Farming Techniques (AQA GCSE Biology)

Farming

• The efficiency of food production can be improved by restricting energy transfer from food animals to the environment. This can be done by:

  • limiting their movement – livestock are kept in small pens or cages so that they use less energy moving around

  • controlling the temperature of their surroundings – livestock are kept at their optimum temperature so that they use less energy regulating their body temperatures themselves

• Movement and staying warm are two main processes that require the energy released in respiration

• If livestock don’t have to carry out these processes, there is more energy available for growth

• In addition, some animals are fed high protein foods to increase growth

Ethical objections

• Some people have ethical objections to some modern intensive farming methods

• Keeping livestock in very confined spaces (factory farming) is controversial because disease can spread easily and many people think it is unethical to make animals live in unnatural and uncomfortable conditions

Advantages & disadvantages of modern farming techniques table