New reports reveal coordinated legal strategies, AI-powered surveillance, and strategic economic pressure that go far beyond traditional protests—here’s what dairy farmers need to know about this transformed threat landscape
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Animal activists aren’t college kids with protest signs anymore—they’re an $865 million corporate operation with Harvard lawyers and AI technology that’s mapped 27,500 farms, probably including yours. While brutal economics closed 2,800 dairy farms in 2024, these organizations strategically exploit those same vulnerabilities through legal warfare, regulatory pressure, and coordinated campaigns designed to accelerate consolidation. The surprise: farmers are winning battles that matter. Fourteen Wisconsin operations eliminated activist threats entirely with a free WhatsApp group, and individual farmers’ authentic social media consistently outperforms ASPCA’s $131 million advertising budget in building consumer trust. This report exposes their complete playbook—from shareholder lawsuits to biosecurity weaponization—while delivering practical defense strategies that work regardless of operation size.
You know, I’ve been tracking activist groups for nearly two decades, and what’s happening now is completely different from what we dealt with back in the early 2000s. Here’s what’s interesting—the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s latest reports show these organizations now command $865 million in annual revenue. That’s up from $800 million just last year, and if you look back five years, we’re talking about growth from $650 million.
But what really gets my attention isn’t the money itself—it’s how they’re using it that should have every dairy farmer paying attention.
The Alliance released two reports this fall—”Radical Vegan Activism in 2024″ and their updated “Major Animal Activist Groups Web”—and honestly, some of what’s in there surprised even me. Sure, we documented 189 actions against agriculture in 2024, including 59 vandalism cases, 43 animal thefts, and 31 trespassing incidents. But here’s the thing: those are just the incidents we can see.
What the Alliance found is that these groups aren’t just showing up with protest signs anymore. The FBI actually refers to some of its activities as “intelligence operations.” They’re coordinating legal strategies across multiple states, and they’re systematically targeting what they see as weak points in animal agriculture’s economic foundation.
For dairy farmers trying to make it work with USDA data showing 2,800 operations closing in 2024—that’s out of roughly 28,000 total dairy operations nationwide—well, understanding this new landscape isn’t really optional anymore. It’s survival.
The Evolution of Animal Activism: From $650M to $865M in Five Years
| Year | Combined Revenue | Key Development |
| 2020 | $650 million | Traditional protest focus |
| 2024 | $800 million | Corporate structure emerging |
| 2025 | $865 million | Full corporate operations |
Beyond the Protest Line: This Isn’t Your Father’s Activism
I remember twenty years ago—maybe you do too—when activists were mostly college kids with spray paint and strong feelings. Today? We’re looking at something else entirely.
Organizations like the ASPCA (pulling in $379 million annually according to 2023 tax filings), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) ($208 million), and PETA ($85.7 million in revenue) have built operations that look more like corporate headquarters than grassroots movements. And here’s what they’ve got working for them:
- Legal teams with attorneys from Yale, Harvard, University of Chicago—the works
- Media departments spending serious money—ASPCA alone shows a combined $131 million spent on fundraising ($70M) and advertising ($61M) on their 2023 Form 990
- Lobbying operations working at both the federal and state levels
- Tech divisions using AI to map agricultural facilities
Take PETA’s setup. They’ve got multiple deputy general counsels running different divisions. One handles litigation for strategic impact cases. Another manages corporate governance and planned giving. These aren’t volunteers anymore—they’re attorneys who cut their teeth at places like Steptoe and DLA Piper before jumping to animal advocacy.
What I find fascinating—and concerning—is how this changes the game for farmers. When Direct Action Everywhere launched Project Counterglow (their map showing 27,500 animal ag facilities using satellite imagery and crowdsourced data), the FBI took it seriously enough to create a dedicated email inbox for reporting these activities.
WIRED dug into this with public records requests, and what they found is… well, both sides are playing intelligence games now. The Animal Agriculture Alliance has databases tracking over 2,400 individual activists. Meanwhile, activist groups are using similar tactics to identify targets and coordinate campaigns.
Industry security advisors tell me they’re hearing similar stories from Wisconsin producers—activists showing up who know shift changes, delivery schedules, even which gates don’t always get locked. That’s not protesting, folks. That’s reconnaissance.
