More automation is almost always better - because once you automate something, you can use technological improvement to increase the efficiency, which reduces the total cost of what you just automated, which results in more of whatever was just automated being available at a lower cost. Net gain to humanity.

I've never worked on a farm, but I have to believe that 99% of the work is something that most farm workers would probably be more than happy to see automated, such that they could manage the machines, rather than the actual mechanical effort. Move up the food chain, if you will.

Also, from the videos I've seen from PETA, it's pretty clear that humans can act pretty horribly around farm animals, so it's not clear to me that the animals are coming off any better either.

Long term, though - I say automate the creation of food such that animals are not involved. All of the things we love, meat, eggs, etc.. should be technologically generated so that no animal is harmed in it's creation.

Get over the uncanny valley, and even things that would appear to be sacrosanct, such as a waiter/waitress at a restaurant, admitting nurse/doctor in an ER Ward, or teacher in a kindergarden - all of these seem to be things that automation would be a net-win.