World Meat production

Pan mixer

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Near Colchester
I came accross this graph and I thought that it was very interesting....

global-meat-production-by-livestock-type.png


I was surprised by how much goose and guinea fowl was produced and presumably eaten and that the poultry had gone up so much since I was born (coincedentally when this graph started)

The size difference between pig/cattle and sheepmeat is different to what I thought too.

Perhaps I have never thought about this before - but it is a wet day here, again.....
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
I came accross this graph and I thought that it was very interesting....

View attachment 972750

I was surprised by how much goose and guinea fowl was produced and presumably eaten and that the poultry had gone up so much since I was born (coincedentally when this graph started)

The size difference between pig/cattle and sheepmeat is different to what I thought too.

Perhaps I have never thought about this before - but it is a wet day here, again.....
Really interesting - I remember struggling with the idea that my parents (born in the 40s) had never really eaten chicken until about the time I arrived.

I guess those of us in countries who produce lots of beef and sheepmeat, tend to think that people eat mainly beef and sheepmeat.... but perhaps that's only the wealthiest of the wealthy? 🤔

At least the world will be OK when gov'ts kill farming off.
 

Bill the Bass

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Cumbria
Really interesting - I remember struggling with the idea that my parents (born in the 40s) had never really eaten chicken until about the time I arrived.

I guess those of us in countries who produce lots of beef and sheepmeat, tend to think that people eat mainly beef and sheepmeat.... but perhaps that's only the wealthiest of the wealthy? 🤔

At least the world will be OK when gov'ts kill farming off.

My parents were born in 44 and 46, they regularly say a roast chicken was an occasional meal, salmon as well. Chicken consumption is a far bigger threat than veganism
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
My parents were born in 44 and 46, they regularly say a roast chicken was an occasional meal, salmon as well. Chicken consumption is a far bigger threat than veganism
I don't really go for chicken even though it's everywhere as fast food.
Prefer slow food, eg we (family of 4) eat a sheep per month and a beast a year, lots of seafood,, basically we pay nowt for any of it (besides what we could swap it away for)

I wonder how many other families are completely unreliant on supermarkets being open, TBH?
 

Pan mixer

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Near Colchester
I don't really go for chicken even though it's everywhere as fast food.
Prefer slow food, eg we (family of 4) eat a sheep per month and a beast a year, lots of seafood,, basically we pay nowt for any of it (besides what we could swap it away for)

I wonder how many other families are completely unreliant on supermarkets being open, TBH?
I never eat meat when I am out as it is usually rubbish, all our meat comes from our shop - usually just out of date stuff.
 

Bill the Bass

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Cumbria
I don't really go for chicken even though it's everywhere as fast food.
Prefer slow food, eg we (family of 4) eat a sheep per month and a beast a year, lots of seafood,, basically we pay nowt for any of it (besides what we could swap it away for)

I wonder how many other families are completely unreliant on supermarkets being open, TBH?

Very few, Covid proved that over here.

We eat a lot of chicken, far too much really, by Christ it’s dull tasteless crap. beef and lamb are perceived not versatile or quick enough For modern cuisine hence the rise in consumption of mince.

It’s a funny thing, my OH’s auntie and cousins won’t eat lamb because it’s been ‘killed too young’ yet they will happily chomp away on a chicken without so much as a second thought.

I love lamb, love cooking with it and love eating it although I prefer hogget.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
Very few, Covid proved that over here.

We eat a lot of chicken, far too much really, by Christ it’s dull tasteless crap. beef and lamb are perceived not versatile or quick enough For modern cuisine hence the rise in consumption of mince.

It’s a funny thing, my OH’s auntie and cousins won’t eat lamb because it’s been ‘killed too young’ yet they will happily chomp away on a chicken without so much as a second thought.

I love lamb, love cooking with it and love eating it although I prefer hogget.
Me too, I like them to have their teeth lined up before I line up mine. We went out for dinner and the eldest lad ordered lambchops, couldn't believe what he got was the "same thing" as we eat at home, he was gutted 🤣

"why do they make the chops so small and cost so much?"
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
broilers are killed starting at 32-35 days, yuk.
but that is the norm, everything has to be 'finished' in the shortest possible time.
friend went out for a meal, with someone married to a japanese girl, and normally live there, They both had a lamb dish, raved over how fantastic it was, and said anything that good, lamb wise, was completely unattainable in japan.
lots of home produced beef and pork, in our freezer !
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Your average family farm used to have a couple of pigs to eat surplus milk/whey etc and some chickens that scratched around, but then the price of wheat came thundering down to make it cheap to raise confined animals.

So mostly this is due to the coming of tractors

Efficiency of production has increased dramatically in pigs & poultry, with FCE now many times better than that of beef or lamb. That has made it cheap for the masses, but it’s also a tasteless carrier for high margin sauces.

That production efficiency has come almost entirely from the same recording and selection protocols that are poo poo’ed by many in the UK sheep and beef industries, coupled with a much faster generation interval allowing much faster progress.
One thing’s certain, the cost of chicken would be many times higher today if breeders had concentrated on how Bonny the heads were, rather than meaningful efficiency measures!

I’m not for one minute suggesting that the pig & poultry industries should be a model for beef & lamb production, but it does go to show the advances in efficiency that can be made through recording and selection...
 
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Jackov Altraids

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
Efficiency of production has increased dramatically in pigs & poultry, with FCE now many times better than that of beef or lamb. That has made it cheap for the masses, but it’s also a tasteless carrier for high margin sauces.

That production efficiency has come almost entirely from the same recording and selection protocols that are poo poo’ed by many in the UK sheep and beef industries, coupled with a much faster generation interval allowing much faster progress.
One things certain, the cost of chicken would be many times higher today if breeders had concentrated on how the Bonny the heads were, rather than meaningful efficiency measures!