“The level of preparation we’re seeing suggests systematic reconnaissance rather than spontaneous action. They know our operations better than some of our seasonal workers.” — Wisconsin dairy security consultant, speaking to industry advisors
“I had someone show up claiming to be interested in buying feed, but the questions they asked… it was clear they were mapping our operation, not buying anything.” — Central Valley dairy producer, speaking at a recent California Dairy Quality Assurance Program workshop
The Legal Game: They’re Playing Chess While We’re Playing Checkers
Now this is where it gets sophisticated, and I’ll be honest—most of us aren’t ready for this level of strategic thinking.
Take Wayne Hsiung’s case. He’s the co-founder of Direct Action Everywhere, who was convicted in 2023 for trespassing on Sonoma County farms. The guy has a law degree from the University of Chicago, worked at major firms, but he represented himself at trial and turned down plea deals that would’ve kept him out of jail.
Why would anyone do that?
Harvard Law Review spelled it out in their February 2024 piece on “Voluntary Prosecution and the Case of Animal Rescue”—for these activists, the trial IS the strategy. They’re using prosecutions to force public discussions about farming practices. The courtroom becomes their stage.
Meanwhile—and this is happening at the same time—Legal Impact for Chickens is going after companies through shareholder lawsuits. Their president, Alene Anello (Harvard undergrad, Harvard Law, previously worked at PETA and the Animal Legal Defense Fund), targeted Costco, claiming that its executives violated their duties by failing to address animal welfare laws properly.
Here’s the kicker: even though their first case got dismissed, the court left the door open for shareholders to file formal demands. So LIC did exactly that in July 2023, forcing Costco’s board to spend months investigating and publicly defending their practices.
What dairy farmers need to watch for:
- Arguments that activists have a legal “right” to rescue animals
- Shareholders are forcing companies to address welfare complaints
- Challenges to ag-gag laws (they’ve already knocked down dozens)
- Expanding definitions of what counts as animal cruelty
Even when they lose these cases, they win something—media coverage, legal precedents, and they force agricultural operations to burn through time and money defending themselves.
When Biosecurity and Security Collide: The H5N1 Wake-Up Call
The 2024 H5N1 outbreak that hit nearly 200 dairy herds across multiple states taught us something important: the same protocols that protect against disease also protect against activists. And vice versa.
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service identified how H5N1 spreads: shared equipment and vehicles, people moving between farms, and animal movements. Think about that—those are exactly the same ways activists gain access to facilities.
Professor Timm Harder from Germany’s Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (which runs its national reference lab for avian influenza) has been speaking at international briefings about comprehensive containment measures. What he doesn’t say outright—but what’s becoming obvious to those of us watching both threats—is that these measures work for both.
The basics that work for both:
- Visitor logs showing who’s on your property and when
- Vehicle cleaning protocols (and tracking who’s coming and going)
- Background checks for new hires
- Cameras at access points
- Tracking which employees work at multiple facilities
What’s interesting here is how the same infrastructure that keeps disease out also keeps unwanted visitors out. It’s not about building Fort Knox—it’s about knowing who’s on your property and why.
The Trust Game: Your Story Still Matters
Despite all this corporate machinery against us, dairy farmers have one advantage that money can’t buy. I’ve watched this play out again and again—authentic relationships with consumers.
Agricultural communications research keeps showing the same thing: authenticity predicts consumer trust better than anything else. Better than credentials, better than sustainability claims, better than fancy branding.
Look at what Tara Vander Dussen’s doing as the New Mexico Milkmaid. She’s been at it for years, and her approach is simple: build relationships so people feel comfortable asking questions. When some activist video goes viral, her followers message her first—they want to hear her side before making up their minds.
You know why this works? Marketing folks have documented something they call the micro-influencer effect. Accounts with 1,000 to 100,000 followers get seven times the engagement of bigger accounts. Why? Because people can smell authenticity, and they know when someone’s being paid to say something versus when they actually believe it.
ASPCA runs those tear-jerker ads that reach millions. But investigative reporters have shown that only 2% of ASPCA’s $379 million budget actually reaches local shelters. Their CEO makes close to a million dollars. Their 2023 tax filings show the organization has over $550 million in net assets.
When people find that out—and they do—trust disappears instantly.
