Thank you for mapping the systemic risks of Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) – I really appreciate this post and how you’ve highlighted some worrying trends.
I’m horrified by the idea of PLF. While it could potentially, maybe, help some animals in some ways – at what cost?
I agree with you that by supporting it we would be locking in values that factory farming is ok and strategically entrenching an exploitative system. Efforts to improve conditions absolutely matter – but we need to make sure the ‘how’ doesn’t eclipse the deeper question of ‘should we?’ That tension feels especially urgent with PLF, which risks locking in factory farming more deeply than ever.
The future we need doesn’t come from better surveillance of suffering, but from phasing out the systems that cause it.
I appreciated how you countered the natural question –“Isn’t it plausible that improving conditions for billions of animals is high-impact?” by reframing the discussion from per-animal welfare gains to system-level consequences (Quantifying the Net Impact section).
The idea of using regulation as a tool to create liability and slow down investment is compelling—and perhaps necessary if PLF expansion is politically inevitable. A key question, perhaps, is—what would the world look like in 2040 if PLF succeeds versus if we block or delay it? The challenge is walking a fine line: resisting effectively without becoming part of the machinery we’re trying to dismantle.
I think you are right to conclude that it is a pro-industry tool. That’s why we need to be cautious—not to mistake PLF for progress, when it may in fact be entrenchment in disguise.
Thank you for mapping the systemic risks of Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) – I really appreciate this post and how you’ve highlighted some worrying trends.
I’m horrified by the idea of PLF. While it could potentially, maybe, help some animals in some ways – at what cost?
I agree with you that by supporting it we would be locking in values that factory farming is ok and strategically entrenching an exploitative system. Efforts to improve conditions absolutely matter – but we need to make sure the ‘how’ doesn’t eclipse the deeper question of ‘should we?’ That tension feels especially urgent with PLF, which risks locking in factory farming more deeply than ever.
The future we need doesn’t come from better surveillance of suffering, but from phasing out the systems that cause it.
I appreciated how you countered the natural question –“Isn’t it plausible that improving conditions for billions of animals is high-impact?” by reframing the discussion from per-animal welfare gains to system-level consequences (Quantifying the Net Impact section).
The idea of using regulation as a tool to create liability and slow down investment is compelling—and perhaps necessary if PLF expansion is politically inevitable. A key question, perhaps, is—what would the world look like in 2040 if PLF succeeds versus if we block or delay it? The challenge is walking a fine line: resisting effectively without becoming part of the machinery we’re trying to dismantle.
I think you are right to conclude that it is a pro-industry tool. That’s why we need to be cautious—not to mistake PLF for progress, when it may in fact be entrenchment in disguise.