BEEF Daily

Animal Rights Group Pays People To Watch Propaganda


The Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) is on a bus tour, offering $1 to consumers to watch their grisly animal abuse video.

Let me preface this blog by saying that I don’t support anyone who abuses animals. Whenever a case of animal abuse is in the news, I’m disheartened and disappointed that anyone could mistreat a living creature the way some people do. However, I also know that these cases are a rarity -- not the norm. Whether you’re a pet owner or a livestock producer, I bet you care a great deal about your animals; otherwise why would you own them in the first place? Certainly we have to regulate the bad apples when animal abuse takes place, but I don’t believe that means we should outlaw pet-owning or livestock production, do you?

Well, if the Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) has its way, there will be no more animal agriculture. FARM is on a nationwide bus tour, offering $1 to anyone who is willing to spend a few minutes to watch their grisly, dramatic video footage of how they see animal agriculture. After watching the video, consumers are urged to decrease their consumption of animal proteins and strive to go vegan.

The video documentary is four minutes long and is called “Farm To Fridge,” and is part of FARM’s 10 Billion Lives Tour -- named for their effort to save 10 billion farm animals. According to FARM, in July, they had more than 1,100 viewers in a single day in Uniondale, NY, and they have reached more than 23,000 people total.

Read all about it here.

This pay-per-view tactic is just another way for animal rights activists to line their pocketbooks to help achieve their ultimate goals of promoting a vegan society and eliminating animal agriculture.

As for me, I don’t have to pay to see that livestock producers genuinely care about their animals, and I know that animal abusers are the minority, not the norm.

What do you think about this latest animal rights effort to derail animal agriculture?

Discuss this Blog Entry 89

Kathy V Foster (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

How can killing not be counted as abuse?

Debra Smith (not verified)
on Mar 29, 2013

Thank you for raising beef for us. It is a great life, but hard. You have to take care of your animals and your crops and fields year round in any weather.
It is a proven fact that we need animal proteins for health.
In the Bible they slaughtered animals for sacrifice, then cooked and ate them.
In Levticus 11 you will find a listing of the clean versus unclean animals to eat, which states that all animals with cloven hoof and that chew their cud are clean and good to eat, ie. basically sheep, goats, cows, oxen,etc.
The animals that were not to be eaten were basically all that were those made by GOD to clean the earth, or scavengers.

I do not know what videos are being used. I think it is a terrible shame to promote against what seem to be commonly called 'factory farms'.
Personally, I don't know of any factory farms.
No one I know has ever seen one of these mythical places!!

Ranchers care about their cows, but, yes, depending on the way that particular ranch gets the best returns so they can pay for their costs , they may take their calves, their replacement heifers, their bull, their yearlings to market so the money can be reinvested covering their equipment and expenses, into another year of ranching.
Do you honestly think people, that a cattleman or woman is just raising these animals for profit alone? Then you need to figure out the costs of one animal to raise it properly to market at various ages!
i don't care if you eat meat or not, figure out the time ( usually 12-14 hours a day) and expenses for a well-cared for yearling, a heifer, a bull,then let me know along with your friends, just how rich you would be! Please start basing your ideas with reality.
This is a 24/7 job that needs several people coordinating and working every day, not just eight hours a day, but until the work is done and more.The feeding is a small part of it.
Ranchers are totally responsible for everything that does or does not get done to maintain EVERYTHING. on that ranch. That is the pastures, fencing, feeding, road maintenance, plumbing, wells check the waterers. there isn't a plumber, builder, electrician, mechanic that will come out to a ranch like in town, so YOU take care of it if you can, or wait a few days .
, 24 hours during calving, which, by the way, is often in February to April as it is blizzarding outside. Which means you need helpers, calf warmers( heated pods that you need several of)

