Meat Production and Industrial Livestock Production

Animal Husbandry

Animal husbandry is a branch of agriculture dealing with the breeding and raising of livestock, including feeding, sheltering, selective breeding, disease control, and overall animal welfare for animals like cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and horses.
With a growing global population, meat production is increasing.
The main products are for human consumption, including meat, milk (and dairy products), and eggs.
Other purposes include research, sports, and products like leather, fur, and wool.
Animal husbandry has become part of industrial livestock production, aiming to maximize output while minimizing costs.

Industrial Livestock Production Methods

Methods include:
- Using large quantities of water
- Mixing grains like corn or soybeans into feed
- Cutting down forests to expand grazing lands
- Confining animals in cramped conditions
- Administering heavy doses of antibiotics to speed growth and reduce disease outbreaks
- Almost 80% of all antibiotics sold are used in livestock production.

Per Capita Meat Consumption

Globally, per capita meat consumption has increased by approximately 20 kgs since 1961.
In 2014, the average person consumed around 43 kgs of meat per year.
The rate of change varies across countries.
Meat consumption is highest in high-income countries.
Australia and New Zealand are the largest meat-eaters, consuming approximately 121 kgs and 127 kgs per capita per year, respectively.
The average European consumes around 80 kgs, and the average North American consumes around 110 kgs.

Feed for Meat Production

Measured as weight (kgs) of dry matter feed per kg of edible weight output.

Chicken Farming - Raised for Meat

Chickens are raised for either meat or egg production.
Chickens raised for meat are called ‘broilers’.
They grow from a hatch weight of 40 gr to a weight of 1.5-2 kgs in approximately 6 weeks.
Chickens in the meat industry are typically confined to warehouse-like buildings, with as many as 20,000 chickens per building, given approximately 1 ft $^2$ per bird.
Chickens are bred and fed for abnormally fast growth to reach ‘market weight’ quickly; this can result in suffering, disease, and early death.
A 2006 study found that 55% of chicken meat in supermarkets contained arsenic, which causes cancer in humans. Arsenic is added to feed to promote growth.
Rapid growth is often associated with acute heart failure because the hearts and lungs of rapidly growing birds are often unable to effectively circulate oxygen. This is the leading cause of death in chickens as they reach ‘market weight’.
In industrial slaughterhouses, chickens are rendered unconscious via electrical stunning (low-voltage electrical current) or atmospheric stunning (carbon dioxide - $CO_2$ ).
A single cut to the throat is made by machines. Workers are present to quickly euthanize birds if the blade misses.
Chickens are put through a hot water bath to loosen feathers, which are then removed by a machine.
The chickens are then sent to an eviscerating line which removes internal organs and feet.
Every part of the bird is used. Chicken feet are considered a delicacy in Asian countries, and feathers are used as protein in some animal feed.

Industrial Cattle Farming

Every year, nearly 300 million beef cattle are butchered worldwide.
Cattle are raised for meat and dairy production.
In industrial cattle farming, the larger and faster the cows grow, the more valuable they become.
Breeding is artificial: sperm from selected males (bulls) is used to artificially inseminate thousands of females.
Mutilation:
- Males not selected for breeding are castrated to improve meat quality and tenderness.
- Horns are cut off, severing blood vessels.
- Branding involves burning a number into the animal’s skin using a hot or freezing metal mold.
Cattle spend the first 6-8 months of their lives grazing but face hazards in unnatural confinement.
Restricted within a particular area, the cows often have no refuge from extreme weather. Many die as a result of intense heat, hypothermia, or seasonal floods. In 2009, approximately 91,000 cattle in North Dakota died due to flooding and extreme winter conditions.
Cows are then transferred to confined feedlots to add weight quickly.
Some feedlots house up to 100,000 cows at a single location.
Over the next 6-8 months, they eat a high protein grain-based feed consisting of corn, soy, and other by-products.
Plant-based feed is treated with agricultural chemicals that accumulate in the cows’ tissues.
Approximately 90% of industrially farmed U.S. cattle have growth hormones added to their feed, raising concerns about potential health complications in humans.
Industrially farmed cows are treated with antibiotics.
Residues from growth hormones and antibiotics leech from manure dispersed as fertilizer and end up in local streams and lakes.
At 14-16 months old, after reaching about 550 kg, the cows are sent to a packing plant.
They travel up to 28 hours without a rest period and are generally deprived of food and water.
At the slaughterhouse, cows are quickly hit with a captive bolt stunning gun to render them brain-dead.
After being knocked out, a chain is attached to its back leg, and it is lifted onto the processing line where it’s exsanguinated (blood removed) by a skilled worker.
Pulsating electric shocks are periodically administered to ensure all blood is drained.
The carcass is stored in a cooler for 24 hours before being processed into large cuts of beef.

