Livestock#Animal welfare

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The word livestock was first used between 1650 and 1660, as a compound word combining the words "live" and "stock".{{cite dictionary|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/livestock |title=Livestock definition |access-date=23 November 2015 |dictionary=Dictionary.com}} In some periods, "cattle" and "livestock" have been used interchangeably. Over the 19th century, the meaning of livestock and cattle shifted, leading to the modern meaning of cattle referring to domesticated bovines, whilst livestock is used in a wider sense.{{cite dictionary|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/livestock|title=Merriam-Webster: Definition of Livestock|dictionary=Merriam-Webster|access-date=18 January 2019}}

United States federal legislation defines the term to make specified agricultural commodities eligible or ineligible for a program or activity. For example, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 (P.L. 106–78, Title IX) defines livestock only as cattle, swine, and sheep, while the 1988 disaster assistance legislation defined the term as "cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry (including egg-producing poultry), equine animals used for food or in the production of food, fish used for food, and other animals designated by the Secretary".{{cite web |url=http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/05jun/97-905.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110212033139/http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/05jun/97-905.pdf |archive-date=12 February 2011 |title=Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws |date=2005 |access-date=10 December 2011}}

Horses are considered livestock in the United States.{{Cite web |title=Congress Clarifies That Horses are Not "Pets," Advances Landmark Livestock Health Measures |url=https://www.horsecouncil.org/washington-report/congress-clarifies-that-horses-are-not-pets-advances-landmark-livestock-health-measures/ |access-date=19 January 2019 |website=American Horse Council |language=en-US}} The USDA classifies pork, veal (meat of young cows, usually 5-8 months old), beef, and lamb (mutton) as livestock, and all livestock as red meat. Poultry and fish are not included in the category.{{cite web |title=Fresh Pork from Farm to Table |url=https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/meat-catfish/fresh-pork-farm-table |website=fsis.usda.gov}} The latter is likely because fish products are not governed by the USDA, but by the FDA.

Deadstock is defined in contradistinction to or as the opposite of livestock as "animals that have died before slaughter, sometimes from illness or disease". It is illegal in many countries, such as Canada, to sell or process meat from dead animals for human consumption.[http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/police-launch-investigation-into-aylmer-meat-packers-1.409535 cbc.ca: "Police launch investigation into Aylmer Meat Packers"], 28 August 2003

{{further |History of agriculture}}

Animal-rearing originated during the cultural transition to settled farming communities from hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animals are domesticated when their breeding and living conditions are controlled by humans. Over time, the collective behaviour, lifecycle and physiology of livestock have changed radically. Many modern farmed animals are unsuited to life in the natural world.

