Farm Sanctuary Impact Report 2025

2025 IMPACT REPORT

A Note From Our President & Co-founder

Farm Sanctuary has been dedicated to ending factory farming and promoting compassionate vegan living since our founding in 1986. While our programs and tactics continue to evolve, our core principles remain unchanged. We are celebrating our 40th anniversary in 2026, and through it all, caring individuals like you have made our work possible.

In 2025, we cared for hundreds of rescued animals, educated thousands of visitors at our farms and millions through the media, and advocated for critical policy change. Along with combating the cruelties of animal agriculture, we’re actively working to build a healthier, kinder, and more sustainable food system. Through community-based partnerships and institutional collaborations, we helped deliver 3 million medically tailored plant-based meals last year, sparing the lives of an estimated 300,000 farm animals. We are now planning to replicate and scale this model in other states.

We are committed to investing in our people and operations to build resilient, environmentally sustainable practices at our farms. We are broadening visitor experiences with tours, events, and new educational offerings. At our Watkins Glen sanctuary, we expanded our garden to further demonstrate the benefits of plant-based agriculture and supply our vegan cafe.

In 2025, I enjoyed spending time at our Watkins Glen, NY, and Acton, CA, farms and was inspired by meeting visitors and discussing ways to collaborate to further our vital mission. I’m excited to connect again this year, both at our sanctuaries and at our 40th anniversary celebrations across the country.

Thank you to everyone who shares our vision of a kinder world and helps make Farm Sanctuary what it is. I’m deeply grateful and excited for what’s next.

With thanks and solidarity,

Gene Baur President & Co-founder

Mission Statement

OUR MISSION

We pursue bold solutions to end animal agriculture and foster just and compassionate vegan living.

OUR VALUES

Freedom, Compassion, Transformation, Integrity, and Understanding

OUR VISION

A world where sanctuary replaces exploitation

At Farm Sanctuary, we fight the disastrous effects of animal agriculture on animals, people, and the planet. We are working to shift resources from factory farming toward a just and sustainable plant-based food system that serves the common good. We meet people where they are on their own journeys and collaborate across movements and diverse communities to foster understanding.

OUR THREE PILLARS

RESCUE & SANCTUARY: Changing Lives

EDUCATION: Changing Hearts & Minds

ADVOCACY: Changing Systems

A Note From Our Chief Financial Officer

In 2025, Farm Sanctuary made investments where they matter most: on the ground, in our residents, and in our people to ensure exceptional care today while building a sustainable and resilient future.

Steps to increase capacity and self-sufficiency included purchasing equipment to cut and bale hay on our own land and buying a pig lift and cattle chute to reduce resident stress and create safer working conditions. We are designing storage facilities and pastures to lighten workloads and provide our animal residents with greater access to healthy pastures. We are making critical infrastructure upgrades, including repairing decks and building a new duck pond in Watkins Glen, enhancing resident habitats and visitor experience.

We’ve initiated skills-based incentives and training to recognize staff expertise and support growth, and invested in our education and advocacy teams to broaden our reach. We are deepening cohesion among our three pillars (rescue, education, and advocacy), to maximize impact, and our strategic investments in food system transformation have been amplified 20x to create meaningful change.

Along with forward-looking investments, we are strengthening operational efficiency. Revenue in 2025 increased 11% over 2024, while expenses remained flat.

We take our responsibility as good stewards of your support seriously and will continue to ensure the fiscal health that is critical to honoring our vital mission.

Kathleen Baumann Chief

Financial Officer

“We take our responsibility as good stewards of your support seriously and will continue to ensure the fiscal health that is critical to honoring our vital mission.”

A Letter From Our Board Chair

When Farm Sanctuary sparked a worldwide movement in 1986 and cast light into the darkness faced by farm animals, we made it our mission to tell their story—forever. As society and public opinion continue to evolve, we have never wavered in our resilience or passion to work diligently on behalf of these innocent animals who need our help. The year 2025 was no different.

Through the love and generosity of our supporters, the year was marked by the launch of new plant-based programs, enhanced fiscal stewardship, the revitalization of our pioneering sanctuary locations as community and activist hubs, deeper messaging to engage our unparalleled social media following, the elevation of talent within the organization, improved governance with the addition of new Board members, and a renewed vigor for rescue.

Despite the emotional toll this work often entails, we remain committed to being a national thought leader and innovator, transforming the lives of farm animals. As Chair of the Board of Directors of this prestigious and storied organization, I would like to personally express my sincerest gratitude to our donors, who, through your empathy, allow us to be a voice for those who too often suffer unheard.

Thank you kindly,

Robert Procaccianti Chair, Board of Directors

“As society and public opinion continue to evolve, we have never wavered in our resilience or passion to work diligently on behalf of these innocent animals who need our help.”