I’m not for one minute suggesting that the pig & poultry industries should be a model for beef & lamb production, but it does go to show the advances in efficiency that can be made through recording and selection...

Who/ what benefits from these 'efficiencies'?

The animal?
The producer?
The product?
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Not sure about the consumer. It might be cheaper but it's usually an inferior product.

The graph above shows the massively increased sales of cheap protein, in the form of pig & poultry meat. The consumer gains through either lower protein prices and/or greater availability.

In terms of a taste experience, probably not, but that’s easily remedied with (high margin) sauce drizzled over it.

That said, I had a (large😋) home reared pork chop for tea late tonight, along with a generous helping of apple sauce, potatoes drizzled in butter, and a handful of veg, with the whole lot sprinkled liberally with salt.
 

Jackov Altraids

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
The graph above shows the massively increased sales of cheap protein, in the form of pig & poultry meat. The consumer gains through either lower protein prices and/or greater availability.

In terms of a taste experience, probably not, but that’s easily remedied with (high margin) sauce drizzled over it.

That said, I had a (large😋) home reared pork chop for tea late tonight, along with a generous helping of apple sauce, potatoes drizzled in butter, and a handful of veg, with the whole lot sprinkled liberally with salt.

Or,

It could be said that the graph perfectly demonstrates why there is a problem with obesity and sustainability.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Or,

It could be said that the graph perfectly demonstrates why there is a problem with obesity and sustainability.

Pork and poultry don’t cause obesity, just the cr*p that goes with them. They are ultimately a lean protein source, produced increasingly more efficiently.

As far as sustainability goes, massively increased feed conversion efficiency surely improves sustainability through more efficient use of feed inputs? The small amount of animal protein produced from grazing rushes and mountain Heather ultimately isn’t going to feed the world, just a higher value, niche market.
 

Jackov Altraids

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
Pork and poultry don’t cause obesity, just the cr*p that goes with them. They are ultimately a lean protein source, produced increasingly more efficiently.

As far as sustainability goes, massively increased feed conversion efficiency surely improves sustainability through more efficient use of feed inputs? The small amount of animal protein produced from grazing rushes and mountain Heather ultimately isn’t going to feed the world, just a higher value, niche market.

Good point, well made.

As has been said, chicken and pork is cheap which increases consumption and the lack of flavour increases the use of sauces, salts and other products which often aren't even considered as part of the diet.
Ultimately, the industrialisation of pork and poultry has completely devalued the product which has had a knock on effect to the whole of agriculture.
Vertical integration of the pig and poultry industries has not benefited anyone beyond the shareholders of supermarkets. It might even be suggested that supermarkets want the meat to be tasteless as then it is easier to replicate in plant-based vat-cooked crap.
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
the speed that protien, in broilers, can be grown, av 32-5 days, is nearly unbelievable, it's virtually manufactured, lab grown, to many of us, it's not 'nice'. But to millions, it's normal. Pigs are moving along those lines. Who can say whether it's ethical or not, it fills a requirement for cheap protien. Why the same effort/research, hasn't gone into beef and lamb, l don't know, they might have 'failed', but if that research, over 50 years, continuously breeding from the fastest growing sheep, or beef, with a bit of selective GM, it should have been possible to get beef, to grow, at similar rates. Our reaction is probably 'thankgoodness', but the requirement for cheap animal protien, is relentless.
Dairy wise, huge strides have been made in milk production, right down to injecting cows with, forgotten name, drugs to produce more, that proved unacceptable, to the public, and dropped. Dairy also clearly shows, where things can go 'wrong', we ended up with an animal, that was to 'frail' to last, and to expensive to keep, the holstien, and now breeders are back tracking !
Whatever we say/think, farming has to feed the world, as economies improve, the populations move up a gear, and they want better diets, usually better animal protien. Their guvs, require higher taxes, to provide the better conditions/services, the pop expects, and that, is the problem, you cannot tax basic food, you can only tax consumer goods, so, cheap food = more money spent on taxable goods = increased demand of those goods = faster growth = more tax income = better services. Higher food costs = lower spend on tax goods, etc.
I don't think it is actually possible to break that cycle.
 

Jackov Altraids

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
I agree with everything said on this thread and am enjoying the discussion.
I don't know what is good/ bad right/wrong but what is clear that farmers are always blamed for the problems in agriculture when the problems are usually created by the predecessors of those laying the blame.

There could/ should be a whole discussion about the term efficient.
Is it simply weight of produce per £ of input?
Would a product that takes longer to produce but makes better use of local resources and the consumer needs less of due to be higher quality be more efficient?...

I don't know the answer but the meat industry gets attacked with the negative side of each argument and the positives never seem to be raised.
And then there is the consumer who will say they want one vision but vote with their credit cards the other way.
Interesting.
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
not sure there is an answer to global climate change, certainly not without global support, which is basically a pipe dream. Agriculture, is blamed for todays pollution, but ag has only used chemicals etc, developed for differing things, developed by past scientists. There is a ban on the use of DDT, rightly so, but it's discovery, and use, saved millions of lives, none of them, would say it was bad.
Scientists discover/create things that are fantastic now, but no idea what affects they will have, in 50 yrs time, the past is littered by good ideas/inventions, that time has proved the opposite. And yet, scientists are still playing around with things, any sane person would run a mile from. Perhaps it would be safe to say, scientists have not beaten nature, just delayed it. Because a solution will be found, to stop world pollution, and we might not like it.
What we need to do, is to show people that ag, contains an answer to many of their 'fears', and to point out, without us, their fears could be overcome, permanently.
 

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quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

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