Unit 10: Animal Agriculture

Food poisoning

-Mostly caused by bacteria such as E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella -Most cases due to unsanitary food practice -Meat contamination happens during slaughter when intestines come into contact with the meat. Ground meats are highest risk. -Prevented by proper hand hygiene, cooking meats/fish to correct temp, handling raw and fresh foods separately to avoid cross-contamination, and proper refrigeration.

Manure

Animal feces and urine. Collected in a holding area (lagoon) and often used as fertilizer. May runoff into waterways causing hypoxia resulting in death of the waterways organisms.

Hormones

Chemical messengers, mostly those manufactured by the endocrine glands, that are produced in one tissue and affect another. Organisms may be injected with chemicals to encourage growth or lactatation. Many farmers have discontinued hormone usage due to public backlash.

Livestock

Domesticated animals raised for their working ability or for their value as a source of food and other products (sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, poultry).

Rumen

Stomach chamber in cows and related animals in which symbiotic bacteria digest cellulose.

Free Range

animals, especially poultry, that range freely for food, rather than being confined in an enclosure. A term indicating animals, specifically poultry (chicken and turkey) are permitted to range freely out doors rather than in a confined, indoor space.

Federal Humane Slaughter Act

1958 law requiring that cattle, pigs, and sheep be rendered unconscious beforehand. Animals are physically rendered unconscious (bolt / hammer gun), electrically, or CO2 exposure. Exceptions are made for Kosher and Halal preparation.

Methane (CH4)

A colorless, odorless greenhouse gas that occurs both naturally and as a result of people's activities. Methane is produced by the decay of plants, animals, and waste, as well as other processes (coal mining, landfills). Methane contributes to the greenhouse effect.. Stays in atmosphere 12 years

Gestation Crate

A device that houses a sow from breeding till farrowing. ↓ competition, controllable environmental conditions, controlled feeding and watering, ↓ labor per animal, economic and productivity benefits. Pigs have ↓ mobility, ↓ social interaction, ↑ stress leading to vices such as bar biting, repetitive behaviors, and boredom.

Farrowing crate

A crate or cage in which a sow is placed at time of farrowing (nursing). The crate is so constructed as to prevent the sow from turning around or crushing the newborn pigs as she lies down.

Hypoxia

A deficiency of oxygen needed in order to function / live.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO)

A farming method in which large numbers of meat or dairy animals are reared at high densities in confined spaces and fed a calorie rich diet to maximize growth / production. Drawbacks: ↑ disease, ↑ pollution, ↑ antibiotic resistance, ethical / humane pushback

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

A federal bureau within the Department of the Interior which manages and controls certain lands owned by the United States (primarily in the west). Concerns itself with land management, animal grazing, mining, timber harvesting, and recreation.

Cage Free

A food label indicating that animals, specifically birds, were able to freely roam a building, room, or enclosed area with unlimited access to food and fresh water during their production cycle.

Battery cage

A housing system used for various animal production methods, but primarily for egg-laying hens. Laying hens are kept confined in small cages and watering and feeding are automated. Birds are often debeaked and declawed to prevent fighting injuries.

Feedlot

A large area of land where livestock are "finished" to market weight by being fed nutrients controlled for optimal weight gain/growth

Slaughter

A method of killing an animal for meat preparation by cutting the carotid artery (throat) of the animal allowing the blood to drain out of the body.

Greenwashing

A practice in which companies promote their products as environmentally friendly when in truth the brand provides little ecological benefit. The goal is increased public approval and sales. -Vegetarian fed -No hormones / steroids -Minimally processed Non-GMO

Pasteurization

A process of heating food to a temperature that is high enough to kill most harmful bacteria without altering the taste of the food.

Homogenized milk

A process where large batches of milk are pressurized to break fat globules to 1/5 regular size; film of protein surrounds each globule. More susceptible to action of lipase (breaks down fats), but the pasteurization process destroys lipase. Improves shelf life, stability, mouth feel, and taste.

Bacteria

A prokaryotic, single-celled or noncellular spherical or spiral or rod-shaped organisms lacking chlorophyll that reproduce by fission. May cause disease in other organisms. e.g.; E. coli, salmonella, V. cholerae

Broiler hen

A species of chicken that have been bred to grow large and quickly. Full weight (6½lbs) is often reached within 8 weeks. Rapid growth leads to weakened joints, broken bones, and / or heart failure.

Finishing

Act of feeding beef cattle high-quality / caloric feed before slaughter to increase carcass quality and yield.

Auroch

An extinct type of large wild cattle that inhabited Europe, Asia and North Africa. It is the ancestor of domestic cattle. Became extinct in 1627 due to disease & overhunting.

Cows

Animals are raised by people for their meat and milk. Descended from aurochs. Naturally herbivorous (grasses) but in large scale agriculture are often fed a diet of feed (corn, soy, some hay).

Pigs

Animals are raised by people for their meat. Descended from wild boars. Naturally omnivorous (seeds, insects, fruit) but in large scale agriculture are often fed a diet of plant based feed (corn, soy). Some farmers will feed the animals restaurant leftovers (plant and meat based diet).