Sanctuary by the Numbers

Through our three guiding pillars of rescue, education, and advocacy, Farm Sanctuary takes a holistic approach to changing hearts, minds, and systems. We are coming to the aid of farm animals in need and providing daily care to our hundreds of rescued residents, telling their stories to inspire compassion for all. We are combating the harms of factory farming and advocating for a just and sustainable plant-based food system that serves all of us: animals, people, and the planet. We are educating thousands of people and empowering the next generations of activists to bring about meaningful and lasting change.

Farm Sanctuary was founded in 1986 as the first organization dedicated to farm animal rescue and advocacy, planting the seeds for what would become a movement. As we celebrate our organization’s 40th anniversary in 2026, let’s reflect on the incredible progress we have made with your support in 2025—and set our sights on what we can achieve next, always moving forward. Thank you for your compassion and generosity.

50 % increase in our online audience since 2024

61M social media views

2M followers & supporters

4,500 people toured our sanctuaries

600 Watkins Glen B&B guests

Sanctuary Sustainability

As we promote planet-friendly vegan living, Farm Sanctuary, with the guidance of our staff-led Sustainability Committee, is dedicated to putting our words into action through ecologically sound practices.

SERVING SUSTAINABILITY

At our vegan on-site cafe in Watkins Glen, we served 4,305 meals in 2025, over 90% of which were sourced from local farms or from crops grown in our own garden. To facilitate plant-based cooking at home, we also launched in-person classes at the cafe, with plans to offer virtual classes in the near future.

FIGHTING FOOD WASTE

Unused produce was repurposed and served to our animal residents, and we rescued over 5,900 pounds of produce from landfills in partnership with local Tops Friendly Markets. We also teamed up with an industrial composter in Watkins Glen and collaborated with Food Waste Prevention Week to promote food recovery for Earth Day.

UPCYCLED GIFTS

In our on-site gift store, we introduced goods crafted by local, eco-friendly artisans as well as upcycled plushies and apparel. These efforts have reduced the shop’s carbon footprint while bringing in an additional $10K in revenue.

Farm Sanctuary’s forward-looking approach is rooted in a firm commitment to sustainability, shaping every aspect of our work and how we steward resources for long-term impact.

Media & Outreach

Farm Sanctuary stories reached hundreds of millions of people worldwide, shedding light on the importance of compassion and on the full, happy lives farm animals can lead when given the chance.

A NEWSWEEK READERS’ CHOICE AWARD FOR OUR ACTON SANCTUARY

Farm Sanctuary’s Acton, California shelter was honored with a Newsweek Readers’ Choice Award for “Best Animal Encounter” for our engaging guided tours. Newsweek’s content reaches over 100 million people monthly, and this recognition will spread our message around the world.

EXTRAORDINARY WORLD WITH JEFF CORWIN FILMS AT FARM SANCTUARY

Our message was amplified to an audience of millions as Jeff Corwin, a biologist, conservationist, and Emmy winner, joined musician-activist Moby at our California sanctuary to film an episode of Extraordinary World and highlight some of our inspiring rescued residents.

COMPASSION FOR TURKEYS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Our Adopt a Turkey Project, Celebration for the Turkeys events, and efforts to inspire kinder Thanksgiving celebrations were featured in the Associated Press, ABC News, People, NBC Los Angeles, Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Life, and more.

Farm animals are too often hidden on factory farms, but Farm Sanctuary is revealing their suffering and the solutions to it through far-reaching earned media.

RESCUE CHANGING LIVES

From caring for our hundreds of animal residents to connecting hundreds more with homes in our Farm Animal Adoption Network (FAAN), Farm Sanctuary offers hope and healing to the animals who need it most.

LONGEST RESCUE TRANSPORT IN FARM SANCTUARY HISTORY

A cruelty case and multi-sanctuary rescue saved hundreds of chickens from cockfighting. When we departed our New York shelter in snow and ice to bring nine birds to their new homes, the over 30-hour trip became our longest drive ever! We can go the extra mile for farm animals because you’re at our side.

14K

MILES TRAVELED to rescue or transport animals

927

INQUIRIES RESPONDED TO, representing 13K+ animals in need

LAST COW SLAUGHTERHOUSE IN LOS ANGELES CLOSES

As a cruelty investigation shuttered Manning Beef, we reflected on the rescues of four of our residents from this facility of fear. June B. Free and Susan escaped and found refuge with us. Actor Joaquin Phoenix helped us bring Liberty and her newborn calf, Indigo, to Farm Sanctuary. Here, they’re all receiving lifelong care—together.

