I've already seen how they do intensive farming on a huge scale.

In the next 40 years, we'll have 9 billion people on this planet.

We have to make as much food as we have made since the beginning of time.

and I've seen from the air, how another farm does it even bigger.

Each of these sheds has got about 3,000 cows in it, and there's 10 units spread out across this farm,

makes my farm look like an allotment.

Now it's time to see it close up.

Well, seeing that farm from the air was absolutely extraordinary.

I've now got an hour's long drive to find out what happens on ground level.

The farm I am about to visit has managed to turn intensive farming into a tourist attraction.

Fair Oaks Farm Park receives 500,000 visitors every year.

They come to see the 32,000 cows which produce more than 2 million pints of milk every day.

25 barns, most of them are 1/4 mile long, are spread over a 17,000 acre site.

How can you possibly look after 32,000 cows?

I mean, that's a lot of animals to look after, isn't it?

Yes, we have 32,000 cows, but every cow is an individual.

In a computer record, we know everything about that cow,

when she had a calf, when she had a cough, whatever.

These cows are under 24 hour observation.

We have 450 workers that are looking after their welfare along with our veterinarians.

and so, we invite the public to come in, see what we do,

measure us against… do they think we're taking care of our cows.

A farm of this size must have a big environmental impact.

Well, yeah, the potential environmental impact that we think we've taken that off the page.

We collect 100% of our manure every day in huge vacuum cleaners that all goes to anaerobic digesters,

and it creates a renewable energy source.

so 100% of our power is poo power.

A farm this size can produce enough electricity to power 8,000 homes.

In addition it's a 58% methane gas. We can scrub that make it 100% methane. Now, that's natural gas.

And we run all of our trucks off a compressed natural gas.

Do you think this is industrial farming that is very much a factory for the cows?

Are they prisoners of their own labour?

Well, certainly we don't feel that way.

In terms of our love of dairy, and our love of farming, and our family involvement,

to us, it's just a family farm,

and we happen to grow it a little larger than the guy down the road.

And if you think that farming on this scale might not be heading for the UK, then think again.

These british farmers are visiting Fair Oaks, to see what they can learn from intensive farming.

What we've seen in this trip today is that, you can look after cows, in a very favorable way in large numbers.

and something that we've come here to see how the Americans look after a large number of cows.

We've got so much to learn from them, from a management point of view,

That's the whole reason we are over here, really.

And I think the management and welfare standards are so good,

because they are big, they can't get away with anything less.

Really, I'm trying and learn from these guys

and see if we can implement their management techniques in our farms.

Despite its size, Fair Oaks has encountered little opposition from locals.

But that's not the case for all huge farming operations.

This dairy farm is the biggest in Wisconsin.

It has 8,000 cows and it's a similar size to the one proposed in Nocton in Lincolnshire.

Since it opened 2 years ago, it has been causing a stink with some of the neighbors.

So what sort of problems have you been experiencing?

I've had a number of neighbors contact me,

and a described symptoms of pounding headaches, migraines and new symptoms of asthma,

just since the dairy has been in operation.

So, it's the slurry, the smell?

It's actually, I call it the stench. It's more than a smell.

and when it hits you, it overpowers you.

If you think about the chemicals that are causing the odor,

it's HAM: hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, and methane, all being released. They are all toxic gases,

and you certainly don't want to breathe them in.

They would be regulated if it were ordinary industry.

so, what advice would you give to the people in the UK who may end up with these mega dairies next to them?

I think that if you have a sense of ethics, and moral responsibility to the future generation,

then you will do everything you can to prevent the spread of industrial size mega farms.

The number of dairies in the US like this one with 2,000+ cows has tripled in the last 10 years,

whilst the number of small farms has nearly halved.

Those who run these massive farms though, say welfare hasn't suffered and they are more heavily policed.

We have probably been the most regulated dairy ever. We follow a 4,000 page document, if you will.

It tells us when we can spread, where we can spread, how much we can spread.

Obviously, it's cow manure, and it's going to smell once in a while.

and the smell, you know, they claimed that there's smells of sulphur,

it gets to the back of your throat, and they've got to stay in their houses.

Is there any way you can work with them and help them?

We work with some of our neighbors. We've had neighbors come to say,

Hey, we are going to have family reunion, Can you make sure that you don't spread near our houses?

then we say, "No problem. We won't spread near your house that day."

It's a difficult balance.

These farmers don't want to fall out with their neighbors,

but of course, they do want to make money.

Dairying isn't the only type of farming that can cause an environmental impact, there's pig farming, too.

I have got a few pigs at home, but nothing like what's planned for Derbyshire,

where they are hoping to set up the biggest pig farm in the UK.

So while I'm over here, I'm going to meet up an American guy,

who is going to tell me all about what they call, the hog industry.

Malcolm DeKryger is vice president of a company which own 12,000 sows,

and produce 140,000 pigs for slaughter every year.

Sales total $25,000,000 or £16,000,000.

Big, big business in anybody's money.

em… These sows are in 16cm wide stalls, for about 8-10 weeks. They will be in this barn,

and we do the artificial semination in the breeding barn. They are in there for 6-7 weeks,

and then, they are coming here for about 8-9 weeks.

and so, they just keep moving barn to barn.

And so, they stand these stalls all their lives and they can never turn around?

em… They can walk out and turn around, when they go to the next place.

In the mean time, they are very comfortable and contented.

Some people would have a problem with this.

The pig being an intelligent animal, how do you feel about that?

The way that we measure contentedness and well being…

em… is not based on humans, because pigs are not humans.

Confined operations were put together for sake of the animal,

put together for the sake of human labour efficiency.

And, is this how to feed the world?

em… At this point… this is a very effective way to produce a lot of pigs.

and being it's how pork is the protein of demand in the world…

em… it's the best way we know how, today.

She's getting a bit sunburnt, doesn't she? That one.

Having seen that big pig farm, I came away not very happy with the way that the pigs are kept,

but delighted, really, the laws in Europe, and particularly the UK,

don't allow us to keep pigs like that at home.

My trip across America has been an epic. And it's been a lot to take in.

I need time to digest everything that I've seen and heard a minute over.

but before I head home, I'll be back later in the programme to share my thoughts on whether we could,

or even should learn anything about farming from the Americans.