Foreword
Jacques Cabaret
2002
Veterinary Research
The structure and functions of farms have evolved continuously. The first step was the delineation between owning land and producing on it, which started at the end of the 18th century. A second step was the transformation of family farms into agricultural enterprises during the 20th century. In the last years of the past century, agriculture was not considered as only dedicated to production, and farms have become invested in several functions (production, preservation of the natural
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... t and maintenance of the local rural environment). Sustainability is one of the major trends to be expected in the production systems of the future. The size of farms has grown continuously and is expected to grow, since the profit per animal decreases year after year. Exceptions will occur for farmers producing for niche markets (e.g. organic products) who will be able to get a higher return per animal. Farm animal breeding will be globalised more in the future. More and more conventional primary producers will have less control on the animals they breed: a few world-wide operating companies will provide the farmers with semen and embryos of selected breeds or propose hybrid lines. In addition, we may expect that smaller companies will provide limited niche markets for cattle, pig, poultry and possibly sheep and goat breeding. Farmers will also have less control on the marketing of their products. Global market, technological and societal developments may force production systems to change. Three main models have been worked out and they represent an extrapolation of today's reality into the future. In the first model (the conventional path) animal breeding and production will develop further towards a system similar to the current one. The emphasis is on production at a reasonable price. In the second model (the alternative path), the emphasis is on welfare, disease resistance, environment, niche markets (regional and special products). The consumers demands for quality food and societal needs are the main drive behind this scenario. The drive behind the third model (low cost path) is the demand of consumers for cheap and safe products in a global competitive market: the most effective technologies will be used under this intensive farming system. Paths one and three are mostly technical and do not respond to the emotional demands of food consumers. The latter will not be answered only by efficient marketing and the image of products but will also interfere with production systems on the long run. One aspect has been poorly considered: increasing human and animal wastes are produced due to a demographic increase. Their storage, elimination or recycling as fertilisers have to be included in the three agricultural models we described. The three animal breeding models rely on very different production techniques and hence correspond to different health hazards. Among these hazards, parasites play an important role. Cattle, for example, may harbour, Trematodes (40 species), Cestodes (9 species), Nematodes (63 species), Acanthocephales (2 species), Hirudinids (2 species), Arthropods (78 species), and Protozoans (50 species) under a large variety of climates. Species checklists of parasites in other herbivores are of the same magnitude. Some of these parasites are mostly found in animals reared indoors (most of the Protozoans and a few Arthropods) whereas herbivores grazed on pastures are infected by Trematodes, Cestodes, Nematodes and a wide range of Arthropods. Extensification and a higher percentage of herbage in the feeding of herbivores should lead to the modification of the parasite fauna.
doi:10.1051/vetres:2002120
fatcat:l6u5x3yrvjgbpg6qhyi4m6eb2a