Dogs were domesticated early; dogs appear in Europe and the Far East from about 15,000 years ago.{{cite journal |author1=Larson, G. |author2=Bradley, D. G. |year=2014 |title=How Much Is That in Dog Years? The Advent of Canine Population Genomics |journal=PLOS Genetics |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004093 |pmid=24453989 |pmc=3894154 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=e1004093 |doi-access=free }} Goats and sheep were domesticated in multiple events sometime between 11,000 and 5,000 years ago in Southwest Asia.{{cite journal |last1=Chessa |first1=B. |last2=Pereira |first2=F. |last3=Arnaud |first3=F. |last4=Amorim |first4=A. |last5=Goyache |first5=F. |last6=Mainland |first6=I. |last7=Kao |first7=R. R. |last8=Pemberton |first8=J. M. |last9=Beraldi |first9=D. |last10=Stear |first10=M. J. |last11=Alberti |first11=A. |last12=Pittau |first12=M. |last13=Iannuzzi |first13=L. |last14=Banabazi |first14=M. H. |last15=Kazwala |first15=R. R. |last16=Zhang |first16=Y.-p. |last17=Arranz |first17=J. J. |last18=Ali |first18=B. A. |last19=Wang |first19=Z. |last20=Uzun |first20=M. |last21=Dione |first21=M. M. |last22=Olsaker |first22=I. |last23=Holm |first23=L.-E. |last24=Saarma |first24=U. |last25=Ahmad |first25=S. |last26=Marzanov |first26=N. |last27=Eythorsdottir |first27=E. |last28=Holland |first28=M. J. |last29=Ajmone-Marsan |first29=P. |last30=Bruford |first30=M. W. |last31=Kantanen |first31=J. |last32=Spencer |first32=T. E. |last33=Palmarini |first33=M. |title=Revealing the History of Sheep Domestication Using Retrovirus Integrations |journal=Science |volume=324 |issue=5926 |date=24 April 2009 |doi=10.1126/science.1170587 |pmid=19390051 |pmc=3145132 |pages=532–536|bibcode=2009Sci...324..532C }} Pigs were domesticated by 8,500 BC in the Near East{{cite journal |last1=Vigne |first1=J. D. |last2=Zazzo |first2=A. |last3=Saliège |first3=J. F. |last4=Poplin |first4=F. |last5=Guilaine |first5=J. |last6=Simmons |first6=A. |title=Pre-Neolithic wild boar management and introduction to Cyprus more than 11,400 years ago |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=106 |issue=38 |pages=16135–8 |year=2009 |pmid=19706455 |pmc=2752532 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0905015106|bibcode=2009PNAS..10616135V |doi-access=free }} and 6,000 BC in China.{{cite journal | last1=Larson | first1=Greger | last2=Liu | first2=Ranran | last3=Zhao | first3=Xingbo | last4=Yuan | first4=Jing | last5=Fuller | first5=Dorian | last6=Barton | first6=Loukas | last7=Dobney | first7=Keith | last8=Fan | first8=Qipeng | last9=Gu | first9=Zhiliang | last10=Liu | first10=Xiao-Hui | last11=Luo | first11=Yunbing | last12=Lv | first12=Peng | last13=Andersson | first13=Leif | last14=Li | first14=Ning | title=Patterns of East Asian pig domestication, migration, and turnover revealed by modern and ancient DNA | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume=107 | issue=17 | date=19 April 2010| doi=10.1073/pnas.0912264107 | pmid=20404179 | pages=7686–7691| pmc=2867865 | bibcode=2010PNAS..107.7686L | doi-access=free }} Domestication of horses dates to around 4,000 BC.{{cite web |url=http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/ |title=Breeds of Livestock - Oklahoma State University |publisher=Ansi.okstate.edu |access-date=10 December 2011}} Cattle have been domesticated since approximately 10,500 years ago.{{cite journal |last1=McTavish |first1=E.J. |last2=Decker |first2=J. E. |last3=Schnabel |first3=R. D. |last4=Taylor |first4=J. F. |last5=Hillis |first5=D. M. |year=2013 |title=New World cattle show ancestry from multiple independent domestication events |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=110 |issue=15 |pages=E1398–406 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1303367110 |pmid=23530234 |pmc=3625352|bibcode=2013PNAS..110E1398M |doi-access=free }}{{Specify|date=August 2021|reason=Please specify around what year this is referring to, as with the other domestication timeframes in this section.}} Chickens and other poultry may have been domesticated around 7,000 BC.{{cite web |url=http://quatr.us/china/history-chickens.htm |title=History of chickens – India and China|date=12 June 2017}}

{{See also|List of domesticated animals}}

{{unreferenced section|date=April 2018}}

The term "livestock" is indistinct and may be defined narrowly or broadly. Broadly, livestock refers to any population of animals kept by humans for a useful, commercial purpose.

{{main|Rodent farming|Rabbit farming}}

{{see also|Animal husbandry#Range of species}}

Micro-livestock is the term used for much-smaller animals, usually mammals. The two predominant categories are rodents and lagomorphs (rabbits). Even-smaller animals are kept and raised, such as crickets and honey bees. Micro-livestock does not generally include fish (aquaculture) or chickens (poultry farming).

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File:Paridera Cueva del Río Piedra.jpg]]

{{Main |Animal husbandry}}

Traditionally, animal husbandry was part of the subsistence farmer's way of life, producing not only the food needed by the family but also the fuel, fertiliser, clothing, transport and draught power. Killing the animal for food was a secondary consideration, and wherever possible their products, such as wool, eggs, milk and blood (by the Maasai) were harvested while the animal was still alive.{{cite book |author=Webster, John |title=Animal Husbandry Regained: The Place of Farm Animals in Sustainable Agriculture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6v-Tdhm5SgC&pg=PA5 |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-84971-420-4 |pages=4–10}}

In the traditional system of transhumance, humans and livestock moved seasonally between fixed summer and winter pastures; in montane regions the summer pasture was up in the mountains, the winter pasture in the valleys.{{cite book |last=Blench |first=Roger |title='You can't go home again' – Pastoralism in the new millennium |publisher=Overseas Development Institute |date=17 May 2001 |page=12 |url=http://www.odi.org.uk/work/projects/pdn/eps.pdf |access-date=29 April 2018 |archive-date=1 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201000745/http://www.odi.org.uk/work/projects/pdn/eps.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Animals can be kept extensively or intensively. Extensive systems involve animals roaming at will, or under the supervision of a herdsman, often for their protection from predators. Ranching in the Western United States involves large herds of cattle grazing widely over public and private lands.{{cite book |author=Starrs, Paul F. |title=Let the Cowboy Ride: Cattle Ranching in the American West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WHfnaQLGIx4C&pg=PA1 |year=2000 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-6351-6 |pages=1–2}} Similar cattle stations are found in South America, Australia and other places with large areas of land and low rainfall. Ranching systems have been used for sheep, deer, ostrich, emu, llama and alpaca.{{cite book |author1=Levinson, David |author2=Christensen, Karen |title=Encyclopedia of Community: From the Village to the Virtual World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t1geOjQ6R0MC&pg=PA1139 |year=2003 |publisher=Sage |isbn=978-0-7619-2598-9 |page=1139}} In the uplands of the United Kingdom, sheep are turned out on the fells in spring and graze the abundant mountain grasses untended, being brought to lower altitudes late in the year, with supplementary feeding being provided in winter.{{cite book |title=The Shepherd's Life |last=Rebanks |first=James |year=2015 |publisher=Penguin: Random House |isbn=978-0141-97936-6 |page=286}}

