What is the difference between intensive and extensive agricultural systems as they relate to livestock production
Technology has become a dominant part of
our everyday lives and our food production system is no exception. Accordingly,
since the turn of the 20th century, the standard approach to
production has shifted from extensive production to intensive production as
businesses have opted to replace natural services with technology.
In this respect, intensive
livestock production systems use higher amounts of labour
and physical capital [e.g. machines] relative to the land area where production
takes place. The physical capital and human labour aim to replace the need for
free space, grazing area, and natural sources of water.
To replace natural inputs with technological
alternatives, it is necessary to rely on inputs produced thousands of kilometres/miles
away – a factor that maintains agricultural dependency on fossil fuels.
Animal feeding operations [AFOs] and concentrated
animal feeding operations [CAFOs] are the most notorious
examples of intensive livestock production systems. Within these operations,
extremely large numbers of animals are produced within confined spaces.
According to a report commissioned by The National Association of Local
Boards of Health, AFOs refer to operations
that exclusively produce animals that are enclosed for a minimum of 45 days a
year. A CAFO is an AFO that produces a particular number of animals at or above
a particular concentration and the water supply comes in contact with the flow
of animal waste products.
For example, CAFOs house a minimum of 1, 000
beef cattle, 700 dairy cows, 2, 500 pigs weighing a minimum of 55 pounds, 82, 000
egg-laying chickens, or 125, 000 broiler chickens. Staying in such tight
quarters requires the heavy use of antibiotics, with 80% of all antibiotics
used in the United States being used in agricultural operations.
Such practices are integral to industrialized agriculture.
Housing animals in such also create large
amounts of concentrated waste, CO2, and methane which is damaging to
local soil and water sources. Moreover, animal wastes have generally been
reintegrated into the environment as manure. However, intensive meat and dairy
production are typically monoculture operations which removes the opportunity
for establishing a closed-farm system.
Contrastingly, extensive farming systems depend
on the carrying capacity [soil fertility, terrain, water availability, etc.] of
a given piece of land and often responds to the natural climate patterns of an
area.
It does not depend on a large amount of
pesticides, fertilizers or other chemical inputs relative to the land area
being farmed. This is how most livestock production takes place in the world. Herders
are the classic example.
The main difference between the two types of
agriculture is that extensive agriculture requires much more land for
production and profitability than intensive production. As such, extensive
agriculture is often practiced where population densities are low and land is
inexpensive.
The danger of intensive agriculture, apart from
environmental degradation and animal welfare issues, is that prices can be
depressed by overproduction when extensive tracts of land are used for
production – despite the intense nature of agricultural practices.
Low prices do not reflect the actual price of
food production and can result in poor market results. It can also be
argued that because of the extremely low price of food, it is a resource that
is taken for granted and often wasted – especially in the Western world.
In extensive production systems, if animals
graze on public lands, a Tragedy of the Commons situation can arise if users
abuse the public lands in their self-interest without considering the impact on
the common good.
Reference
- Hooda, P. S., Edwards, A. C., Anderson, H. A., &
Miller, A. (2000). A review of water quality concerns in livestock farming
areas. Science of the total environment, 250(1-3),
143-167.
- Hribar, C. (2010). Understanding concentrated animal
feeding operations and their impact on communities.
- Tilman, D., Cassman, K. G., Matson, P. A., Naylor, R.,
& Polasky, S. (2002). Agricultural sustainability and intensive
production practices. Nature, 418(6898), 671.
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