Concept in Definition ABC

Livestock is understood as the set of animals whose upbringing is intended for consumption human. It must be taken into account that a large amount of food is obtained from livestock: meat and its derivatives, milk or eggs. On the other hand, it is also possible to obtain different materials, such as leather, wool or manure. In this sense, livestock is part of the primary sector of the economy and has a direct relationship with the textile industry, the food industry, the fur industry, bullfighting or farms school. From a scientific perspective, animal husbandry is the discipline which focuses on everything related to animal production.

The origin of livestock

The human being is engaged in livestock activity when he abandons nomadism and settles in a stable community. For this to be possible, it was necessary to understand the mechanisms of agricultural production and have a knowledge of some breeds of animals to guarantee the food supply of a community. Thus, when humans managed to domesticate cows, sheep, goats or pigs, cattle ranching began, an activity that meant abandoning hunting as the main source of food.

Keys to raising livestock profitably

In the first place, it is essential that the farmer breed the most suitable breeds of animals, for which it is necessary to make the appropriate crosses.

From an economic point of view, livestock is based on two general aspects: 1) the accounting parameters activity (percentage of cattle fertility, replacement rate or total cost of cattle / year) and 2) the factors technicians affecting the cost effectiveness (System of feeding, sanitary control, animal genetics or reproductive systems).

Livestock as a way of life

Cattle are the cornerstone of some traditional ways of life. Thus, the shepherds who move their livestock from one place to another engage in transhumance. In the Argentine Pampas livestock is the central nucleus of the economy and culture of the Pampas.

The Maasai people are settled in Kenya and Tanzania and are mainly dedicated to pastoralism and their way of living has an intimate relationship with livestock (Masai villages are made up of huts surrounded by a stockade that allows keeping the livestock). The cattle culture can also be found in the states of Texas and Montana in the United States and in most of the territory of Australia from the period of the British colonization.

Photos: iStock - Mercedes Otero / LeandroHernandez