In rural locations, pigs and poultry can obtain much of their nutrition from scavenging, and in African communities, hens may live for months without being fed, and still produce one or two eggs a week. At the other extreme, in the more Western parts of the world, animals are often intensively managed; dairy cows may be kept in zero-grazing conditions with all their forage brought to them; beef cattle may be kept in high density feedlots;{{cite journal |last=Silbergeld |first=Ellen K |author2=Graham, Jay |author3=Price, Lance B |title=Industrial food animal production, antimicrobial resistance, and human health |journal=Annual Review of Public Health |year=2008 |volume=29 |pages=151–69 |doi=10.1146/annurev.publhealth.29.020907.090904| doi-access=free|pmid=18348709 }} pigs may be housed in climate-controlled buildings and never go outdoors;{{cite web |url=http://swine.missouri.edu/facilities/PIH-11.PDF |title=Swine Growing-Finishing Units |author1=Meyer, Vernon M. |author2=Driggers, L. Bynum |author3=Ernest, Kenneth |author4=Ernest, Debra |website=Pork Industry handbook |publisher=Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service |access-date=17 May 2017}} poultry may be reared in barns and kept in cages as laying birds under lighting-controlled conditions. In between these two extremes are semi-intensive, often family-run farms where livestock graze outside for much of the year, silage or hay is made to cover the times of year when the grass stops growing, and fertiliser, feed and other inputs are bought onto the farm from outside.{{cite book |author=Blount, W.P. |title=Intensive Livestock Farming |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UyHLBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA360 |year=2013 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-1-4831-9565-0 |pages=360–62}}

Livestock farmers have often dealt with natural world animals' predation and theft by rustlers. In North America, animals such as gray wolves, grizzly bears, cougars, and coyotes are sometimes considered a threat to livestock. In Eurasia and Africa, predators include wolves, leopards, tigers, lions, dholes, Asiatic black bears, crocodiles, spotted hyenas, and other carnivores. In South America, feral dogs, jaguars, anacondas, and spectacled bears are threats to livestock. In Australia, dingoes, foxes, and wedge-tailed eagles are common predators, with an additional threat from domestic dogs who may kill in response to a hunting instinct, leaving the carcass uneaten.Northern Daily Leader, 20 May 2010, Dogs mauled 30 sheep (and killed them), p.3, Rural Press{{cite web |last=Simmons |first=Michael |url=http://www.victorharbortimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/dogs-seized-for-killing-sheep/1619896.aspx |title=Dogs seized for killing sheep - Local News - News - General - The Times |publisher=Victorharbortimes.com.au |date=10 September 2009 |access-date=10 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111170104/http://www.victorharbortimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/dogs-seized-for-killing-sheep/1619896.aspx |archive-date=11 January 2012 }}

Good husbandry, proper feeding, and hygiene are the main contributors to animal health on farms, bringing economic benefits through maximised production. When, despite these precautions, animals still become sick, they are treated with veterinary medicines, by the farmer and the veterinarian. In the European Union, when farmers treat the animals, they are required to follow the guidelines for treatment and to record the treatments given.{{cite web |title=EPRUMA {{!}} Responsible Use of Animal Medicines |url=https://www.epruma.eu/ |website=www.epruma.eu |access-date=8 February 2020}}

Animals are susceptible to a number of diseases and conditions that may affect their health. Some, like classical swine fever{{cite web|url=http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/classical_swine_fever.pdf|title=Classical swine fever|publisher=The Center for Food Security and Public Health|access-date=20 May 2017}} and scrapie{{cite web|url=http://www.eradicatescrapie.org/About%20Scrapie/Fact%20Sheet.html|title=Scrapie Fact Sheet|year=2001|publisher=National Institute for Animal Agriculture|access-date=20 May 2017|archive-date=12 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212100521/http://www.eradicatescrapie.org/About%20Scrapie/Fact%20Sheet.html|url-status=dead}} are specific to one population of animals, while others, like foot-and-mouth disease affect all cloven-hoofed animals.{{cite web|url=http://www.thecattlesite.com/diseaseinfo/243/footandmouth|title=Foot-and-mouth|publisher=The Cattle Site|access-date=20 May 2017}} Where the condition is serious, governments impose regulations on import and export, on the movement of livestock, quarantine restrictions and the reporting of suspected cases. Vaccines are available against certain diseases, and antibiotics are widely used where appropriate.