tlwkm (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

I am a small scale family rancher. Take exceptionally good care of my animals and always have. Yes some go to slaughter for food for the meat eaters of this country but get the best care possible while they are alive. Must sell some to afford the care of the others.. Well due to drought and a fire that consumed all my winter feed I am now in the position of spending ALL my reserves and then some to make sure these animals have a good home.. I've never made very much money on them EVER.. Jobs in town help support their care. Well all you "do gooders" here's the chance for you to put your money where your mouth is.... For the price of $30,000 a year cost will be increased as feed, taxes etc increase I will support and provide great care for these cows... will never produce another and they can live out their lives happy and will be cared for until their natural death . This will be at least a 20 year commitment as some of them are young... Draw up a contract and we'll meet about it... OR for $ 50,000 you can take these cows home with you to love and pamper yourselves. I would require a contract for that also. So folks put up or SHUT up... you obviously do not have any idea of what we do or how much we care for the animals that live with us.

on Aug 29, 2012

It looks like you have been targeted Amanda. Keep up the good work!

Anonymous (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

Wow Amanda- it looks like you are being "dogged" by the vegans.

Some animal rights groups do indeed engage for the purpose of lining their pockets. I don't know about this one, but their tax filings would help us understand- that is if we even care.

This "campaign" is a pseudo "religion". It is zealotry. It is no different than any other issue where a group of zealots decide that it is their "duty" to use whatever means to make sure that all other people think and act according to their emotion packed ideals.

It is but one of many groups who make their attack on some form of agriculture every day of the year.

Heck, people were being paid to vote on the democratic ticket back in 2008. That was zealotry too.

So, Amanda, I think I have a point or two worth noting. I feel rather protective of you as though you could be my daughter. You have approached this issue from the mindset of a young lady who is not among the three generations removed from agriculture in this nation. The respect you deserve is lacking because these posts here hail from a position of ignorance and indeed zealotry. They are, in fact useful to ranchers in order to see how some people feel, but these posts remind me of how ignorance can destroy more than it ever helps.

Here's the game plan: A group a wants to end ( insert here; eating meat, cattle grazing, logging trees, fishing, growing an affordable crop, manufacturing something made of plastic). They form a 501C3 tax exempt Corporation or work under an existing one and begin seeking donations by whatever means. The zealots at the bottom never see this, because they are expected to ( and usually are happy to ) work for nothing- but they are empowered by their zeal to stop whatever it is they want others to believe is wrong.

How far do they go? The unibomber was one such ( and acting alone- presumably) erudite zealot. He was a Luddite who believed he should end what he hated and he murdered people ( one was a friend of mine) to stop the progress he thought was evil.

In Oregon, many years ago, a bunch of zealots decided they would end logging in the west. They announced that they needed a surrogate for their campaign- the spotted owl. In that battle, the non profits organizations learned how to make a lot of money by suing the government and getting paid to do so. It was a brilliant scheme ( brilliant for money hungry people bereft of morals) that has cost more lives of the animals they pretended to care about than they could imagine. Our forests are burning to the ground because of their politics which became policies, and their well planned schemes which were executed by zealotry.

They all have one thing in common- IGNORANCE. I can't forgive them, because I have seen the cows one group would gutshoot in order to scare ranchers from grazing. I am tired of their unyielding, but measured disruption of other peoples' lives.

I am also tired of it because I know in my heart, I could have been a donator had I not left the confines of the city decades ago to end up on a cattle ranch.

Ranchers and their organizations have tried to re frame the arguments by talking about the care they give their animals. All of that is true, but these people do not care about that. And that is where I veer off the path too. It took me awhile to understand the circle of life, and to be able to eat meat when I learned from hands on experience that an animal would die in order for that to happen.

To quote Temple Grandin: "Nature is cruel, but we don't have to be". We are physically "built" to eat meat. The decision is a personal choice and the industry is there so we don't have to don a loin cloth, grab a bow and arrow and go hunt for ourselves. These zeolots try to fool people into thinking they are proxy killers because they eat meat.The ranchers and farmers have essentially freed the rest of the population to pursue other interests that we also need: doctors, scientists, teachers, etc.

