Animal Welfare
Just as the factory farming system is built on cruelty to people, its survival also depends upon the inhumane treatment of animals.

The industrial animal ag business model requires packing thousands of animals tightly into warehouses, keeping them from moving naturally or accessing sunlight, and creating breeding grounds for disease.
FarmSTAND knows that bringing about a system that’s better for workers, independent producers of food, and rural communities will make things better for animals, too. Rather than ask corporations to do better by animals, we take on the whole system and all its harms.
By the numbers
7
States in which FarmSTAND has challenged at least one Ag-Gag law.
88%
Of consumers said they’re willing to pay more for sustainable and responsibly-sourced seafood products.
82,000
Or more laying hens crammed into a building for an agricultural enterprise constitute a “confined animal feeding operation” or “CAFO”.
Solutions
As major food companies go back on their animal welfare promises, we stand apart by tackling the whole system. Corporations have turned animals into units of production and farmers into managers of an industrial system. We fight practices that cause unnecessary suffering, expose conditions companies would rather keep hidden, and push for a food system that does not sacrifice animal welfare for speed, scale, and profit. These cases can protect animals directly while also challenging the industrial model that drives their suffering.

Impact
We use every tool in our toolbox to prevent the inhumane treatment of animals while tackling industrial agriculture’s human and environmental harms. This includes nontraditional approaches like utilizing worker safety laws to make meatpacking giants accountable for how they treat both people and animals.
FarmSTAND has led the efforts that struck down ag-gag laws that shield industrial animal agriculture from scrutiny in North Carolina, Iowa, and Wyoming, and has challenged ag-gag statutes in four other states, as well. We also joined allies to urge the Federal Aviation Administration to reject a rule that would keep animal agribusiness from drone oversight.
Recent Cases
Equal Rights for Pennsylvania Ag Workers (UFCW 1776 v. Pennsylvania)
Agricultural workers deserve the same workplace protections as all other workers. But in […]
Stopping Big Salmon Greenwashing (Harris v. Trapananda Seafarms)
Big Aquaculture is following the same model of environmental degradation, worker exploitation, and […]
Demanding Environmental Review of Mega-Dairy Expansion (Riverview West River Dairy Expansion)
Mega-dairies, which confine tens of thousands of cows, create devastating environmental and […]
Fighting Politicized Restrictions on Food System Grantees (Washington Farmland Trust v. USDA)
In 2026, The Trump Administration’s USDA began imposing unlawful, unprecedented department-wide […]
Haciendo valer el derecho de personas trabajadoras agrícolas de recibir visitantes (Colorado Legal Services v. Southern Colorado Farms)
Click here to read this case page in English. La histórica Ley de Derechos de Trabajadores […]
No Corporate Impunity for Roundup (Monsanto v. Durnell)
Farmers and farmworkers are standing up to say that Monsanto and its Big Ag industry friends do not […]
Fighting Court Secrecy on Alleged Big Ag Anticompetitive Behavior (USA v. Agri Stats)
Throughout our food system, you’ll find Big Ag corporations playing dirty, manipulating the […]
Monitoring FERC to stop Factory Farm Gas
Big Ag loves to tout a fantasy where factory farm gas, which is methane gas produced from waste […]
Protecting Oregon’s Waters from Industrial Aquaculture (CFS v. Pacific Bio Products)
Industrial aquaculture poses many of the same threats as industrial land-based agriculture does to […]
Fighting Anti-Haitian Discrimination at JBS (Pierre v. JBS USA)
JBS, the largest meat company in the world, exploited over 1,000 Haitian workers recruited under […]
Enforcing Farm Workers’ Right to Visitors (Colorado Legal Services v. Southern Colorado Farms)
Colorado’s landmark 2021 Farm Worker Bill of Rights enshrined the right of agricultural workers […]
Challenging Civil Rights Rollbacks at EEOC (Cross v. EEOC)
Under the Trump Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has betrayed […]
What We Tackle
Worker Justice
Worker justice is central to the fight to transform our food system. FarmSTAND seeks to ensure the health, safety, and dignity of work for all food system workers.
Consumer Rights
We are taking action to enforce environmental laws, and stop deceptive corporate greenwashing and false climate solutions.
Climate & Environmental Protection
We are taking action to enforce environmental laws, and stop deceptive corporate greenwashing and false climate solutions.
Farmers & Rural Communities
We work alongside farmers and ranchers to change the rules and stories that promote industrial animal agriculture. FarmSTAND is paving the way for a food system that keeps resources in the hands of those who feed us.