Livestock Technology

Around the 19th century, the planet was home to the first billion people, thus initiating the population explosion in Europe. At the beginning of the 20th century, famine had set in in European cities and rural production at that time had to make a huge effort, but the expansion of agricultural areas brought strong pressure on areas of native vegetation. In 1930 the planet reached two billion people, in 1960 three billion and according to UN assumptions in 2050 we should reach 10 billion. Humanity must be able to feed, at minimum standards and sustainably, the growing population, which according to the UN will reach 10 billion people in a few decades; and meet the sophistication of food demand because of rising average household incomes in most countries. Thus, there will be a pressure of demand influencing the destinations of agriculture. In the food demand scenario where per capita income growth will be exponential, leading to a decrease in the population s nutritional deficiencies and changes in consumption habits, increasing the demand for animal proteins. And to feed the population estimated by the UN in 2050 there will be a strong technological intensification in the field. Thus, understanding the processes related to beef or milk livestock production, on pasture or in confinement, becomes very important. In addition to knowing the production chain, it is necessary to know the technologies present in each process and how they can help to increase the profitability of the farm, with better management of resources. Also, the arrival of new technologies requires highly skilled labor and even properties that do not adapt or adopt current and/or new technologies, unfortunately, little by little they left the market. Adhering to current technologies, from integrated systems such as Integrated Crop-Livestock-Forest, genetic improvement, animal welfare, combating diseases and upcoming technologies will be vital for the permanence of the property s activities on the market.