At one time, antibiotics were routinely added to certain compound foodstuffs to promote growth, but this is now{{Specify|date=August 2021|reason=Since what year?}} considered poor practice in many countries because of the risk that it may lead to antibiotic resistance.{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/203664/feed/67871/Antibiotics-and-other-growth-stimulants |title=feed (agriculture) {{!}} Antibiotics and other growth stimulants |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=29 April 2018}} Animals living under intensive conditions are particularly prone to internal and external parasites; increasing numbers of sea lice are affecting farmed salmon in Scotland.{{cite news|title=Scottish salmon farming's sea lice 'crisis'|author=Fraser, Douglas|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-38966188|newspaper=BBC|date=14 February 2017|access-date=20 May 2017}} Reducing the parasite burdens of livestock results in increased productivity and profitability.{{cite web|url=http://animalhealthireland.ie/?page_id=403|title=Parasite control|publisher=Animal Health Ireland|access-date=20 May 2017|archive-date=14 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170514143715/http://animalhealthireland.ie/?page_id=403|url-status=dead}}

According to the Special Report on Climate Change and Land, livestock diseases are expected to get worse as climate change increases temperature and precipitation variability.{{Cite book|title=Special Report on climate change and land (SRCCL) |last1=Mbow |first1=C.|last2=Rosenzweig|first2=C.|last3=Barioni|first3=L. G.|last4=Benton|first4=T.|last5=Herrero|first5=M.|last6=Krishnapillai|first6=M. V.|year=2019|chapter=Chapter 5: Food Security|display-authors=4|chapter-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/4/2019/11/08_Chapter-5.pdf}}

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{{Main|Livestock transportation}}

{{further|Agricultural show}}

Since many livestock are herd animals, they were historically driven to market "on the hoof" to a town or other central location. The method is still used in some parts of the world.{{cite book |last1=Bonser |first1=K. J. |title=The Drovers. Who They Were and How They Went: An Epic of the English Countryside |date=1972 |publisher=Country Book Club}}

Truck transport is now common in developed countries.{{cite web |last1=Chambers |first1=Philip G. |last2=Grandin |first2=Temple |last3=Heinz |first3=Gunter |last4=Srisuvan |first4=Thinnarat |title=Guidelines for Humane Handling, Transport and Slaughter of Livestock {{!}} CHAPTER 6: Transport of livestock |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/x6909e/x6909e08.htm |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization |access-date=29 April 2018 |date=2001 |archive-date=12 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612093718/http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/X6909E/x6909e08.htm |url-status=dead }}

Local and regional livestock auctions and specialized agricultural markets facilitate trade in livestock. In Canada at the Cargill slaughterhouse in High River, Alberta, 2,000 workers process 4,500 cattle per day, or more than one-third of Canada's capacity. It closed when some of its workers became infected with coronavirus disease 2019.{{cite news |title=Worker dies, hundreds sick as Cargill temporarily closes meat-processing plant at centre of COVID-19 outbreak |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/cargill-meat-plant-closed-outbreak-covid-19-1.5538824 |publisher=CBC |date=21 April 2020}}{{cite news |title=What led to Alberta's biggest outbreak? Cargill meat plant's hundreds of COVID-19 cases |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/cargill-alberta-covid-19-deena-hinshaw-1.5537377 |publisher=CBC |date=19 April 2020}} The Cargill plant together with the JBS plant in Brooks, Alberta and the Harmony Beef plant in Balzac, Alberta represent fully three-quarters of the Canadian beef supply. In other areas, livestock may be bought and sold in a bazaar or wet market, such as may be found in many parts of Central Asia.

