Farmer Gareth Wyn Jones clashed with animal rights activist Joey Carbstrong in a fiery debate on GB News on whether cheap meat should be banned in supermarkets.
Joey Carbstrong claimed over 95 percent of pigs slaughtered in the UK are factory farmed and are killed using gas chambers, "one of the cruelest ways to die" he remarked.
He said: "If you’re worried about expensive [meat], this grass-fed, small-holding, free-range, unaccessible meat is one of the most expensive you can buy.
"The cheapest foods in the supermarket are rice, beans, oats and lentils."
Farmer Gareth Wyn Jones, erupted in laughter over the remarks, to which Mr Carbstrong retorted: "Do you think gas chambers are funny?"
Animal Rights activist Joey Carbstrong and farmer Gareth Wyn Jones
GB News
A cow standing in a field
WikiCommons
Mr Jones replied: "Little joey, you just make me laugh. Honestly, you’ve got no idea."
"I have 4000 ewes, 300 cattle and it’s a partnership, it’s a business, it’s not a factory farm.
He added: "The majority of the animals in this country are outside."
Mr Carbstrong interrupted: “Where do the chickens live mate? They haven’t been outside 16 weeks because of bird flu and 95 percent of them are factory farmed.
"These aren’t my stats, look them up yourself."
The heated debate comes as free range eggs are no longer available on UK supermarket shelves, as the largest ever outbreak of bird flu has kept hens inside for months.
UK-wide measures to tackle the outbreak of avian flu were introduced in late November 2021, with bird keepers legally required to house poultry indoors, such as in large barns for commercial flocks.
Farmers who have to house their birds to protect human and animal health under Government rules are allowed to keep the free-range status for eggs for 16 weeks, a grace period which has now expired.
That means eggs sold in the UK will now have to be labelled as “barn eggs” and not free-range, until the mandatory housing measures are lifted.
It is estimated by Compassion in World Farming that 73% percent of meat-bred animals are factory farmed.
On their website they say: "There is scarcely a county in England now without at least one industrial-scale livestock farm, with close to 800 US-style mega-farms operating across the UK.
"It is all part of a 26 per cent rise in intensive animal farming in Britain in six years. In the land that prides itself on being a nation of animal lovers, factory farming is transforming the British countryside."