Agricultural Production—Livestock
SIC 0200
NAICS 112
The livestock agriculture industry includes commercial farms, ranches, dairies, hatcheries, and other facilities that raise or tend animals to supply the world's food markets. Specific categories include dairy and beef cattle, goats, hogs, poultry, and sheep. (See also Agricultural Production—Crops).
While overall food demand is considered relatively fixed on a per capita basis, purchasing power may determine which foods and quantities are consumed. As a result, the health of the livestock industry often mirrors that of the general economy: in periods of expansion, livestock production increases, and in recessions the industry stagnates. The Economic Research Service(ERS)of the U.S. Department of Agriculture(USDA)anticipated moderate world growth rates in gross domestic product, averaging 3 percent through 2005. The continued liberalization of global trade would also spur further growth in both production and cross-border trade.
An overall rise in meat production through the 1990s was fueled mainly by increased economic growth and demand. In 1997 the global meat supply, the largest market for livestock agriculture, was valued at US$500 billion. The overall rise in meat production was mostly attributed to activity in the United States, the European Union, and China. In 1997 global production of meat advanced to approximately 220 million metric tons (mmt). The leading meats; beef, veal, pork, poultry, lamb, mutton, and goat climbed to 190 million metric tons, up from about 155 mmt in 1992, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the USDA. After a sharp fall in 2001, global production of meat climbed back to 247 mmt in 2002 and reached 257.5 mmt in 2004, according to United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization(FAO)statistics. More than 60 percent of the gains in the global meat market in the early 2000s came from increased demand in developing countries. Despite this overall increase in production, the World Bank noted that meat production must increase by 64 percent by 2020 to meet the needs of the world's swelling population.
Leading livestock-producing nations were China, the United States, the European Union (EU), Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Canada. These countries had high-technology meat industries and sophisticated regulatory agencies. Each was also a major exporter of packaged meat, carcasses, and live animals. Second-tier producers, including Uruguay, Venezuela, Thailand, India, and some African countries, also had well-developed meat and poultry industries.
Pork continued to hold its place as the world's most popular meat based on carcass weight produced, accounting for almost 40 percent of global meat production. In 2002 pork production was listed by the FAO at 95.3 mmt; by 2004 it had reached 100.3 mmt. Poultry supplanted beef in the late 1990s as the second most popular meat, with 78.2 mmt produced in 2004. Beef production, which tapered off in 1997, totaled 58.7 mmt in 2004, while lamb, mutton, and goat meat reached 12.1 mmt.
The United States was the world's largest producer and the second-largest exporter of beef, according to the USDA's ERS. In 2004 the FAO reported U.S. beef production at 11.2 mmt and amounts for Brazil, the second-largest producer, at 7.7 mmt. Total exports of beef, according to USDA statistics, were projected at 6.2 mmt in 2004, with Brazil dominating the market with 1.6 mmt of exports in 2005. Australia's beef exports were forecast at 1.3 mmt, while U.S. exports were expected to reach only 272,000 tons-a 35 percent increase from 2004 but significantly lower than historical levels, due largely to bans on U.S. beef because of concerns about BSE contamination. Strong world demand, as well as favorable economic conditions, helped boost Argentina's beef exports to an expected 25-year high in 2005. New Zealand exports of beef rose to a record 413,000 tons in 2004, fueled by high demand from key Asian markets, particularly Korea.
Australia's sheep producers reaped the benefits of U.S. restrictions on imports of Australian beef, following a World Trade Organization ruling. Australia shipped an estimated 72,000 mmt of mutton to the U.S, in 2002, up from 67,000 mmt in 2001, according to the USDA.
Worldwide milk production reached 613 mmt in 2003 and remained almost unchanged in 2004. The European Union (EU) led in global milk production with an estimated 146 mmt, followed by India, which dramatically increased milk production from about 70 mmt in 1997 to 90.4 mmt in 2004. The United States, which slipped behind India in the late 1990s, was ranked third in 2004 with an estimated 77.5 mmt. The Russian Federation, with 31.1 mmt, came fourth. The EU also dominated cheese production, with 5.55 mmt in 2003. Australia, with an output of 3.68 mmt, came second. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD)reported that demand for dairy imports, particularly in Asia, was likely to remain strong through 2005.
In 2000 a major global dairy products story was the whopping price hike in nonfat dry milk (NDM) by 41 percent in non-U.S. international markets, bringing the price in line with U.S. prices for nonfat dry milk. This price increase saw a corresponding drop in demand by about 40 percent. U.S. exports of NDM fell from 142 metric tons in 2000 to only 96 metric tons in 2001, but by 2004 rose to approximately 200 metric tons. U.S. sales of NDM in 2005 were projected to reach 150 metric tons.
In the mid- to late 1990s, poultry was the fastest growing segment of the global meat industry. In 2000, world poultry meat production (including broiler chicken, duck, goose, turkey, and other poultry) reached 69.2 mmt; by 2004, the amount had grown to 78.2 mmt. The leading producers, which included the United States, China, the EU, and Brazil, contributed 65 percent of global production. Chicken remained the most popular poultry meat, accounting for about 85 percent of world production. In 2004 the United States was the leading producer of chicken meat, with 15.5 mmt, and turkey meat, with 2.4 mmt. China, on the other hand, dominated global production of duck meat (2.1 mmt) and goose meat (1.9 mmt).
In 2002 some international markets had grown distrustful of U.S. chicken, claiming that growers' use of hormones and growth-inducing drugs posed long-term adverse health effects for humans. The first country to issue a ban on U.S. chicken was Russia, and U.S. President George W. Bush listed his determination to overthrow the ban as a major agenda item. Though Russian authorities in 2004 indicated that an agreement about poultry imports might occur in the near future, strict Russian quotas on poultry imports remained in effect. In 2003 and 2004 poultry markets were shaken further when avian influenza (bird flu) broke out in many parts of Asia. The FAO estimated that trade bans on poultry in 2004 could result in losses of up to US$10 billion.
Egg sales were buoyed by a 1997 study that held that egg consumption does not pose certain health risks previously attributed. Earlier studies had linked high intake of dietary cholesterol (which is abundant in eggs) with high levels of blood cholesterol, which in turn is related to increased risks for heart disease and other health problems. However, late 1990s research suggested that moderate cholesterol intake does not lead to substantially higher levels of blood cholesterol. Health concerns over egg consumption hindered the growth of the egg industry since the 1980s, especially in the United States and Europe. Per capita in 2001, Japanese consumers ate the most eggs, at 348 per person annually. Next in per capita consumption came China (270 eggs per person), the United States (252), Malaysia (246), and Singapore (230). The world average per capita egg consumption was 144 eggs.
In 2005 pork remained the most popular meat in the world, with global production forecast by the USDA at 91.6 mmt. China and the EU were the primary producers, with China's output expected to reach 47.5 mmt and the EU's to reach 21.1 mmt. China also led in world consumption of pork, at about 47.1 mmt in 2005; on a per capita basis, however, Europe consumed more pork than did any other region. World pork exports, according to USDA projections, were expected to reach a record 4.2 mmt in 2005. The European Union, with 25 member nations by 2005, continued to lead in world pork exports, followed by Canada, the United States, Brazil, and China.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was the key trade agreement governing international trade of livestock-related commodities. An older version of GATT was in place from 1948 until 1994, when a revision resulting from the 1986 to 1994 Uruguay Round discussions was adopted. Under the new agreement, participating countries could not introduce any new export subsidies, and U.S. and EU subsidies were subject to restrictions. GATT called for the reduction and elimination of tariffs designed to impede and to...
To continue reading
Request your trial