In non-Western countries, providing access to markets has encouraged farmers to invest in livestock, with the result being improved livelihoods. For example, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has worked in Zimbabwe to help farmers make their most of their livestock herds.[http://resourcespace.icrisat.ac.in/filestore/1/1/5/2_175aa77cdf560da/1152_debcbe43079b37e.pdf Markets from research to outcomes] {{webarchive|url=https://www.webcitation.org/6PF8ZFIJt?url=http://resourcespace.icrisat.ac.in/filestore/1/1/5/2_175aa77cdf560da/1152_debcbe43079b37e.pdf |date=1 May 2014 }}, Farming Matters, Challenge Program on Water and Food, June 2013

In stock shows, farmers bring their best livestock to compete with one another.[http://aso.gov.au/titles/collections/agricultural-shows/ Australian Screen: Agricultural shows]

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Humans and livestock make up more than 90% of the biomass of all terrestrial vertebrates, and almost as much as all insects combined.{{cite journal |last=Eggleton |first=Paul |title=The State of the World's Insects |journal=Annual Review of Environment and Resources |date=17 October 2020 |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=61–82 |doi=10.1146/annurev-environ-012420-050035 |issn=1543-5938 |doi-access=free}}{{-}}

File:Livestock of the World (cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, horses, pigs, chickens, ducks).jpg

The value of global livestock production in 2013 has been estimated at 883 billion dollars, (constant 2005–2006 dollars).FAOSTAT. (Statistical database of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.) http://faostat3.fao.org/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020154824/http://faostat3.fao.org/ |date=20 October 2016 }} However, economic implications of livestock production extend further: to downstream industry (saleyards, abattoirs, butchers, milk processors, refrigerated transport, wholesalers, retailers, food services, tanneries, etc.), upstream industry (feed producers, feed transport, farm and ranch supply companies, equipment manufacturers, seed companies, vaccine manufacturers, etc.) and associated services (veterinarians, nutrition consultants, shearers, etc.).{{Cite web |title=USDA ERS - Ag and Food Sectors and the Economy |url=https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/ag-and-food-sectors-and-the-economy |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=www.ers.usda.gov}}

Livestock provide a variety of food and non-food products; the latter include leather, wool, pharmaceuticals, bone products, industrial protein, and fats. For many abattoirs, very little animal biomass may be wasted at slaughter. Even intestinal contents removed at slaughter may be recovered for use as fertilizer. Livestock manure helps maintain the fertility of grazing lands. Manure is commonly collected from barns and feeding areas to fertilize cropland due to its nutrient rich content, however, can pose some biosecurity and health risks.{{Cite web |last=Department of Energy |first=Environment and Climate Action |date=2022-06-03 |title=The safe use of manure fertiliser - Agriculture |url=https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/support-and-resources/newsletters/sheep-notes-newsletter/autumn-2022/the-safe-use-of-manure-fertiliser |access-date=2025-07-08 |website=Agriculture Victoria |language=en-AU}} In some places, animal manure is used as fuel, either directly (as in some non-Western countries), or indirectly (as a source of methane for heating or for generating electricity). In regions where machine power is limited, some classes of livestock are used as draft stock, not only for tillage and other on-farm use, but also for transport of people and goods. In 1997, livestock provided energy for between an estimated 25 and 64% of cultivation energy in the world's irrigated systems, and that 300 million draft animals were used globally in small-scale agriculture.{{cite book |last1=de Haan |first1=Cees |last2=Steinfeld |first2=Henning |last3=Blackburn |first3=Harvey |year=1997 |title=Livestock & the environment: finding a balance |publisher=European Commission Directorate-General for Development |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5303E/x5303e00.htm}}

Although livestock production serves as a source of income, it can provide additional economic values for rural families, often serving as a major contributor to food security and economic security. Livestock can serve as insurance against riskSwanepoel, F., A. Stroebel and S. Moyo. (eds.) 2010. The role of livestock in developing communities: Enhancing multifunctionality. African Sun Media. and is an economic buffer (of income and food supply) in some regions and some economies (e.g., during some African droughts). However, its use as a buffer may sometimes be limited where alternatives are present,{{cite journal|last1=Fafchamps|first1=Marcel|last2=Udry|first2=Christopher|last3=Czukas|first3=Katherine|title=Drought and saving in West Africa: are livestock a buffer stock?|journal=Journal of Development Economics|volume=55|issue=2|year=1998|pages=273–305|issn=0304-3878|doi=10.1016/S0304-3878(98)00037-6|url=http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~fafchamp/bfcows.pdf |access-date=12 May 2018 |citeseerx=10.1.1.198.7519 }} which may reflect strategic maintenance of insurance in addition to a desire to retain productive assets. Even for some farmers in Western nations, livestock can serve as a kind of insurance.{{cite journal|last1=Johannesen|first1=Anne Borge|last2=Skonhoft|first2=Anders|title=Livestock as Insurance and Social Status: Evidence from Reindeer Herding in Norway|journal=Environmental and Resource Economics|volume=48|issue=4|year=2011|pages=679–694|issn=0924-6460|doi=10.1007/s10640-010-9421-2|s2cid=54050586|url=http://www.sv.ntnu.no/iso/Anders.Skonhoft/reindeer%20Env%20and%20res%20Ec%202010.pdf |access-date=12 May 2018 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2011EnREc..48..679J }} Some crop growers may produce livestock as a strategy for diversification of their income sources, to reduce risks related to weather, markets and other factors.{{cite journal|last1=Bell|first1=Lindsay W.|last2=Moore|first2=Andrew D.|title=Integrated crop–livestock systems in Australian agriculture: Trends, drivers and implications|journal=Agricultural Systems|volume=111|year=2012|pages=1–12|issn=0308-521X|doi=10.1016/j.agsy.2012.04.003|bibcode=2012AgSys.111....1B |url=https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/pub?list=BRO&pid=csiro:EP114437&sb=RECENT&n=8&rpp=10&page=122&tr=4318&dr=all&dc4.browseYear=2012 |access-date=12 May 2018 |url-access=subscription}}{{cite journal|last1=Kandulu|first1=John M.|last2=Bryan|first2=Brett A.|last3=King|first3=Darran|last4=Connor|first4=Jeffery D.|title=Mitigating economic risk from climate variability in rain-fed agriculture through enterprise mix diversification|journal=Ecological Economics|volume=79|year=2012|pages=105–112|issn=0921-8009|doi=10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.04.025|bibcode=2012EcoEc..79..105K |url=https://search.nal.usda.gov/discovery/search?query=lds35,contains,863366-01nal_inst,AND&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=MyInstitution&vid=01NAL_INST:MAIN&mode=advanced&offset=0 |access-date=12 May 2018 |url-access=subscription}}

