Livestock, dairy, and poultry receipts account for over half of the total annual agricultural cash receipts, often exceeding $100 billion per year.

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• It is projected that future United States per capita consumption will remain stable; thus increased demand for products will most likely come from exports.
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• Beef consistently accounts for the largest share of total cash receipts for all agricultural commodities.
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• The United States is the world's largest consumer of beef.
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• Top States: Nebraska, Texas, Kansas
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Dairy:

• Dairy farms are overwhelmingly family-owned and managed.
• Farms are often members of dairy producer cooperatives.
• There has been a consistent decline in the number of operations; however, total milk production has been buoyed by an increase in the number of cows per operation.
• Top states: California, Wisconsin, Idaho

Hogs:

• Since 1990, the number of hog farms in the United States has declined by more than 70 percent
• Remaining operations have grown larger in size.
• Annual domestic consumption of pork has remained stable over the past two decades (approximately 67 pounds per capita).
• Pork exports continue to be a major economic factor for processors (exceeding 7 billion pounds per year).
• Top states: Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina

Poultry:

2. BroilersThe United States poultry industry (largely vertically integrated) is the world's largest producer of poultry meat.
   • From 2011-2020, broilers averaged 67 percent of all poultry sector sales.
   • Top states: Georgia, North Carolina, Arkansas
5. Layers- Egg production is widely distributed across the United States
   • Chicken eggs, overwhelmingly destined for human consumption, averaged 21 percent of poultry sales from 2011-2020.
   • Top states: Iowa, Georgia, Ohio
8. TurkeysAveraged 12 percent of poultry sales from 2011-2020.
   • Top states: North Carolina, Minnesota, Indiana

Lesson Two Notes:

Food Animal Industry:

The food animal industry continues to evolve, due to many changes which include some of the following:

• The number of operations and farms are decreasing due to:
  • Consolidation which occurs when:
    • larger farms acquire land that formerly belonged to smaller ones
    • government policies have consistently favored larger farms
    • production was once dominated by independent, small-scale firms, but is now led by larger firms that are tightly aligned across the production and distribution chain
  • Commercial and residential development (urbanization) continue to convert agricultural land into alternative use
• The size of operations and farms is increasing:
  • Economies of scale are required to remain competitive and profitable.
• The average age of primary operators is climbing. (Think about the agriculturalist you know - what is their age?)
• Financial capital required for operating a new start-up is prohibitive.
• Farmland availability is limited.
• Environmental regulation and litigation is increasing.
• Development of animal ID and traceability systems will continue.
• Consumer preferences and dietary/health concerns have influenced product consumption levels.
  • Decrease in fluid milk consumption
  • Decrease in beef consumption
  • Increase in poultry and fish consumption
  • Increase in certified organic product consumption
• Consumer awareness of production practices has created new opportunities for producers.
  • Antibiotic-free
  • Locally raised
  • No added hormones
  • Pasture-raised and grass-fed systems
  • Regenerative agriculture practices
  • Vegetarian-fed

Companion Animal Industry:

Special Diets:

• Fresh ingredients
• Superfoods
• Whole grains
• High proteins

Limited Ingredients Diets:

• Single source protein foods for food related-allergies
• Gluten-free

Supplement:

• Vitamins
• Fish Oil
• Probiotics
• CBD

Subscription Boxes:

• Pet food, supplements and supplies delivered to an address on a recurring interval

Lesson Three Notes:

Animal Welfare:

• Animal welfare is the humane care and treatment of animals by providing adequate housing, sanitation, nutrition, water, and veterinary care.
• Most animal producers believe in animal welfare and oppose the cruel treatment of animals.
• Scientific information should be the basis for decisions, laws, and regulations related to animal welfare.
• It is difficult to assess animal comfort and well-being, and there are no universally accepted measures to use.
• Pet owners and consumers have become increasingly interested in animal production and care.

Laws that protect animals:

• The Animal Welfare Act sets standards for minimum care and treatment of animals used for commercial sale, used for research, transported commercially, or exhibited to the public.
  • It was originally passed in 1966 but revised numerous times
  • The most recent revision was in 2008
• The Health Research Extension Act was passed in 1985. It sets standards for the care of animals used for biomedical and behavioral research.
• Most states provide some regulation of breeders, kennels, pet deals, and pet shots. This includes pet purchaseprotection laws, also referred to as "lemon laws," which provide legal recourse to people who purchase animals that are later found to have a disease or defect.

Contended Animal Management Practices:

The use of biotechnology includes:

• cloning
• feeding GMOs in animals' diets
• geneticengineering
• transgenics
• Supplementaluse of hormones in food animals (not allowed in poultry)
• Subtherapeutic antibiotic use in food animals

Confinement housing in concentrated animal feeding operations:

• caged layers
• gestation crates
• Electronic collar use (underground fencing, devocalization, obedience, etc.)

Physical Alterations:

Poultry

• Chickens especially have cannibalistic tendencies, so beak trimming is a way to reduce injuries caused by pecking

Declawing -cats

• Declawing offers no health benefits for the cat, and is performed for the comfort of the cat owner, to prevent being scratched or having furniture destroyed.

Devocalization -dogs

• A practice performed for the comfort of the dog owner. Removing tissue from the vocal cords reduces the pitch or volume of a dog's bark, but provides no benefit to the dog.

Dehorning -Cattle

• Horns can be removed from cattle. Some are less invasive, but it is always a good idea to remove horns from the animal when they are younger. There is no painless way to remove horns, but there are methods that are more humane than others.

Ear Cropping - Dogs

• There are no health benefits to having your dog's ears cropped, its often done to meet a breed standard, such as with Dobermans.

Hot Iron Branding

• Branding cattle with a hot iron is still a common practice.

Tail Docking

• it is another way to meet breed standards. There are no benefits to the dog. In sheep, tail docking is a way to prevent blowfly strike, a disease that can be fatal. In swine, young pigs have their tails docked so that other pigs in their pen do not become cannibalistic and chew on their tail when it moves. In dairy cows, tail docking is a practice used to improve udder cleanliness which increases milk sanitation, and prevents mastitis

Benefits of Producing Healthy Animals:

• Producers should strive to maximize an animal's ability to grow, reproduce, and maintain adequate health.
• Livestock producers and companion animals owners benefit from producing healthy animals.
• Proper animal management and care will result in:
  • healthier animals
  • more productive animals
  • reduced medical expenses
  • increasedprofitability

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