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Paper short abstract:

In this paper we will analyse the changes in Spanish livestock in the period of industrialization of agriculture. We will show the change from a livestock farming integrated with agriculture to a specialised one with strong environmental and social impacts.

Paper long abstract:

Previous studies of Social Metabolism of Spanish agriculture during the 20th century has shown that the process of livestock specialisation has played a leading role in the changes brought about by industrialisation process. In this paper we aim to analyse in depth the transformations in Spanish livestock farming up to the present day, taking into account both bio-physical changes and economic and social changes in an integrated way. Livestock intensification and specialisation, driven initially by changes in the Spanish diet and, more recently, by growth in exports, has led to a reorientation of Spanish agricultural metabolism towards livestock production. But, at the same time, the growth of livestock, especially monogastric livestock, has only been possible thanks to the growing import of livestock feed, increasing the dependence and fragility of Spanish agriculture. From a socio-economic point of view, the process of livestock specialisation has been built on intensive livestock farming methods (feedlots), almost completely detached from the territory and with a massive use of external inputs, a constant increase in the size of livestock farms and strong negative environmental impacts. The growing prevalence of this production model has led to the destruction of thousands of pastoral livestock farms, a decrease in the number of jobs and has facilitated the depopulation in the Spanish inland areas with few productive alternatives.