I have a problem with reports that track all the farmed species, reporting numbers raised on the same chart. In terms of land animals, broiler chicken numbers dwarf pigs, bovines, goats and sheep, and a chart plotting all of them together hides far more than it explains. Now with the advent of insect and shrimp farming, broilers also virtually disappear on a chart plotting invertebrate and vertebrate species together. I can see plotting growth rates for all species on a single chart but only where the farming of a particular species has passed from early explosive growth to a slower growth trajectory. In fact, perhaps analyses of farmed animal populations should identify which species have passed from early-stage explosive growth into a slower growth stage reflecting a maturing industry.
I would also note that the FAO forecasts of 50% or more increases in animal product consumption by humans seldom address where the animal feed to raise twice as many animals might come from. The world currently uses around 70% of arable land to raise food for humans and farmed animals. The world would need to double crop yields per sqkm to produce enough feed for the additional animals. While crop yields are low in some parts of the world, it is hard to discern where the extra feed will come from to raise and slaughter twice as many animals a year!
Hi Andrew Rowan, thanks for engaging with our work! I agree that sometimes graphs where the smallest groups are difficult to see can make it hard to draw conclusions about those animals. That is one reason we moved the graphs with credible intervals to the appendix, as they made it even harder to see animals other than insects. However, for this report, our aim was to provide rough numbers to help with prioritisation, which makes showing the relative trends the most useful visualisation. The raw data is avaliable in the tables and linked methods spreadsheet if you want to examine the other groups more.
Your point about crop yields to support agricultural expansion is really important. This is currently one of the cruxes of how the farmed insect industry might grow – while farmed black soldier fly larvae could in theory eat any substrate, they currently are fed cereal and grains, which as you say could be a limiting factor for industry growth. On the other hand, if insect farming does expand, insects could be used as feed for the other farmed animal groups, which would make crop yields less of a limiting factor.
I have a problem with reports that track all the farmed species, reporting numbers raised on the same chart. In terms of land animals, broiler chicken numbers dwarf pigs, bovines, goats and sheep, and a chart plotting all of them together hides far more than it explains. Now with the advent of insect and shrimp farming, broilers also virtually disappear on a chart plotting invertebrate and vertebrate species together. I can see plotting growth rates for all species on a single chart but only where the farming of a particular species has passed from early explosive growth to a slower growth trajectory. In fact, perhaps analyses of farmed animal populations should identify which species have passed from early-stage explosive growth into a slower growth stage reflecting a maturing industry.
I would also note that the FAO forecasts of 50% or more increases in animal product consumption by humans seldom address where the animal feed to raise twice as many animals might come from. The world currently uses around 70% of arable land to raise food for humans and farmed animals. The world would need to double crop yields per sqkm to produce enough feed for the additional animals. While crop yields are low in some parts of the world, it is hard to discern where the extra feed will come from to raise and slaughter twice as many animals a year!
Andrew Rowan
Hi Andrew Rowan, thanks for engaging with our work!
I agree that sometimes graphs where the smallest groups are difficult to see can make it hard to draw conclusions about those animals. That is one reason we moved the graphs with credible intervals to the appendix, as they made it even harder to see animals other than insects. However, for this report, our aim was to provide rough numbers to help with prioritisation, which makes showing the relative trends the most useful visualisation. The raw data is avaliable in the tables and linked methods spreadsheet if you want to examine the other groups more.
Your point about crop yields to support agricultural expansion is really important. This is currently one of the cruxes of how the farmed insect industry might grow – while farmed black soldier fly larvae could in theory eat any substrate, they currently are fed cereal and grains, which as you say could be a limiting factor for industry growth. On the other hand, if insect farming does expand, insects could be used as feed for the other farmed animal groups, which would make crop yields less of a limiting factor.