The irony is palpable to me and reminds me of the parents who give their child everything, only to have that child turn on them and attempt to destroy the very thing that allowed them their ability to do so in the first place.

These zealots also sit around and laugh to themselves that they are throwing a monkey wrench into the blog you present to your readers, by way of enlightening your readers. I can assure you that they galvanize the rest of us to see them exposed for what they are. After all, they could just offer that they choose not to eat meat, but they didn't. They are waging a war on something they don't understand.

on Aug 29, 2012

Note to all the negative commenters here: People CAN (and do) care about animals while knowing they are also a source of income.
Posting insults online as "Anonymous" shows that many of you don't care enough to have your words attributed to you. If you want to have a rational, polite discussion about animal agriculture, great! If all you want to do is throw around derogatory blanket statements about a person; calling someone cruel, evil, sick... take a good look in the mirror at the person you're becoming. After that, if you still want to say ugly personal things about someone, have the integrity to put your name beside your statements.

Kathy V Foster (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

If you think you can "care" about an animal and then send it to slaughter, I'm glad I'm not a member of your family.

on Aug 29, 2012

I know I can, the fact that you can't or won't understand that makes me feel sorry for you.

Anonymous (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

I think all you people are ones that have nothing better to do than complain about something. I would really like you all to take the cattle and place them in your back yards of your city life so you can take better care of them than our farmers that are getting an undeserving bad rap. You can take one idiot that deficates on vegetables they are picking for the stores and put that in a video and all the vegans would throw up. Read up on where your food comes from. Yes, you can find a "bad apple" in anything, but don't you dare accuse the good farmers of doing bad things. If you read the Bible, which obviously you all need to do, people were killing animals just for a sacrifice. It is written that it is OK to eat split-hooved animals. The animals should be happy while they are here and the majority of them are. Yes, crucify people caught doing these terrible things to animals, but DO NOT clump all farmers together because of a couple bad people. There are bad people in the vegetable business. You shouldn't eat vegetables, either, because they are alive and why do you pick them? Why do you till them over? Why don't you keep them alive? Do you ever step on any? Do you kill spiders or even ants? SHAME YOU YOU! Get with the program. Did you know that the HSUS kills most of their animals and just a fraction of them get adopted? They spend your donations on advertising lies and lining their personal pockets. Check out some of the head people's homes. READ BEFORE the are NOT the judge, either! Amanda is doing good for the people. She is getting the word out so you don't keep absorbing all the lies you are receiving. Be your own person and actually do your own not think your cause isn't making a ton of money off people like you...they are and it is lining their very rich pockets with lies about farmers.

REALfarmer (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

There seems to be many misconceptions here.

Animal well-being is a top priority for livestock and poultry producers. A healthy and comfortable animal lives a better life and is more profitable for the farmer. A farmer has no interest in seeing a stressed or suffering animal. If you think majority of farmers mis-treat their animals, that is simply not the case. Producers work to ensure optimal care of their animals according to scientific standards.
The U.S. supplies 25 percent of the world’s beef with just 10 percent of the world’s cattle. Using 1950s technology, we would need another 165 million acres to produce the same amount of beef. Turkeys produce twice as much meat from the same amount of feed compared to 1939. We've come a long way!

Agricultural practices are always evolving - for the better. Based on veterinarian recommendations, USDA guidelines and regulations, and scientific research, producers continue to improve their operations. We may not be perfect, but what industry is? Agriculture is continues to improve and decrease our carbon footprint with more technology and continued research.

Several of these animal activist groups spend a considerable amount of time and money on finding our "bad apples". Farmers wear many hats - lobbyist, business manager and sometimes partner, distributor, purchaser, repairer, veterinarian, and banker - and that's just in their own operation! A farmer is often involved in several community and church boards as well. Often times, they don't have the time to tell the REAL story of agriculture.

That's why we have our agricultural checkoff organizations to increase awareness and promotion. To find out the facts about agriculture check out those resources! - there you'll also find a video on how MAJORITY of farmers take care of their animals.