Cattle Farming in the Dairy Industry

Cows used by the dairy industry are intensively confined, continually impregnated, and raised for high milk production.
They spend their lives in a constant cycle of impregnation, birth, and milking with just a few short months of rest between pregnancies.
Nearly all cows used for dairy in the U.S. are eventually slaughtered for human consumption at an average of less than 5 years of age.
In a natural setting, a cow can live more than 20 years.
Male calves are considered of little value to the dairy farmer and are raised for beef and sold for meat.

Industrial Sheep and Goat Farming

Nearly half a billion sheep and goats are butchered every year worldwide.
Sheep and goats are raised for meat and milk.
Other body parts are used for wool and fibers or used to make glue, gelatin, surgical sutures, and strings for musical instruments and tennis rackets.
Sheep used for meat in the U.S. are typically slaughtered young because consumers prefer lamb. A lamb is typically slaughtered when it is 6 to 8 months old.
Goats used for meat are typically slaughtered at 3 to 5 months old, a fraction of their natural lifespan.
Like dairy cows, goats and sheep used for dairy are kept continually impregnated via artificial insemination to produce milk.
Their offspring are taken away at birth for human consumption of the mother's milk.
Sheep and goats are slaughtered similarly to cows.

Industrial Pig Farming

Over a billion pigs are butchered annually worldwide, mainly for their meat (pork).
Other uses include skin for leather and hairs for brushes.
After a sow is impregnated, it is kept in a gestation crate during pregnancy.
After giving birth, sows are kept in farrowing crates while nursing their piglets.
Both crates are individual cells so narrow that the sow can only make a few steps forward and backward and cannot turn around.
A sow is slaughtered after roughly 5 years, having had 4-7 pregnancies and spent most of her life in gestation and farrowing crates.
Male piglets are often castrated in the first few days for better tasting meat.
After around 4 weeks with their mother, the piglets are transferred to a nursery barn (wean-to-finish barn) where they are fed for 6 to 8 weeks and grow approximately 22-27 kgs.
Pigs are then moved to a finishing barn to accommodate their continued growth (for about 17 weeks), eating up to 5 kgs per day and gaining weight quickly.
At about 6 months of age, the pigs weigh 128 kgs and are market-ready.
Prior to slaughtering, the pigs are stunned using an electric current, $CO_2$ , or a captive bolt gun.
They are then hooked up and exsanguinated by a skilled worker.
Lastly, they are cut and packed for sale.
Slaughterhouses slaughter up to 34,000 pigs per day.

Disadvantages of Industrial Livestock Production

The growth of global meat production comes at substantial animal welfare, environmental, and health costs.

Animal distress:
- Animals in high-density environments may be exposed to diseases and attacks and unable to engage in natural behaviors, raising fear, pain, and stress.
- Mutilation (castration, branding, etc.) causes pain, especially because anesthesia is not always used.

Global Meat Production

Globally, livestock accounts for about 40% of the total agricultural production value.
Livestock value chains are estimated to employ more than 1.3 billion people.
Intensive and industrial systems utilizing high levels of technology and capital intensity dominate global meat production, especially for pork and poultry.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) forecasts additional growth in global meat production to reach 361 million tons (carcass weight equivalent) in 2022.
In China, overall meat production is forecast to rise to 96 million tons, growing by 4.4 percent year-on-year.
International meat prices have been on an upward trend since October 2020, reaching an all-time high in May 2022.
Price increases reflect tight supplies from exporting countries amid robust global import demand, especially from Asia and the Middle East.
Since 1961, production has expanded more than 4 times, responding to growing purchasing power, urbanization, and changing diets.
Meat production has grown 25-fold since 1800, outpacing human population growth by a factor of 3.6.
In 2021, Asia produced 151.92 million tons, approximately 43% of the world’s meat output.
North America was second, with 65.1 million tons, followed by Europe (59.9 million tons) and South America (46.6 million tons).
The top 6 producing countries produce 54.3% of worldwide produced meat.

Global Meat Consumption

Over the last several decades, global meat consumption has increased tremendously, especially in Asia, driven by population and income growth.
Pork and poultry dominate in today’s global consumption.
The increase in pork consumption is primarily driven by China and a few other countries in Southeast Asia.
Poultry consumption has sharply increased worldwide, as it is cheaper, often perceived as healthier, and less affected by religious restrictions.
The type of meat eaten varies substantially among different countries.
- 54% of meat consumed by Argentinians is beef.
- 61% of what Germans eat is pork.
- 74% of what Saudi Arabians consume is poultry.
In most low- and middle-income countries, rising gross domestic product (GDP) is associated with rising per capita meat consumption.
In some rich countries, consumption levels are stagnating or declining with further rising GDP, likely due to rising consumer concerns about animal welfare and the environment.
According to UN FAO data, the US and Australia are at the top of the global meat-eating league with more than 120 kg consumed per capita in 2020.
As a global average, per capita meat consumption has increased approximately 20 kgs since 1961.
Countries which top 100 kg of meat consumed per person and year also include Mongolia, Argentina, Spain and Serbia.
The least meat in the world is eaten in Africa as well as in South Asia due to meat being unaffordable for many in the regions, cultural factors, or a mix of both.
The economic and supply in struggles areas have very little meat consumption patterns like in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and North Korea.

