Livestock farming as a business? 

Problems of the livestock business  

It is known that the leading branches of animal husbandry are playing crucial importance in meeting human needs for nutrition. Livestock production in almost all countries is now focused on technologies for the production of animal proteins by intensive, mechanized methods (Siddiqui et al 2023). Such technologies are also called “broiler”,“French”, etc. The essence of such technologies is that animals are restricted in movement, not driven out to pastures, actively fed with carefully selected combination of feeds, which contain growth stimulants, hormones and vice versa that delay sexual development. And animals gain mass at an accelerated rate, for example, a pig can be fattened up to 10-120 kg in 5-6 months.  However, the process of raising animals, depending on the methods used in these industries, is accompanied by certain disadvantages.

Firstly, there are significant economic burdens associated with the need to build specialized premises. From an economic perspective, opening an enterprise of this kind requires significant capital investments. Not every beginner has sufficient resources to invest hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to create his own livestock business.Even in small-scale animal-rearing activities, it is impossible to avoid the need to build farm buildings that provide minimum living conditions for the animals. For example, when raising cattle or pigs, it is necessary to purchase or lease a large plot of land on which to locate a farm with an appropriate yard for possible animal walking. In addition, it is necessary to build special placement with proper ventilation, sewerage system, heating in winter. All these steps require significant capital investments and become an obstacle for opening new, both small and large livestock farms.