Food for thought...

With one-sixth of the world population near starvation, there needs to be serious discussion of food costs and how we will meet the daunting task of feeding 9 billion worldwide by 2050.

Anonymous (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

Oops, someone left the door to the nut house open.

Travis D (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

I understand that people feel strongly about animals and so do I. I am a meat eater. I love, steaks, pork chops, chicken breasts and everything in between. My issue is when the money topic comes up. Yes, farmers and ranchers do make money on the animals they raise. That is their job. It is how they feed there families. Some of us go to work and sit at a computer, other go out in the fields and spend 12 plus hours a day making sure their animals have what they need to be healthy and happy. I have been on many farms that raise animals. The farmers and ranchers that I know don't get to take 2 weeks of vacation, paid holidays and they can't call in sick if they don't feel like working that day. The animals need their attention all hours of the day. I do understand that it is a person's choice to eat or not eat meat. Believe me I am all for choice! I also respect the choice of others. I do not protest those who do not eat meat, again I respect their choice. But please do not tell me what I should or should not eat or use tell me the only reason farmers raise animals to make money, it's simply not true.

Kathy V Foster (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

What about the choice of the animal not to die?

Anonymous (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

Thank you Travis D. I am one of those producers. You are so right. Our animals get the best care that we can give them. When a storm comes and everyone goes inside by the fire, We are out feeding and bedding the animal to ensure that they make it through the storm. They don't understand that there is a storm and we don't want to go out in it. They still get hungry just like us. We take great pride in raising the best livestock that we can. It is our way of living. Another question those having a problem with eating beef is. . . They need to ask where their soap comes from. Bet the like to be clean. . . . . .

Annie (not verified)
on Aug 30, 2012

I work in a dairy and honestly, I don't think my boss should be let within ten feet of an animal. Why does he have cows, sheep, horses, dogs etc? I don't know. He hates animals. No one could treat animals like I have seen and like them. The only thing I can think of is the money because yes, it makes them a lot of money.
I just hope that not all farms and farmers are like the one I work on because if that is normal, people deserve to be horrified about what is going on to these animals behind closed doors.

Anonymous (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

I love all of this commentary, but at the end of the
day- this group PAYS people to watch a typical
day in a slaughter line- so that is not lining ones pockets. What the ag industry doesn't want people to see is the NORM of what goes on in farming practices. Believe me the cows aren't smiling and chickens aren't singing.
Slaughter for profit is slaughter for profit, so why
not own that part of your industry and not blame
a group who is trying to shine light on reality.
That reality will help provide information so people
can make an informed choice. Believe me there are plenty of AG information sources and propaganda out there to sway folks as well- so why the big
whoo hah over information from the other side?
You might think they want their profession to
not be transparent to the buying public who
should have all of the information to make informed
humane food choices.

on Aug 29, 2012

I noticed that none of the detractors in this blog actually told us what they do for a living. American agriculture helps feed the world, what is it you zealots do for your paycheck?

Bea Elliott (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

Feed the world??? Is that why Smithfield has contracted with Brazil to import x-number of barges full of corn?

Is that why the US government just committed to (yet again) more untold millions of tax-payer dollars in subsidies, "drought-aid" and "meat" buy-outs?

If all of you say you're for the "free market" --- Then let it work! Charge what your products actually DO cost to grow! Then see how consumers choose to spend their money!

There's more "free market" in paying someone a dollar to voluntarily watch a video than there is in all of animal ag!

on Aug 29, 2012

Bea, a look at my schedule f would show just how close to "cost" I am selling my product. Now if you would like farmers and ranchers to sell below cost(which we do quite often) then let's have the discussion about a complete socialized society where you or I have no paycheck.

Karl (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

Amanda, you go girl. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

Every year thousands of innocent plants are killed by vegetarians...... Help end the violence!!