Social Aspects of Livestock Production

The livestock sector is an important source of income and employment for many households in low- and middle-income countries.
Backyard and small-scale production systems are important activities of poor households with limited economic opportunities.
For women in developing countries, livestock are among the few productive assets they are allowed to own.
Child labor is common for herding livestock in many rural communities, with negative consequences for child education and future income opportunities.
Working conditions are often poor, especially in the meatpacking industry.

Competition Between Food and Feed

Feeding grain to livestock improves their growth and fertility but sets up a competition for food between livestock and people.
Worldwide, approximately 800 million tons of wheat, oats, rye, and corn are fed to animals annually (more than 40% of world production).
250 million tons of soybeans and other oilseeds are fed annually to livestock.
Feed crops are cultivated on 560 million hectares (40% of the total worldwide cropland), where they compete with food production for direct human consumption.
One-third of the 2 billion hectares of grassland used for livestock feed could potentially be converted and used as cropland.

Environmental Aspects of Livestock Production

I- Water Use:

The water footprints of meat products are substantially larger than those of most plant-based products.
Most of the water in livestock production is not required as drinking water for animals but for the production of feed (more than 97% of the total water footprint).
Water pollution due to livestock production activities can be an issue.
Agriculture uses about 70% of the world’s available freshwater, and one third of that—more than 20% of all water consumed—is used to grow the grain fed to livestock.
Beef is by far the most water-intensive of all meats. To produce 1 kg of beef, over 15,000 liters of water are used.
The more than 15,000 liters of water used per kilogram of beef is far more than is required by a number of staple foods, such as rice (3,400 liters per kg), eggs (3,300 liters), milk (1,000 liters), or potatoes (255 liters).

II- Land Use:

Livestock use large amounts of land.
Accounting for less than 20% of the global food energy, meat and dairy use 70% of all agricultural land and 40% of the arable cropland.
Producing beef is much more resource-intensive than producing pork or chicken, requiring roughly 3-5 times as much land to generate the same amount of protein.
Beef uses about 3/5 (three-fifths) of global farmland but yields less than 5% of the world’s protein and less than 2% of its calories.

III- Land and Water Pollution:

Industrial farming systems concentrate animal wastes, often exceeding the capacity of local cropland to absorb the nutrients in manure.
Excessive localized concentrations of manure can lead to the contamination of land (soil) and groundwater.
Deforestation to support livestock production has contributed to the increase in greenhouse gas production and climate change.

IV- GHG Emissions:

All meats are associated with much higher emissions than plant-based foods.
Animal-sourced foods are responsible for up to two-thirds of all food-related GHG emissions.
GHG emissions attributable to meat and livestock primarily stem from:
1. The production of feed (land use and land-use change)
2. The enteric fermentation in ruminants
3. The management of manure
4. Emissions from transport, packaging, and retail (lower contributions)
Studies have found that Western countries would have to reduce their meat intake by 90% to limit climate change to acceptable levels.

V- Biodiversity:

Challenges to biodiversity due to livestock production:
- Climate change
- Water and soil pollution
- Hunting for bushmeat
- Overgrazing
- Disease transfers
Several recent studies conclude that livestock production is one of the leading causes of global biodiversity loss and deforestation.

Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

Animals in industrialized systems are very often given antibiotics in their feed or water.
Bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics.
The more excessively antibiotics are used, the faster the bacteria develop resistances, eventually making antibiotics ineffective.
When such resistant bacteria infect humans, there is nothing left as treatment.

Antibiotic Use

In the U.S., 13,600 tons of antibiotics were sold for use in livestock operations in 2011, almost 4 times the 3,500 tons used to treat ill people.
In Europe, an estimated 8,500 tons were distributed for animal use. However, EFSA has reported a decrease in antibiotic usage in Europe in 2021, suggesting that measures taken to reduce their usage was effective.
In China, more than 100,000 tons of antibiotics were used for livestock farming!

Conclusion

Industrial livestock production yields large amounts of meat and meets the demands of a growing population.
However, the methods used have many associated disadvantages.
With increasing awareness, consumers are calling for changes that improve animal welfare and environmental factors.
Plans to reduce antibiotic use and overall health hazards to humans must also be considered and implemented.