Many studies have found evidence of the social, as well as economic, importance of livestock in non-Western countries and in regions of rural poverty, and such evidence is not confined to pastoral and nomadic societies.{{citation |hdl=10174/9347|title=The Economic and Sociocultural Role of Livestock in the Wellbeing of Rural Communities of Timor-Leste|year=2013|last1=Bettencourt|first1=Elisa Maria Varela|last2=Tilman|first2=Mário|last3=Henriques|first3=Pedro Damião de Sousa|last4=Narciso|first4=Vanda|last5=Carvalho|first5=Maria Leonor da Silva }}{{cite journal|last1=Khan|first1=Nizamuddin|last2=Rehman|first2=Anisur|last3=Salman|first3=Mohd. Sadiq|title=Impactul creșterii animalelor asupra dezvoltării socio-economice în Nordul Indiei|journal=Forum Geografic|volume=XII|issue=1|year=2013|pages=75–80|issn=1583-1523|doi=10.5775/fg.2067-4635.2013.084.i|url=http://forumgeografic.ro/ro/2013/1604/|language= ro |access-date=12 May 2018 |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|author1=Ali, A. |author2= Khan, M.A.|title=Livestock ownership in ensuring rural household food security in Pakistan|journal=J. Animal Plant Sci.|year=2013|volume=23|issue=1 |pages=313–318|url=http://thejaps.org.pk/docs/v-23-1/48.pdf |access-date=12 May 2018 |issn=1018-7081 }}

Social values in developed countries can also be considerable. For example, in a study of livestock ranching permitted on national forest land in New Mexico, US, it was concluded that "ranching maintains traditional values and connects families to ancestral lands and cultural heritage", and that a "sense of place, attachment to land, and the value of preserving open space were common themes". "The importance of land and animals as means of maintaining culture and way of life figured repeatedly in permittee responses, as did the subjects of responsibility and respect for land, animals, family, and community."McSweeney, A. M and C. Raish. 2012. Social, cultural and economic aspects of livestock ranching on the Santa Fe and Carson National Forests. USDA Forest Service RMRS-GTR 276.

In the US, profit tends to rank low among motivations for involvement in livestock ranching.{{cite journal|last1=Gentner|first1=B.J.|last2=Tanaka|first2=J.A.|title=Classifying federal public land grazing permittees|journal=Journal of Range Management|volume=55|issue=1|year=2006|issn=0022-409X|doi=10.2458/azu_jrm_v55i1_gentner|doi-access=free}} Instead, family, tradition and a desired way of life tend to be major motivators for ranch purchase, and ranchers "historically have been willing to accept low returns from livestock production".{{cite conference |last1=Torell |first1=L. Allen |last2=Rimbey |first2=Neil R. |last3=Tanaka |first3=John A. |last4=Bailey |first4=Scott A. |year=2001 |chapter=THE LACK OF A PROFIT MOTIVE FOR RANCHING: IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY ANALYSIS |editor1-last=Torell |editor1-first=L. A. |editor2-last=Bartlett |editor2-first=E. T. |editor3-last=Larranaga |editor3-first=R. |title=Current issues in rangeland economics |conference=Proc. Symp. Western Regional Coordinating Committee on Rangeland Economics: WCC-55 |series=N. M. State Univ. Res. Rep. |volume=737 |chapter-url=https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/agswccffc/16629.htm |access-date=30 November 2018 |archive-date=19 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219001231/https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/agswccffc/16629.htm |url-status=dead }}