Anonymous (not verified)
on Aug 30, 2012


Anonymous (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

erin and other people. micheal phelps ate 10000 calories for breakfast when he swam, he aint getting that from no vegetables.
As a so called nazi farmer, we treat them better, we feed them, we vaccinate them, and take better care of them

on Aug 29, 2012

As I sit here and read some of the heinous arguments against livestock producers, I find it ironic that most anti-production livestock followers don’t fully understand that even though they don’t eat animal flesh, animal by products are in items they use every day. Beef by products are found in so many things from motor oil and tires, to cosmetics, to paintbrushes, adhesives, soaps, medicines (i.e. insulin, thrombin, gel-tabs made from gelatin) and leather products (from shoes to sports equipment). These are facts and if you don’t believe me then do a little research.

Secondly, I would like to point out that most livestock producers are 2nd or 3rd generation livestock producers who wouldn’t be able to continue their operations unless they were good stewards of the land as well as their animals. Not to mention the fact that 98% of farms and ranches are family owned and operated and most have been using the same land for 80 years or more. Furthermore, these livestock producers build their reputations on providing highly feed efficient, quality animals that consumers demand. There are rules and regulations in place, in addition to practices and ethics that all producers strive to meet to the best of their ability to ensure the livestock are treated humanely and have high quality of life. These producers would be out of business, as would any business, if they could not produce a quality product that meets or exceeds the demands of the market. If the product is better than market standards, then the market will pay a higher price for the goods. Thus, it would be counter-productive as well as counter intuitive to damage your product by mistreating animals before they are sold. In short, successful producers are successful because of their animals, which they take rigorous care of 365 days out of the year.

The point of the matter is that great care is taken to produce some of the highest quality livestock in the world. Whether or not it is ethical to eat meat is a whole different matter. Either way, something has to die in order for you, reader, to continue to live. The difference is what you choose to put in your mouth and why you chose to do so. I urge you to fully understand where your food comes from rather than lay blame and promote degradation of livestock production based on misrepresentation of facts. Inasmuch as you would like to think that going meatless is going to save the lives of animals, you also have to think about the consequences on the environment for that choice. Does eating strictly plant based foods on the premise of do no harm qualify the increased amount of land, fertilizer, pesticides, water, fuel, topsoil loss, and transportation of the vegetable products needed to sustain your dietary needs and requirements?

Before you judge livestock production based on one side of the story, I urge you to find the truth out for yourself. Talk to a local farmer, rancher, or agricultural organization. They would be more than happy to share with you what they do on a daily basis to promote the welfare of their livestock and business. It just might surprise you how much they actually care.

on Aug 29, 2012

I see still that none of the detractors have told us what floats their economic boat so we can beat up on that for a while. Bea?

Alice (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

I believe it is ok to show animal slaughter - its the way things are done. Slaughter is the necessary step from pasture to plate.

However; I do have a problem with how it is presented and if there are educational resources that go along with the video. From industry and animal experts - not the tabloid junk HSUS and PETA put together. That are cut and edited to make thing seem worse than what is actually going on. That's my concern.

If the ag industry released a video that showed a well ran operation with a clean record you people would not be satisfied and claim it to be edited and cleaned up. Why are these so called "slaughter" videos seen as the "truth?" What makes an animal activist video any more credible than one filmed by an actual producer (not an undercover activisit). There are two sides to every story.

But isn't it funny they have to pay people to view their cause? Interesting...and I'm sure there is no push to donate to their "noble" cause once you have viewed their show too....

Anonymous (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

It saddens me to see people assuming that the only reason I raise livestock is for profits. As a 4-Her who spends every summer raising livestock, I can say that I truly care for my animals, and animals in general. I don't raise my goats so that I can maliciously "murder" them, or care for my calves so they "taste good." There's much more to this story than "you kill animals".

