Livestock raising in rural areas is a basic activity to combat depopulation and protect landscapes and ecosystems of significant environmental value.
In a geographic environment where population decline is a very serious problem, livestock has become the backbone for its economic contribution and its role in establishing resources as scarce as the residents in those areas.
In addition, farms and most meat companies help create wealth, territorial cohesion and employment in all these rural areas.
More than two million people live in our country from livestock-meat activity and, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, livestock directly employs more than 500,000 people.
The livestock-meat sector reiterates its commitment to the provision of food for the population, providing high quality and safe products that meet the strict requirements of animal welfare and the environment established by the European Production Model.
This commitment to society has not ceased, quite the contrary, even in the most difficult moments of the pandemic, and the sector continues to carry out activities to maintain an adequate supply of the population and foreign markets.
The meat and livestock sector and its commitment to animal welfare
The high quality standards set by the European production model ensure the health of the animals and the quality of the products, transfer the good work to the entire production chain to avoid any type of contamination that may reach consumers through the systems of traceability, control and monitoring of processes and risks, official control and self-control systems audited by independent entities.
In Spain, in addition to complying with detailed community and national regulations on animal welfare, the consumer has a pioneering initiative, such as the “Animal Welfare Commitment” seal, in which all meat professionals and sectors participate. . With this seal, requirements and controls superior to European and national legislation are established to provide greater protection to consumers.
The meat livestock sector is committed to sustainability
On the other hand, it must be emphasized that the data on the decrease in air pollution levels recorded during the quarantine period already showed that agriculture and livestock do not have the main responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions. However, it is true that the livestock sector registers emissions like all human activities and is aware of the environmental challenges that our society faces. Therefore, they work every day to be part of the solution, specifying a global ecological transformation model and a more sustainable production with a lower environmental footprint that will help global challenges facing all economic and social actors to ensure the sustainable future of our planet.
Livestock is an example of a circular economy and its activities include the use of by-products of plant products for human use as by-products for feeding livestock, or the effective management of manure as by-products with important agronomic effects.
In addition, grazing is essential for clearing forests and preventing forest fires, as well as promoting nutrient diffusion and increasing soil fertility.
The commitment of the livestock-meat sector to sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the development of sectoral actions to significantly and gradually reduce its carbon footprint, implement savings in the use of water for every kilo of meat produced and promote sustainable meat productions and more efficient livestock feed with a lower environmental footprint.