Future PerfectA quarter of Americas farms arent really farmsThe misleading government statistic that distorts food and farming policy, explained.by Kenny TorrellaSep 4, 2025, 4:15 PM UTCShareGiftA barn in the Palouse Region of eastern Washington state. Kenny Torrella is a senior reporter for Voxs Future Perfect section, with a focus on animal welfare and the future of meat.The meat and dairy industries along with the farms that grow corn and soy for animal feed are some of the biggest polluters in the US.
Yet theyre largely exempt from environmental regulations. An argument that industry lobbyists and allied politicians often make is that there are simply too many farms to regulate.In 2022, when asked why farmers arent required to reduce their pollution, then-Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters that farms arent as straightforward to regulate pollution as, say, factories.
The US has millions of farms, Vilsack claimed. So as you think about regulation, the reality is, its not as easy as you might think to enforce.A large hog barn next to a manure lagoon.
Livestock generate nearly 1 trillion pounds of manure annually, some of which leaches into rivers and streams or pollutes groundwater. Gerry BroomeAssociated PressAround that same time, as the Supreme Court prepared to argue a highly consequential case concerning the Clean Water Act, industry groups contended in a brief to the Court that stricter water pollution regulations would place too heavy a burden on Americas legion of farmers.
*Reporting by Vox.*