{{Bar chart|title=Mean greenhouse gas emissions for different food types{{Cite journal |last1=Michael Clark |last2=Tilman |first2=David |date=November 2014 |title=Global diets link environmental sustainability and human health |journal=Nature |volume=515 |issue=7528 |pages=518–522 |doi=10.1038/nature13959 |pmid=25383533 |issn=1476-4687 |bibcode=2014Natur.515..518T |s2cid=4453972}}|label6=Poultry |label13=Legumes|data12=1.2|label12=Maize|data11=1.2|label11=Wheat|data10=1.7|label10=Starchy Roots|data9=6.8|label9=Eggs|data8=8.6|label8=Non-trawling Fishery |data7=9.1|label7=Dairy|data6=10|data5=10|float=right|label5=Pork|data4=12|label4=Non-recirculating Aquaculture|data3=26|label3=Trawling Fishery|data2=30|label2=Recirculating Aquaculture|data1=62|label1=Ruminant Meat |data_max=62 |width_units=em |bar_width=20 |data_type=Greenhouse Gas Emissions (g CO2-Ceq per g protein) |label_type=Food Types |data13=0.25}}

Animal husbandry has a significant impact on the world environment. It is responsible for somewhere between 20 and 33% of the fresh water usage in the world,{{cite web|title=A Global Assessment of the Water Footprint of Farm Animal Products|url=http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Mekonnen-Hoekstra-2012-WaterFootprintFarmAnimalProducts.pdf|publisher=Water Footprint Network|year=2012|first=Mesfin M.|last=Mekonnen|author2=Arjen Y. Hoekstra|access-date=2018-04-01|archive-date=2015-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150311184533/http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Mekonnen-Hoekstra-2012-WaterFootprintFarmAnimalProducts.pdf|url-status=dead}} and livestock, and the production of feed for them, occupy about a third of Earth's ice-free land.{{cite web |title=Livestock a major threat to environment |url=http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/News/2006/1000448/index.html |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations |access-date=2018-04-01 |archive-date=2008-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080328062709/http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html |url-status=dead }} Livestock production is a contributing factor in species extinction, desertification,{{cite book|author=Whitford, Walter G.|title=Ecology of desert systems|publisher=Academic Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-12-747261-4|page=277|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZ4hZbXS8IcC&pg=PA277}} and habitat destruction.{{cite news |title=Biodiversity Decline |url=https://www.learner.org/series/the-habitable-planet-a-systems-approach-to-environmental-science/biodiversity-decline/ |website=Annenberg Learner |access-date=8 February 2020}} Meat is considered one of the prime factors contributing to the current sixth mass extinction.{{cite journal|last1=Morell|first1=Virginia|year=2015|title=Meat-eaters may speed worldwide species extinction, study warns|journal=Science|doi=10.1126/science.aad1607}}{{cite journal|last1=Machovina|first1=B.|last2=Feeley|first2=K. J.|last3=Ripple|first3=W. J.|year=2015|title=Biodiversity conservation: The key is reducing meat consumption|journal=Science of the Total Environment|volume=536|pages=419–431|bibcode=2015ScTEn.536..419M|doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.022|pmid=26231772}}{{cite journal|last1=Williams|first1=Mark|last2=Zalasiewicz|first2=Jan|last3=Haff|first3=P. K.|last4=Schwägerl|first4=Christian|last5=Barnosky|first5=Anthony D.|last6=Ellis|first6=Erle C.|year=2015|title=The Anthropocene Biosphere|journal=The Anthropocene Review|volume=2|issue=3|pages=196–219|doi=10.1177/2053019615591020|bibcode=2015AntRv...2..196W |s2cid=7771527}}{{cite news|last=Smithers|first=Rebecca|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/05/vast-animal-feed-crops-meat-needs-destroying-planet|title=Vast animal-feed crops to satisfy our meat needs are destroying planet|date=5 October 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=3 November 2017}} Animal agriculture contributes to species extinction in various ways. Habitat is destroyed by clearing forests and converting land to grow feed crops and for animal grazing (for example, animal husbandry is responsible for up to 91% of the deforestation in the Amazon region{{cite book|last=Margulis|first=Sergio|year=2003|title=Causes of Deforestation of the Brazilian Rainforest|series=World Bank Working Papers |url=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/15060|publisher=Washington: World Bank Publications|doi=10.1596/0-8213-5691-7 |isbn=978-0-8213-5691-3 }}), while predators and herbivores are frequently targeted and hunted because of a perceived threat to livestock profits. The newest report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that between the 1970s and 2000s agricultural emission increases were directly linked to an increase in livestock. The population growth of livestock (including cattle, buffalo, sheep, and goats) is done with the intention of increasing animal production, but in turn increases emissions.IPCC. (2022). Chapter 7: Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Uses. ICPCC AR6 WGII. 7-34. https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6wg3/pdf/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_FinalDraft_Chapter07.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010092407/https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6wg3/pdf/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_FinalDraft_Chapter07.pdf |date=2022-10-10 }}. File:Bezerros de IATF.jpgIn addition, livestock produce greenhouse gases. The IPCC has estimated that agriculture (including not only livestock, but also food crop, biofuel and other production) accounted for about 10 to 12 percent of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (expressed as 100-year carbon dioxide equivalents) in 2005Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2007. Climate change 2007, Mitigation of climate change. Fourth Assessment Report and in 2010.Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2014. Climate change 2014, Mitigation of climate change. Fifth Assessment Report. Cattle produce some 79 million tons of methane per day.{{Cite web |title=Global emissions from livestock in 2015 |url=https://foodandagricultureorganization.shinyapps.io/GLEAMV3_Public/ |website=FAO - GLEAM v3.0 dashboard}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/fdb934b5-ff94-4aed-86cf-60269aebcaae |title=Reducing enteric methane for improving food security and livelihoods |publisher=FAO |year=2016}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/030a41a8-3e10-57d1-ae0c-86680a69ceea |title=Tackling Climate Change through Livestock |publisher=FAO |year=2013 |isbn=9789251079201 |location=Rome}} Live westock enteric methane account 30% of the overall methane emissions of the planet. Livestock are responsible for 34% of all human-related emissions of nitrous oxide, through feed production and manure..Best production practices are estimated to be able to reduce livestock emissions by 30%.