Meanwhile, farmers posting real content from their barns are connecting with consumers in a completely different way. It’s not about guilt—it’s about understanding.
Industry communications advisors describe producers who’ve started posting daily farm videos getting fascinating results. Nothing fancy—just showing what they actually do. They report consumers from urban areas messaging to say they were worried about dairy farming until they started following these pages. Now they specifically look for those cooperatives’ brands. One person at a time, but it multiplies.
Regional Reality Check: Know Your Risk Level
Looking at where those 189 documented actions occurred in 2024, there’s a clear pattern: most activity is concentrated in Massachusetts, California, and New York.
If you’re within 50 miles of a major city in California, the Northeast, or the Pacific Northwest, you’re in what I’d call the primary zone. You’ve got activist populations nearby, sympathetic media, and prosecutors who might not pursue charges aggressively.
The Upper Midwest—Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan—plus the Mid-Atlantic states see periodic waves, usually coordinated campaigns hitting multiple farms at once. The good news? We’ve seen regional cooperation work really well in several Wisconsin counties.
The Great Plains, Mountain West (except around Denver), and the Deep South see less activity. Not because activists don’t care, but because distance, logistics, and the political climate make operations more difficult.
But—and this is important—Project Counterglow mapped 27,500 facilities nationwide. Geographic isolation isn’t the protection it used to be. If you fit their criteria, you could be targeted regardless of location.
What’s interesting is that our Canadian neighbors face similar patterns around Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, while European producers tell me they’re seeing coordinated campaigns across borders there too. Australian dairy farmers are dealing with their own version of this, particularly in Victoria and New South Wales. New Zealand’s seeing it around Auckland and Wellington. This really is becoming a global challenge, not just an American one.
The Economics Nobody Wants to Talk About
Here’s what I think many farmers miss —and what took me years to see clearly: activists aren’t causing the economic crisis hitting mid-size dairies—they’re making it worse.
Look at those 2,800 closures in 2024. Maybe 50 to 100 were directly because of activist actions—vandalism, theft, campaigns that destroyed reputations. The rest? Regional production costs are running $19-21/cwt while Class III milk prices average $17-18/cwt according to Dairy Market News. That’s just brutal economics.
But activists know how to exploit these vulnerabilities:
Prop 12-style regulations are a prime example. While that law targeted pork and eggs, similar future legislation for dairy could be devastating. National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) economist Holly Cook has laid out analyses showing Prop 12 compliance can cost $600-700 per sow for retrofits alone, or over $3,000 per sow for new construction. Using the pork retrofit numbers as an analogy, a 500-cow dairy facing similar per-animal costs would be looking at a $300,000-$350,000 capital expense, not including lost production time. Most operations don’t have that kind of capital.
For smaller operations—say, 100-150 cows—even basic security upgrades can strain budgets. That’s why I tell these folks to think about pooling resources with neighbors. Share the cost of cameras, coordinate patrols, and work together on visitor protocols. You don’t have to go it alone.
Grand View Research and others project that plant-based alternatives will reach $32-34 billion globally by 2030, up from about $20 billion now. Every percentage point of market share they take hurts mid-size producers far more than it does big operations with 2,000-plus cows.
And here’s what really worries me: as farm numbers drop, the infrastructure disappears. Vets close their practices. Equipment dealers shut down. Processing plants consolidate. The whole support system collapses.
Jim Mulhern, who led the National Milk Producers Federation for over a decade before retiring in 2023, used to talk about this all the time—consolidation was happening anyway. What’s different now is that activists have figured out how to speed it up.
What Actually Works: Practical Steps You Can Take
Based on what we saw in 2024 and what’s developing now, here’s what I tell producers who ask:
This Month—Get Started:
Week 1: Connect with your state dairy association’s alert system. If they don’t have one, push them to create one. The Animal Agriculture Alliance has monitoring services—use them.
Week 2: Look at your camera situation. Basic coverage for access points runs $2,000-$3,000. That’s nothing compared to what you could lose. If that’s too steep right now, talk to neighbors about sharing costs.
Week 3: Talk to your employees one-on-one. Just ask: “Has anyone approached you about filming here? Offered money for information?” You might be surprised.
Week 4: Get 5-10 neighbors together for a simple communication network. Group text, whatever works. When something happens, everyone knows fast.
