There are pros and cons of intensive livestock farming.
The rearing of animals for food is one of the uses of livestock farming.This type of farming mainly applies to cattle or dairy cows, chickens, goats, pigs, horses and sheep but it is also relevant for other animals such as donkeys, mules, rabbits and bees which are being raised as part of livestock farming.
Since humans started domesticating animals to make their life better, livestock farming has been a part of society.As with most forms of farming, livestock farming has increased in recent decades.
If you think that milk, honey, eggs and meat are all products on livestock farming, this has allowed the goods to become more widely available and cheaper to buy.
The practices of intensive livestock farming have been subject to a lot of concern in terms of food safety, animal welfare and environmental impacts.
The direct contributions of livestock farming to the economy are estimated to be over 800 billion dollars, but this does not include the services that rely on it, such as butchers, retailers, transport companies and feed producers.
In addition to its economic value, livestock farming provides food security to over one billion people.It is one of the fastest growing sectors in the agricultural economy.
The increasing intensification of livestock farming practices has helped increase yields and efficiency while bringing down costs.Farmers can rear more animals if they confine them in concentrated areas maximizing the potential of the land area they have at their disposal.
In other words, pigs, cows, chickens, and other livestock are kept in a small area of land which makes it easier to manage while increasing output for less land.
Increasing animal welfare, environmental and health concerns can't be discounted at the same time.Cost saving techniques can affect the health and wellbeing of animals.
The European Union and New Zealand have legislation that states that animals are sentient beings and that they can experience emotions, including pain and distress.
It is not accepted that animals reared as livestock should live in such conditions.Animals are transported long distances to market under inhuman conditions or slaughtered in painful ways.
The animals are more susceptible to diseases because of the crowded conditions under which they are kept in intensive farming.More than 2 billion cases of human illness are caused by 13 livestock-related diseases in low- and middle-income nations.
Farmers use antibiotics to ensure animals don't contract diseases, which in the long-term leads to the evolution ofbacteria and the rise of drug-resistant pathogens.
The livestock sector accounts for more greenhouse-gas emissions than transportation.Farmers often dispose of their animal waste in rivers that are polluted and threaten the environment.
While there are clear challenges to intensive livestock farming, the need to address food security and undernutrition as well as sustainable concerns has led to the expression of the concept of "sustainable intensification".
The concept seeks to marry the need to maintain livestock farming activity with an eco-friendly approach which supports high animal welfare standards.Some innovative companies, such as DeLaval, which provides equipment to dairy farmers, have identified ways in which to maximize animal welfare and increase a farmer's productivity.
DeLaval provides a cow brush that rotates at an animal friendly speed.It swings in all directions, smoothly up, over and alongside the cow, stimulating blood circulation, and helping cows to keep clean and calm.
According to a study by Cornell University, increases in blood circulation mean better animal health, while another study shows that cows using this brush have a lower rate of mastitis.
The following are references: http://www.ad-nett.org/livestock_farming.html
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