What Animal Breeding can Contribute

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Animal breeders make a living by selling breeding stock to meat, milk or egg producers. Their breeding goals must therefore cater for customer profitability, i.e. the economic value of production; closely linked to that is the overall issue of food security in society. In an industrialized society, policy-makers tend to focus on issues of food safety, environmental footprint of production, and animal welfare, and via the demands this poses on meat, milk and egg producers, this also affects breeding goals. Together this defines the whole of sustainable animal production.

Dr. Knap presents examples of cattle, poultry and pig breeding strategies that have been successful in catering for the above issues. He shows that it is feasible to breed livestock for traits required to ensure food security, while improving environmental efficiency and animal welfare at the same time.