YOUR DONATIONS SUPPORT LIFESAVING MEDICAL CARE

Thanks to your generosity, Farm Sanctuary is able to provide consistent, compassionate care to hundreds of animals, ranging from daily supportive treatments to specialized and emergency interventions through our partners at UC Davis and at Cornell, where Roxy pig was treated for a severe hoof infection in 2025

Farm Sanctuary is saving farm animals from unimaginable abuse and neglect, while combating the food system that harms them.

552

ANIMALS LIVING or receiving care at our sanctuaries

EDUCATION CHANGING HEARTS & MINDS

Farm Sanctuary’s far-reaching programs serve as a national model for effective, accessible humane education, providing thousands of students and educators with free learning resources.

Our Programs Garner an Educator’s Choice Award

Farm Sanctuary’s work to empower young minds received national recognition. Dedicated to “empathy through education,” the Association of Professional Humane Educators honored us with its Educator’s Choice Award for Best Youth Humane Education Program.

A QUARTER OF A MILLION STUDENTS REACHED SINCE 2017

We have served over 250,000 students with our free curricula and resources since re-launching and growing our humane education programs just eight years ago. We continue to engage more students each year, and our programming now reaches countries around the world.

1M REACHED through community-based education

79,027 STUDENTS each provided with humane education

130 %

MORE TEACHERS served compared to 2024

THE YOUTH LEADERSHIP COUNCIL EXPANDS

Connecting like-minded activists aged 13-18 and amplifying their impact, our Youth Leadership Council launched expanded programming for young adults this year. We also began piloting curricula designed for high school clubs, working with Scarsdale High School in New York. These successes were made possible by the Bold Choice Fund (BCF), a humane education initiative launched in 2024 with the support of Founding Members, Dr. Martin D. Madaus and Susan Madaus. By engaging 130% more teachers, we’ve already reached a BCF goal set for 2027—and will continue to strategically grow our education programs as a key part of our mission.

ADVOCACY CHANGING SYSTEMS

Rescue alone won’t end factory farming. Our work extends beyond our sanctuaries to change policy, promote plant-based foods, and build a food system that nourishes without harm.

COALITION EFFORTS END THE FEDERAL MILK MANDATE

As part of a coalition, we helped end the federal milk mandate, allowing schools to offer plant-based milks in the National School Lunch Program. Now, we’re engaging our volunteer Community Action Network (CAN) to support implementation in schools nationwide.

ADVANCING FOOD JUSTICE AND SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES

By expanding equitable access to nutritious plant-based foods and shifting millions of meals away from unhealthy animal products, we are working across movements to serve communities nationwide.

DEFENDING PROPOSITION 12 FROM INDUSTRY GREED

Since Proposition 12 passed in 2018, animal agriculture has fought California’s law prohibiting severe farm animal confinement and its products. Farm Sanctuary has fought back at every step. In 2025, the Supreme Court declined to hear the meat industry’s latest challenge—and we are opposing the Trump administration’s lawsuit against California.

Through advocacy, Farm Sanctuary is shifting support away from factory farming toward plant-based food systems.

3M

MEALS

shifted to plant-based, saving around 300K farm animals

4M

ANIMALS

to be saved by 2030, per secured commitments

400  +

ORGANIZATION CO-SPONSORS, representing 30M members, helped advance healthy Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) incentives

“Our partnership with Farm Sanctuary has been transformative. Together, we have served 4.4M meals to families in need and have benefited hundreds of farmers. Plantbased strategies work, and collaborating with Farm Sanctuary has made our rural Food Is Medicine programming possible.”

— Henry Crews, co-founder, Green Rural Redevelopment Organization (GRRO)

What began in 1986, with the first organization dedicated to farm animal rescue and advocacy, has grown into a global movement

Looking Ahead: Bold Solutions

While Farm Sanctuary celebrates our 40th anniversary in 2026 and takes a moment to reflect on the past, we’re doubling down on our efforts to create a kinder, healthier future for animals, people, and the planet.

What began in 1986, with the first organization dedicated to farm animal rescue and advocacy, has grown into a global movement. Today, we are building on that impact by connecting with sanctuaries across our movement to further our shared goals of combating factory farming and encouraging sustainable vegan living.

The power of these connections will be evident as we celebrate Sanctuary Day on April 17, 2026, 40 years to the day since Farm Sanctuary’s founding. Sanctuaries around the world and their supporters will join us in amplifying our shared message of hope and healing through moving words, videos, and actions.

We are living through uncertain times, but with your continued support, Farm Sanctuary will not waver in our mission of hope and healing.

In 2026, we invite you to join us as we mark our 40th anniversary through events and collaborations nationwide, plan for the years ahead, and build upon the progress we have made.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR KINDNESS AND YOUR SUPPORT!