Ag Insight: The changing face of America's livestock industry

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Over the past two decades, operations have become substantially larger, notes a recent report, and productivity has increased. The downside is decreased competition, more worries about air and water pollution

by JIM DALRYMPLE

Canadian livestock and poultry producers closely monitor what is occurring south of the border and its affect on Canadian production.

The United States has seen a shift towards much larger production units with greater specialization. There has also been greater co-ordination between input availability, actual production and processing. This shift has been most noticeable in cattle feeding and pork and poultry production.

A report by Dr. James MacDonald, chief of the U. S. Economic Research Services, Agricultural Structure and Productivity Branch highlights many of these changes. His report, entitled "The Transformation of U.S. Livestock Agriculture – Scale, Efficiency and Risks," indicates that farm businesses are less likely to be hurt by market swings.
New production technologies have increased productivity by using far less labour, land and natural resources than would otherwise be required.

Dr. MacDonald also notes that, while there are about the same number of beef cow farms or ranches and poultry integrators as there were in 1987, there are far fewer dairy farms, feedlots and swine operations today.

Dairy industry. In 1987, a typical dairy herd had 80 head, while today it has 550 head. Census data in the United States shows that, in 2007, 36.4 per cent of the dairy cows were in herds with more than 100 cows. One dairy herd in Indiana has as many as 30,000 cows. Canada is unlikely to see operations of this size due to environmental regulations and supply management.

According to Cornell University scientists, dairy genetics, improved nutrition, better herd management and an increased focus on animal welfare mean that modern milk production puts out only 37 per cent of the carbon that was produced by a gallon of milk in 1944.

Beef industry. The beef industry specializes in distinct stages. Cow calf production involves over 758,000 operations across the United States.

Most feedlot operations in the 1960s were small with 60 per cent handled in lots of fewer than 1,000 head. Today, less than one-third of beef production comes from operations of this size, with 260 feedlots having an average capacity of at least 16,000 head. The largest today can feed 100,000 head at a time.

Pork industry. The change in size of pork farms has been dramatic. In 1987, one-half of the hogs marketed came from farms selling fewer than 1,200 hogs per farm. By 2002, that number had moved to 23,400 per farm.

Poultry industry. In 1959, farms producing at least 100,000 broilers accounted for 28.5 per cent of production. Today, very few produce fewer than 100,000 and the average in 2006 stood at 600,000.

Manure management and the environment. Although most of the manure is used in crop production to reduce fertilizer costs, larger units are looking to the production of biofuels as a way to enhance farm income.

In large-scale operations, 19 per cent of the manure on dairy farms and 26 per cent of the manure on hog farms is removed and used off the specific farm.

Structural change in supporting industries. The shift to bigger livestock farming operations has occurred at the same time that livestock and poultry processing plants have become much larger to realize economies of scale and lower processing costs.

These changes in the United States livestock industry have brought both benefits and concerns for the industries involved. Productivity has increased, holding down food prices for consumers. The result, however, has been decreased competition and increased concerns about air and water pollution. BF

J.R. (Jim) Dalrymple, P.Ag., CAC, is a former Ontario government swine specialist and owner of Livestock Technology Services in Brighton.