and carcasses. Many have complained of inconsistency in the health of flocks and herds, in feed and medicines, and in weight of the animals at the plant - all of which can have a substantial impact on whether a farmer survives in this business.

These factory farms and the massive waste that they produce are having an impact on the air, soil and water quality in dozens of communities. Serious efforts must be undertaken by government and the private sector to ensure that the environment is protected and neighboring property is not devalued as a result of these large operations.

Finally, within this new livestock system, marketing arrangements such as "captive supplies" decrease the amount of product available for bid in public markets. This clouds true price discovery and farmers are often left to take a price that is below the average. It is our contention that the markets must become more transparent to enable the independent producer to compete more effectively."