Animal agriculture makes significant contributions to meeting human needs by providing food, clothing, livelihoods, and pleasure. Livestock convert feed into high-quality protein for human consumption. The top sources of protein worldwide are fish, pork, beef, and poultry. Livestock also generate income and jobs, especially in Iowa where livestock production represents about 50% of net farm income and supports over 70,000 jobs. Advancements in genetics, nutrition, health, and management have led to major increases in production efficiency over the past century.

1. Introduction to Animal Science Animal Contributions to Human Needs

8. U S / Capita Consumption of Red Meat & Poultry Year Beef Pork Lamb Veal Chicken Turkey Total 1970 84.4 55.4 2.9 2.5 40.1 12.0 197.3 1980 76.4 56.8 1.4 1.5 47.4 14.4 197.9 1990 67.5 49.4 1.4 1.1 60.6 17.6 197.6 2000 67.5 52.5 1.1 .7 77.4 18.0 217.2 2001 66.0 50.0 1.1 .6 76.2 18.0 211.9 2002 67.5 51.3 1.2 .6 80.1 18.1 219.1 2003 64.8 51.6 1.1 .6 81.1 18.2 217.4 2004 65.8 50.9 1.1 .5 84.5 18.4 221.2

26. Gross Receipts, Income & Jobs Gross $ Employ-ment $ Net $ Jobs All Livestock $500 M $40 M $60 M 70,000 Cattle $210 M $15 M $24 M 16,000 Hogs $300 M $20 M $34 M 28,000 Dairy $ 50 M $ 3 M $11 M 6,500 Meat Packing $700 M $43 M $80 M 23,000