Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
complementary Role of well-managed grazing systems
and sustainable food Production systems
Grazing livestock in many areas of the world complement crop production and, when
properly managed, contribute to sustainable food production systems. Additional
science-based knowledge of optimum grazing management continues to accumu-
late, and its application significantly enhances the health and productivity of grazing
lands and the multiple services provided by those lands.
AnImAl well-beIng
Public interest in farm animal welfare was aroused in the mid-1960s by a commit-
tee of the British Parliament (Brambell, 1965), who issued a report on the welfare
of farm animals kept under intensive husbandry systems. In the past four decades,
farm animal welfare has continued as an issue and has received considerable atten-
tion in research related to animal behavior and physiological measures of stress in
farm animals.
These issues include adaptability and social ethics for animals.
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For domestication of animals to succeed, it has been suggested (Curtis, 2000) that
animals had to fit with human cultures, and that domestication was the evolutionary
product of a mutual strategy for survival (Budiansky, 1992). It is widely accepted by
livestock producers and the general public that animal comfort is important during
all stages of the life cycle. The very essence of good husbandry requires respect for
protection of animal health and well-being for the sake of both the animal and the
producer. The economic reality is that healthy and content animals provide a higher
return to the producer and a generally high-quality product.
Animal care guidelines are used in research laboratories and on farms to ensure
that animals are treated humanely and afforded an environment conducive to their
well-being. Innovative animal-handling facilities and devices to reduce stress have
been designed (Grandin, 1993, 2005) and are widely used on ranches and in feedlots,
animal slaughter facilities, and livestock operations during movement, transport, and
marketing. Animal behaviorists are seriously engaged in discovering ways to pro-
mote stress reduction and ensure that dedicated farm animal care and husbandry
remain an ongoing process.
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Rollins (2005) has enunciated the relationship between good animal husbandry and
animal well-being, a portion of which is as follows:
For most of human history, the anticruelty ethic and laws expressing it sufficed to
encapsulate social concern for animal treatment for one fundamental reason: During
that period, and today as well, the majority of animals used in society were agricul-
tural, utilized for food, fiber, locomotion, and power.