{{excerpt|Effects of climate change on livestock|paragraphs=1-4}}

{{Further|Animal ethics}}

Animal ethics is a branch of ethics that examines human-animal relationships and the moral consideration of non-animals. Debates within the field address the moral implications of using animals for human consumption and the responsibilities humans have toward livestock.Beauchamp, Tom L. "Introduction", in Tom L. Beauchamp and R.G. Frey. The Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics. Oxford University Press, 2011.Schaffner, Joan E. An Introduction to Animals and the Law. Palgrave MacMillan, 2011, p. xvii

It is estimated that worldwide, 74% of livestock are raised in factory farms,{{Cite journal |last=Ritchie |first=Hannah |last2=Roser |first2=Max |date=2024-02-24 |title=How many animals are factory-farmed? |url=https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-animals-are-factory-farmed |journal=Our World in Data}} characterized by densely confined animals. Consumers are typically against intensive livestock farming when surveyed.{{Cite web |last=Parr |first=Jacqui |date=2022-02-15 |title=Factory farming "strongly opposed" by 80% of UK public |url=https://www.grocerygazette.co.uk/2022/02/15/factory-farming-opposed/ |access-date=2024-11-17 |language=en-US}} A majority are unaware of routine controversial practices such as break trimming, separation of calves from their mothers and gas chamber slaughter.{{Cite web |title=What do Brits think of UK farming practices? {{!}} YouGov |url=https://yougov.co.uk/consumer/articles/32222-what-do-brits-think-uk-farming-practices |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=yougov.co.uk |language=en-gb}} Three quarters of US adults surveyed believed the animal products they consumed came from animals that were treated "humanely".{{Cite news |last=Reese |first=Jacy |date=2018-11-16 |title=There's no such thing as humane meat or eggs. Stop kidding yourself |url=https://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/nov/16/theres-no-such-thing-as-humane-meat-or-eggs-stop-kidding-yourself |access-date=2024-09-12 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}

Believing that livestock farming is cruel was cited as the most common reason for becoming vegan or vegetarian throughout the 2010s.{{Cite web |title=Meet Britain’s vegans and vegetarians {{!}} YouGov |url=https://yougov.co.uk/society/articles/40517-meet-britains-vegans-and-vegetarians |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=yougov.co.uk |language=en-gb}}

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{{reflist}}

{{Wiktionary|livestock}}

{{Commons category|Livestock}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131224101510/http://app.thearit.com/ilri/betterlivesthroughlivestockinternationallivestockresearchinstituteilri.html Better Lives Through Livestock] by ILRI
• [https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/content/agriculture/livestock Livestock] - New South Wales Government
• [https://havanatimes.org/business/havana-livestock-fair-2010/ Havana Livestock Fair (Photo Feature)] - Havana Times, 19 October 2010
• [https://www.wageningenacademic.com/doi/pdf/10.3920/978-90-8686-771-4_01 A Short History of Livestock Production]
• [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/16/netherlands-european-union-regulations-livestock Have we reached ‘peak meat’? Why one country is trying to limit its number of livestock]. The Guardian. 16 January 2023

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