Next Three Months:
- Build relationships with local law enforcement now, not during a crisis
- Write down who talks to the media if something happens (hint: pick one person)
- Actually use visitor logs—every person, every time
- Check your insurance—does it cover losses related to activism?
Long-Term Thinking:
This is harder, but it’s where real protection comes from:
- Technology that helps you compete with bigger operations
- Finding your market niche—organic, A2, grass-fed, whatever works for you
- Building consumer relationships before you need them
- Getting involved in advocacy at whatever level you can manage
Learning from Success: The Wisconsin Example
Let me tell you about something that worked. Industry security advisors describe a situation in Central Wisconsin last spring in which 14 dairy farms across three counties began sharing information after one farm caught activists conducting surveillance.
Within 48 hours, everybody in that network knew the vehicle descriptions, the tactics, even the specific questions activists asked when they pretended to be feed salespeople. They’d created a simple WhatsApp group—nothing fancy, just quick communication.
When the activists came back two weeks later, targeting a different farm, that producer was ready. Cameras got everything. Law enforcement responded immediately because they already had relationships with the community. The activists got prosecuted for criminal trespass, and here’s the important part—that network hasn’t seen activity since.
As the security advisors explain, success came from working together, not from individual measures. They eliminated the easy targets by coordinating. Simple as that.
What This Means for Your Operation
Looking at everything that’s happening, what’s changed isn’t just money or sophistication—it’s how all these threats are converging at once.
Activist organizations operate like corporations, with combined budgets of billions of dollars. They’re targeting economic viability, not just arguing ethics. Technology gives both sides capabilities we didn’t have before. Biosecurity and activist infiltration have become the same problem. And economic pressure makes farms vulnerable to everything else.
But here’s what still works: authentic farmer voices build trust that money can’t buy. Local coordination multiplies your defenses. Basic security stops most opportunistic actions. And adapting your business—not just defending it—is still essential.
The uncomfortable truth? You’re not just dealing with activists anymore. You’re navigating economic forces that activists know how to exploit. The operations that’ll make it aren’t the ones with the highest walls—they’re the ones that transform their businesses while defending against pressure designed to stop exactly that transformation.
Industry leaders keep saying things will stabilize eventually. They’re probably right. The question is whether your operation will still be around when that happens.
The next year and a half are critical for many operations. Understanding what you’re really up against—not just protesters, but coordinated campaigns with serious money and long-term strategy—that’s your starting point.
Next step? Actually doing something about it. Because in this business, we all know that knowledge without action doesn’t get the cows milked or the bills paid.
These organizations are playing a long game. Question is: are you ready to play it too?
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Activists aren’t protesters anymore—they’re an $865M corporation with Harvard lawyers who mapped 27,500 farms using AI, but 14 Wisconsin farmers stopped them with a WhatsApp group
- Your biosecurity is your security: The same protocols preventing H5N1 also prevent infiltration—just add $2-3K in cameras and actually use those visitor logs
- You’re already winning the trust war: Your iPhone videos beat ASPCA’s $131M advertising because authenticity crushes their 2%-to-shelters reality
- The clock is ticking: Prop 12 hit pork with $600/animal costs; dairy’s next; but farmers who coordinate locally report zero incidents since organizing
- Monday morning action plan: Text 5 neighbors to create an alert network (30 min), install doorbell cameras on barn entrances ($300), ask each employee about suspicious contacts (1 hour)
Complete references and supporting documentation are available upon request by contacting the editorial team at editor@thebullvine.com.
Learn More:
- The Clarkson Effect: What It Really Means for Your Dairy’s Marketing – This guide provides a tactical playbook for leveraging public curiosity, demonstrating how to build an authentic social media presence that educates consumers and wins the “trust game” the main article identifies as critical.
- USDA’s 2025 Dairy Outlook: Market Shifts and Strategic Opportunities for Producers – The main article highlights “brutal economics” as a key vulnerability. This strategic analysis provides the hard data on 2025’s market outlook, helping producers understand the financial pressures and opportunities they must navigate.
- Robotic Milking Revolution: Why Modern Dairy Farms Are Choosing Automation in 2025 – This case study reveals how mid-sized farms, the group most at-risk, are using automation to solve labor and efficiency crises. It’s a real-world example of the “long-term thinking” and technology adoption the main article calls for.
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