Reference
- Animal HusbandryControlled cultivation, management, and production of domestic animals, including improvement of the qualities considered desirable by humans by means of breeding. Animals are bred and raised for utility (e.g., food, fur), sport, pleasure, and research.
- artificial selectionIn biology, selective breeding of individuals that exhibit the particular characteristics that a plant or animal breeder wishes to develop. In plants, desirable features might include resistance to disease, high yield (in crop plants), or attractive appearance. In animal breeding, selection has led to the development of particular breeds of cattle for improved meat production (such as the Aberdeen Angus) or milk production (such as Jersey cows). Artificial selection was practised by the Sumerians at least 5,500 years ago and carried on through the succeeding ages, with the result that all common vegetables, fruit, and livestock are long modified by selective breeding. Artificial selection, particularly of pigeons, was studied by the English evolutionist Charles Darwin who saw a similarity between this phenomenon and the processes of natural selection.
- dairy farmingForm of animal husbandry that uses mammals, primarily cows, for the production of milk and products processed from it (including butter, cheese, and ice cream). Though cattle, goats, and sheep have been kept for the production of dairy products since the earliest historical times, modern dairy farming resulted from the technological advances of the past hundred years: the factory system for processing; sterile storage; refrigeration, fast vehicles and paved roads; and pasteurization and the enforcement of food-safety laws. Outstanding dairy breeds include the Holstein, Guernsey, Jersey, Ayrshire, and Brown Swiss.
- Industrial Livestock ProductionINDUSTRIAL LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION is a system of rearing animals using intensive production-line methods that aim to maximize the amount of meat, milk and eggs, while minimizing costs. It has dominated animal agriculture in the European Union (EU) and North America since the 1950s and is becoming increasingly widespread in developing countries. Industrial livestock production generally inhibits animals from behaving naturally, often causing them pain and serious health problems. In some countries, campaigns against such methods have influenced public opinion and government agencies. The EU has banned battery cages for egg-laying hens from 2012 and sow gestation crates from 2013. However, in the USA, improvements in animal welfare are coming much more slowly. Intensive farming may also be harmful to human health. Animals in cramped conditions easily catch and transmit diseases, which may then be passed to humans. Farmers routinely using antibiotics on animals may be contributing to antibiotic-resistance among humans, and the use, in some countries, of growth hormones in beef cattle has been linked with human infertility. The practice of injecting dairy cows with hormones to increase milk yields has also raised health concerns for both animals and humans.
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Online Websites
- USDA-LivestockDoes your operation include livestock? USDA offers a variety of programs and services that support your operation. Whether you raise cattle, poultry, pork, goats, sheep, farm-raised fish or honeybees, we have options for you.
- USDA-Livestock, Poultry & GrainThe primary function of the Livestock, Poultry, and Grain Market News Division (LPGMN) of the Livestock & Poultry Program (L&P) is to compile and disseminate information that will aid producers, consumers, and distributors in the sale and purchase of livestock, meat, poultry, eggs, grains, and their related products regionally, nationally and internationally.
- USDA-Animals and LivestockVisit the USDA's Agricultural Library for more information about animals and livestock
Streaming Media
- Should the World Eat Meat?In the first of two lectures on the politics of food, explore whether or not sustainable meat production is a myth or reality. What are the environmental costs of meat production? How can we rethink the way we house, feed, and raise livestock? Is too much meat bad for our health?
- The Bullish Farmer: One Man's Journey from the Stock Market to the Farmer's MarketOnce a successful Wall Street banker, John Ubaldo quit his career after the loss of a personal friend in the 9/11 attacks and purchased 185 acres of land in order to pursue a bigger dream. A dream that involves living an uncomplicated, traditional, agrarian life where he raises livestock and crops. But his dreams get complicated when he comes up against Big Ag.
- Pig Business: The Cost Of Cheap FoodIn this shocking and provocative film, Tracy Worcester sets out to discover who's paying the true price for the cheap pork for sale in Britain's supermarkets.
Perspectives
The New Livestock Farmer
Including information on cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep, and goats, and exotics like bison, rabbits, elk, and deer How can anyone from a backyard hobbyist to a large-scale rancher go about raising and selling ethically produced meats directly to consumers, restaurants, and butcher shops? With the rising consumer interest in grass-fed, pasture-raised, and antibiotic-free meats, how can farmers most effectively tap into those markets and become more profitable? The regulations and logistics can be daunting enough to turn away most would-be livestock farmers, and finding and keeping their customers challenges the rest. Farmer, consultant, and author Rebecca Thistlethwaite (Farms with a Future) and her husband and coauthor, Jim Dunlop, both have extensive experience raising a variety of pastured livestock in California and now on their homestead farm in Oregon. The New Livestock Farmer provides pasture-based production essentials for a wide range of animals, from common farm animals (cattle, poultry, pigs, sheep, and goats) to more exotic species (bison, rabbits, elk, and deer). Each species chapter discusses the unique requirements of that animal, then delves into the steps it takes to prepare and get them to market. Profiles of more than fifteen meat producers highlight some of the creative ways these innovative farmers are raising animals and direct-marketing superior-quality meats. In addition, the book contains information on a variety of vital topics: * Governmental regulations and how they differ from state to state; * Slaughtering and butchering logistics, including on-farm and mobile processing options and sample cutting sheets; * Packaging, labeling, and cold-storage considerations; * Principled marketing practices; and * Financial management, pricing, and other business essentials. This book is must reading for anyone who is serious about raising meat animals ethically, outside of the current consolidated, unsustainable CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) system. It offers a clear, thorough, well-organized guide to a subject that will become increasingly important as the market demand for pasture-raised meat grows stronger.