Pig

Animals descended from wild boars (omnivorous scavengers feeding on plants, eggs, insects, etc.). use for meat production.

Wild animals

Animals that live independently of people in natural places.

Dairy cattle

Any breed of cattle especially developed for milk production such as Holstein, Ayrshire, Jersey, Guernsey, Brown Swiss, Dutch Belted, or Red Dane. -Bred @ 1 year old months, give birth 9 months later. -Re-bred 2-3 months after giving birth (annually). -Produces milk 10 months a year. ~28L / 7g daily.

Beef cattle

Any breed of cattle that is especially developed for use as a source of meat, as Angus, Hereford, Shorthorn, etc.

Domesticated animals

Any of various animals (cattle, poultry, pork, goats, sheep) that have been tamed and made fit for a human use (milk, meat, wool, and labor). Tend to be larger than wild animals, provide more food, and depend on humans to survive.

Ruminant

Any of various cud-chewing hoofed mammals (cattle, goats, sheep, giraffes, deer, gazelles, and antelopes) having a stomach divided into four (occasionally three) compartments and chew their cud.

Steer

Castrated male cattle

Certified Humane

Certification from a Farm Animal Care organization that animals were raised according to organization's animal care standards. Animals should be able to perform natural behaviors such as nesting.

Rangelands

Dry / semi-arid, open grasslands used primarily for cattle grazing due to having suitable vegetation for grazing. Particularly susceptible to fires/other disturbances. Encompasses 70% of US lands.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Enforces standards and inspects for the quality and wholesomeness of meat, poultry, and eggs, and other agricultural products. Oversees and promotes trade, offering export assistance and counseling to U.S. businesses involved in international trade, providing country information and country specialists, and bringing buyers and sellers together.

Acidosis

Excessive acidity of body fluids. I cattle, typically cause by a high corn diet. Bacteria in the rumen overgrow which causes excessive acidity. The cattle are often treated with antibiotics to kill the bacteria.

Kosher

Food slaughtered or prepared according to Jewish dietary law.

Grass fed

Grass and forage is the feed source consumed for the lifetime of the ruminant animal, with the exception of milk consumed prior to weaning.

Backgrounding

Growing program for feeder cattle from time calves are weaned until they go to a feedlot (6-8 months). - Allows calves to put on weight by grazing pasture - 400 to 500 lbs when enter a backgrounding operation - 600 to 900 lbs when they are sold - Builds immune system before entering feedlot.

Overharvesting

Harvesting a renewable resource (e.g. animals or plants) quicker than the source can renew itself; often leads to the destruction of the resource.

Bull

Intact (non-castrated) male cattle; often used for breeding.

Organic

Involves growing and producing food without the use of synthetic chemicals such as pesticides, artificial fertilizers, hormones, or antibiotics. Animals must be fed with organic food.

Sow

Mature female pig

Boar

Mature, intact male pig

Halal

Meat from animals that have been slaughtered in the prescribed way according to the shariah (Muslim) law.

Veal

Meat from very young cattle, usually under three months of age. Male calves are kept in small pens and slaughtered young. Low iron content of the muscle and limited activity produces tender, pale colored meat.

Carnivore

Organism that obtains energy by eating animals

Omnivore

Organism that obtains energy by eating both plants and animals

Herbivore

Organism that obtains energy by eating only plants

Aquaculture / Aquafarming

Raising marine and freshwater fish in ponds and underwater cages in controlled conditions.

Pasturelands

Rangelands that are planted with vegetation ideal for animal grazing.

Ag-gag laws

Refers to the state laws that forbid the act of undercover filming or photography of activity on farms without the consent of their owner.

Red Junglefowl

Scientific name Gallus gallus -First domesticated chicken 5000 years ago in Asia -Ancestral to domestic chicken with some hybridization with the grey Junglefowl -Domestic form kept globally as very productive food source of meat/eggs. - Omniverous (eats insects, fruit, seeds)

Chickens

Small birds that are raised by people for their eggs and meat. Descended from junglefowl. Naturally omnivorous (seeds, insects, fruit) but in large scale agriculture are often fed a diet of plant based feed (corn, soy).

Alkalosis

The buildup of excess base (lack of acids) in the body fluids. Often a result of heat stress under crowded conditions.

Wean

The cessation of a baby / young organism from mothers milk for nutrition.

Antibiotic resistance

The evolution of populations of pathogenic bacteria that antibiotics are unable to kill. Often results due to the over use of antibiotics.

Lactation

The production and secretion of milk by the mammary glands of mammals.

Euthanasia

Then ending of an organism's suffering by killing them. Term means "easy death" in Greek. Takes place on the farm rather than at a slaughterhouse. The Humane Slaughter Act does not apply in this case.

Junk pig

Unhealthy or deformed piglet that are deemed not worth raising.

Piglet

Young / baby pig

Heifer

Young female cattle; has not yet birthed a calf.

Gilt

Young female pig that has not farrowed

Shoat

Young, immature male pig

Laying hen

[Female] chicken used for egg production. Typically start laying at 18-20 weeks old Typically lay one egg per day (~250 per year) Leghorn is the most common breed for commercial production