Industrial agriculture

As industrial agriculture (including machine- oriented agriculture or agriculture ) is a type of farming is called, which uses industry-specific modes of production. Features such establishments are a high degree of specialization, the use of technical methods, a high capital investment, and the transition to standardized mass production. The development of industrial agriculture not only affects a few thereby formed agribusiness companies, but also companies that are family- owned, for example. In the United States the process for the majority of enterprises has been completed.

Agricultural Industrial companies are basically large enterprises. After Helmut Klüter from the Department of Geography and Geology, University of Greifswald, the minimum size will be:

• Livestock systems with more than 500 cattle ( GV ), and / or more than 2000 pigs or more than 380 sows with piglets 3000 and / or more than 9000 poultry animals, with the occupation of a stable system does not exceed 600 animals
• Companies with more than 500 ha of agricultural land.

An industrial agricultural production is accompanied by an enormous influence and alteration of the natural ecosystems. It comes to a rapid decline in species diversity in favor of large-scale systems and an artificially upright ecological balance. The landscape must also be "machine just" shaped, so that natural structures are removed in principle. Such agricultural landscapes are often called " agricultural steppe " means.

As a counterpoint to the aligned purely on economic profit and productivity industrial agriculture to understand the scale agriculture. For a small-scale agriculture, the existence of a farmstead is typical. A farmstead is mainly characterized in that the farmer lives on the premises.

Environmental Law

In animal husbandry, the German environmental law provides guidance for the boundary between a rural and an industrial agriculture. Exceeds the (planned) livestock on a holding of livestock a particular, by the Act on Environmental Impact Assessment ( EIA Act ) predetermined threshold value, the result is a requirement to obtain an environmental impact assessment, will if the farmer increase his business or build on a new site stables. Companies that exceed the threshold are considered " large commercial livestock farming ".

§ 3b of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act ( EIA requirement due to the type, size and performance of the project ), provides in paragraph 1: The obligation to conduct an environmental risk assessment for a product listed in Annex 1 projects when determining its kind mentioned features are present. If size or power values ​​are given, an assessment is carried out if the values ​​are reached or exceeded.

An EIA is omitted, inter alia, when in an establishment not more than 42,000 hens in intensive farming, 84,000 pullets, 30,000 Mastgefügel in intensive farming, 250 cattle, calves 1000, 1500 pigs, 560 sows are including associated piglets or piglets 4500 kept or reared.

Construction Law

Even after the German Building Code is the difference between industrial and rural animal husbandry is important, particularly with regard to building on the outskirts of cities and towns.

According to § 35 of the Federal Building Code (building used externally), paragraph 1, sentence 1 of the building in an area without adequate provisions in a zoning plan or building plan only allowed if the building " an agricultural or forestry operation is used and only a minor part of the plant area occupies [ ... ] ". This scheme assumes that it is the expansion of an existing operation. New build off of existing farmsteads so subject to approval by the relevant local authorities.

By § 201 Building Code ( definition of agriculture), the circle is that further restricted who enjoy the privilege of a right to a building without explicit consideration in a land use plan or development plan. As the " agriculture " shall in this paragraph next to the agriculture, horticultural production, the commercial fruit growing, viticulture, the professional beekeeping and professional freshwater fishing only such meadows and pasture management, including animal husbandry, in which the food for the most part on the the agricultural operating mating surfaces may be produced. It should be noted in this context, the difference in the meaning of the terms operation and companies: " Somewhere " opposite faces of an agricultural undertaking can not be considered for the area calculation within the meaning of § 201, since the legal term " operation" refers to a spatially coherent unit.

Through the German building law municipalities should be given the opportunity, the uncontrolled proliferation of buildings serving the animal production, and the uncontrolled increase in the number of animals to halt.

Criticism

Among the environmental impact of the trend towards industrialization of agriculture mainly include soil erosion, soil salinization and the penetration of agricultural chemicals into groundwater. In addition, in connection with the farming unresolved issues of animal welfare.

Critics of the risk is seen for the industrial agriculture that agricultural products are put on a par with industrial parts, which are manufactured in a factory or on an assembly line with robots at all times in the desired quantity. Such reasoning would lead inevitably to extract from raw materials, resources and farm animals the utmost.

Also criticized is associated with industrial agriculture related usually global market orientation, which threatens the food security, since the dependence of developing countries would be strengthened by unpredictable price fluctuations of of them and exported agricultural products during the production of staple foods in favor of for export products go back.

Criticism is, finally, that by the German environmental and construction law such animal producers, whose animal husbandry systems, the attributes " large" and " industrial" de iure not applicable (see above), still given the opportunity to have their livestock even without appeal by public authorities or institutions to increase local self-government, if the limit of the total capacity of the region has already been reached or exceeded. This is a steady increase in the nitrate content in groundwater of the affected communities and an increase of respiratory diseases due to high ammonia emissions unstoppable as a result of intensive fertilization with manure.