The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals
Enjoy a weekend breakfast featuring eggs, bacon, and honey from your own chickens, pigs, and bees, or a holiday meal with your own heritage-breed turkey as the main attraction. Gail Damerow covers everything you need to successfully raise your own farm animals, from selecting the right breeds to producing delicious fresh milk, cheese, honey, eggs, and meat. Even with just a small plot of land, you can become more self-sufficient, save money, and enjoy healthy, delicious animal products. Also available in this series: The Backyard Homestead, The Backyard Homestead Book of Building Projects, The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, and The Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How.
The Secret Life of Cows
"Within a day of receiving this book, I had consumed it... Absorbing, moving, and compulsively readable."--Lydia Davis In this affectionate, heart-warming chronicle, Rosamund Young distills a lifetime of organic farming wisdom, describing the surprising personalities of her cows and other animals At her famous Kite's Nest Farm in Worcestershire, England, the cows (as well as sheep, hens, and pigs) all roam free. They make their own choices about rearing, grazing, and housing. Left to be themselves, the cows exhibit temperaments and interests as diverse as our own. "Fat Hat" prefers men to women; "Chippy Minton" refuses to sleep with muddy legs and always reports to the barn for grooming before bed; "Jake" has a thing for sniffing the carbon monoxide fumes of the Land Rover exhaust pipe; and "Gemima" greets all humans with an angry shake of the head and is fiercely independent. An organic farmer for decades, Young has an unaffected and homely voice. Her prose brims with genuine devotion to the wellbeing of animals. Most of us never apprehend the various inner lives animals possess, least of all those that we might eat. But Young has spent countless hours observing how these creatures love, play games, and form life-long friendships. She imparts hard-won wisdom about the both moral and real-world benefits of organic farming. (If preserving the dignity of animals isn't a good enough reason for you, consider how badly factory farming stunts the growth of animals, producing unhealthy and tasteless food.) This gorgeously-illustrated book, which includes an original introduction by the legendary British playwright Alan Bennett, is the summation of a life's work, and a delightful and moving tribute to the deep richness of animal sentience.
The Welfare of Domestic Fowl and Other Captive Birds
Animal welfare is attracting increasing interest worldwide, especially in developed countries where the knowledge and resources are available to (at least potentially) provide better management systems for farm animals, as well as companion, zoo and laboratory animals. The key requirements for adequate food, water, a suitable environment, appropriate companionship and good health are important for animals kept for all of these purposes. There has been increased attention given to farm animal welfare in many co- tries in recent years. This derives largely from the fact that the relentless pursuit of nancial reward and ef ciency, to satisfy market demands, has led to the devel- ment of intensive animal production systems that challenge the conscience of many consumers in those countries. In developing countries, human survival is still a daily uncertainty, so that p- vision for animal welfare has to be balanced against human needs. Animal welfare is usually a priority only if it supports the output of the animal, be it food, work, clothing, sport or companionship. In principle the welfare needs of both humans and animals can be provided for, in both developing and developed countries, if resources are properly husbanded. In reality, however, the inequitable division of the world's riches creates physical and psychological poverty for humans and a- mals alike in many parts of the world.
Milk
How did an animal product that spoils easily, carries disease, and causes digestive trouble for many of its consumers become a near-universal symbol of modern nutrition? In the first cultural history of milk, historian Deborah Valenze traces the rituals and beliefs that have governed milk production and consumption since its use in the earliest societies. Covering the long span of human history, Milk reveals how developments in technology, public health, and nutritional science made this once-rare elixir a modern-day staple. The book looks at the religious meanings of milk, along with its association with pastoral life, which made it an object of mystery and suspicion during medieval times and the Renaissance. As early modern societies refined agricultural techniques, cow's milk became crucial to improving diets and economies, launching milk production and consumption into a more modern phase. Yet as business and science transformed the product in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, commercial milk became not only a common and widely available commodity but also a source of uncertainty when used in place of human breast milk for infant feeding. Valenze also examines the dairy culture of the developing world, looking at the example of India, currently the world's largest milk producer. Ultimately, milk's surprising history teaches us how to think about our relationship to food in the present, as well as in the past. It reveals that although milk is a product of nature, it has always been an artifact of culture.
Temple Grandin
Since Temple Grandin's life story was told in the 15 x Emmy-nominated film Temple Grandin, and since her heartwarming speech at the award ceremony, she has become one of the world's most well-known members of its community. In this fascinating biography, Annette Wood delves deep into Grandin's life from childhood to adulthood. Wood tells of the trials and tribulations of the icon: What difficulties Grandin struggled with and how she's become a hero for the autistic community. She also tells what Temple has done since the movie came out, where she is today, what kind of difference she's made, and what her future holds. For the 22 million people worldwide afflicted by autism and the countless friends and family members who support them, this brilliant portrait presents an up-close look at the disorder and renewed hope for what the future could bring for those on all levels of the spectrum.