Monmouthire has more factory farms than almost every county in Wales -coming second only to neighbouring Powys a new report has found.

New research by World Animal Protection has investigated the spread of factory farms across the UK. For Wales, it found that 54% of factory farms were based in Powys – 3x more than the total in Monmouthshire. This means nearly 53 million animals are confined in the lowest welfare conditions legally allowed on factory farms in Powys every year, World Animal Protection has revealed.

This means that for every resident in Powys, there are 397 more animals confined on factory farms in the county each year.

World Animal Protection’s latest research investigated the presence of intensive indoor factory farms across the UK between 2017 and 2022. The charity found that 54 per cent of Wales’ factory farms are in Powys - the equivalent of 65 farms. 

Factory farms are known for their low welfare conditions, with high mortality rates as the norm. Animals often live in squalid conditions and can be so confined that they are unable to move freely. Animals on factory farms often won’t ever experience grass under their feet.

In factory farms, sentient baby animals have their tails cut off known as “docking” without painkillers. 72 per cent of piglets in the UK have undergone this since 2017. 95 per cent of chickens are bred to grow so large and fast they are unable to bear their body weight and painful hock burns due to chickens being forced to stand in their own waste is accepted as standard.

Factory farms are on the rise. World Animal Protection’s nationwide Confined in Cruelty research found that the number of factory farms across the UK have increased by at least 13 per cent in the last five years, as the number of registered factory farms rose by 209.

Lindsay Duncan, UK Farming Campaign Manager, World Animal Protection, said: “Powys has always been an important farm area in the UK, but the staggering number of factory farms is appalling.

“Our food system needs to change. The government needs to stop greenlighting new and expanding factory farms, and instead shift its support to more humane farms in the area – farms where animals can run around in the fields, play, and express their natural behaviours. This not only benefits the farmed animals but allows us to farm with nature and sustainability in mind. There is no future for factory farming.”