Anonymous (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

"Let me preface this blog by saying that I don’t support anyone who abuses animals." Really? Do you eat them? Then you are creating a demand for their killing, which is not humane. There is no humane murder. You promote beef - the industry that stuns the cow and then slits its throat while it is still alive. Is that not abuse? Maybe you should watch the film.

on Sep 1, 2012

You really don't know much about the slaughter process do you? If you did you would understand the techniques involved.

Liz D (not verified)
on Aug 29, 2012

Well Travis D, you said "the only reason farmers raise animals to make money, it's simply not true" if they don't raise the animals to make money, what are they raising them for then, can you tell us all that?

Anonymous (not verified)
on Aug 30, 2012

What a bunch of fools! If Animal Rights groups were paying ppl to watch footage of the reality of animal farming, I and other animal lovers, would be millionaires.

Anything to protect livestock farmers. Heaven forbid they one day have to get a decent, honourable job.

Camilla (not verified)
on Aug 30, 2012

Just the fact that you call animals "stock" shows that you don´t consider them ti be living, sentient beings. Just breeding an animal to ulimately kill it IS abuse. There is no way you will EVER get around that fact.

Anonymous (not verified)
on Aug 30, 2012

I was personally raised on a family farm where all of our livestock were harvested for human consumption. We fed lots of people in our community and hosted hundreds of events where we provided meat for the community to enjoy. We always took extremely good care of our animals becasue the better you take care of them, the healthier they are and the better quality meat they produce. It is in the farmers best interest to take best care of their livestock because otherwise you lose money. I personally am in support of family farms and agriculture because without it how will we feed the growing population of our country and our world. Hats off to the great farmers and ranchers out there who dedicate their lives to feed our country!

Anonymous (not verified)
on Aug 31, 2012

If you "preface" your blog by saying that you don’t support anyone who abuses animals, then you shouldn't have written this blog to begin with.

on Aug 31, 2012

I challenge you to see it for yourself. Come to my farm and see the cows. They have it really nice. They have more freedoms than some people do. They have freedom from want, freedom from hunger, freedom from worry, freedom of being safe. They live very comfortably.
Do you like air conditioning? Because our cows do. They live in a cross ventilated barn that is open on one end and has giant fans on the other to pull a constant 6mph breeze across them, enough to feel 15 degrees cooler than outside.

on Aug 31, 2012

Part two of comment
Also, our cows are very social animals. They like their groups. They live in pens with other animals their own age, and they get to roam to whichever area they want to lay. There is at least one freestall for everyone, and their stalls are cleaned everyday and refilled with sand. Like the beach! We feed nutritious, wholesome feedstuffs, of which they can eat as much as they want, since we overfeed for a few extra cows per pen. They also get checkups by our veterinarian every other week, regular pedicures by the hoof trimmer, and a two month vacation every year. Any sick cows go to the hospital pen to receive.extra care, and live in a pen with a big pile of wood shavings and lots of open space to help recover. Yes, our cows never have to worry about the heat, never have to worry about where the next meal will come from, never worry about contracting deadly illnesses, or being attacked by predators. They have a nice safe home with plenty of food, water, friends, and comfort. See for yourself!

I just don't see how this is cruelty.

Anonymous (not verified)
on Sep 1, 2012


13th Monkey (not verified)
on Apr 23, 2013

Just goes to show... 4 minutes of the truth will totally destroy the factory farming apologists.

Anonymous (not verified)
on May 24, 2013

I am an inspiring farmer and nurse. I own beef cows, I consume animal products, protein etc. I take care of my animals and treat them well. I dont make much money at it, most farms dont, its a lifestyle. The basics of farming is if you take care of our animals they will take care of you. IF you want to eat a vegan diet have at it, let that be your choice, those farmers need support as well.
As to the farmers reading this, we have to show, and be vigilant and educate people about our side of the story just as hard as the other guy. I was once told that extremist in any direction isnt a good thing, lets chill out people, and get our facts straight.

Post new comment
or to use your BEEF Magazine ID
What's BEEF Daily?



Amanda Radke


Sponsored Introduction Continue on to (or wait seconds) ×