Article

Sustainable animal agriculture in the United States and the implication in Korea

Inkuk Yoon1,2, Sang-Hyon Oh3,*, Sung Woo Kim1,**
Author Information & Copyright
1Department of Animal Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695, United States.
2Gyeongnam Provincial Government, Changwon 51154, Korea.
3Division of Animal Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52725, Korea.
*Corresponding Author: Sang-Hyon Oh, Division of Animal Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52725, Korea, Republic of. E-mail: shoh@gnu.ac.kr.
**Corresponding Author: Sung Woo Kim, Department of Animal Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695, United States. E-mail: sungwoo_kim@ncsu.edu.

© Copyright 2024 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Agriculture has played a significant role in the national economy, contributing to food security, driving economic growth, and safeguarding the dietary habits of the population. Korean agriculture has been compelled to focus on intensive farming due to its limited cultivation area, excessive input costs, and the limitations of agricultural mechanization. In Korea, the concept of environmentally friendly animal agriculture began to be introduced in the early 2000s. This concept ultimately aims to cultivate sustainable animal agriculture (SAA) through environmentally friendly production practices, ensuring the healthy rearing of animals to supply safe animal products. Despite the government's efforts, there are still significant challenges in implementing environmentally friendly agriculture and SAA in Korea. Therefore, the objective of this review is to establish the direction that the animal agriculture sector should take in the era of climate crisis, and to develop effective strategies for SAA tailored to the current situation in Korea by examining the trends in SAA in the U.S. The animal agriculture sector in the U.S. has been working towards creating a SAA system where humans, animals, and the environment can coexist through government initiatives, industry research, technological support, and individual efforts. Efforts have been made to reduce emissions like carbon, and improve factors affecting the environment such as the carbon footprint, odor, and greenhouse gases associated with animal agriculture processes for animals such as cattle and pigs. The transition of the U.S. towards SAA appears to be driven by both external goals related to addressing climate change and the primary objectives of responding to the demand for safe animal products, expanding consumption, and securing competitiveness in overseas export markets. The demand for animal welfare, organic animal products, and processed goods has been increasing in the U.S. consumer market. A major factor in the transformation of the U.S. animal agriculture sector in terms of livestock specifications is attributed to environmentally friendly practices such as high-quality feed, heat stress reduction, improvements in reproductive ability and growth period reduction, and efforts in animal genetic enhancement.

Keywords: Sustainable; Animal agriculture; Environment; Meat production