Sustainable Agriculture

Improving the health, productivity and welfare of farmed animals while mitigating impacts on the climate and environment.

A graphic showing interactions between agriculture, hunger, malnutrition, productivity, welfare, efficiency, poverty and the negative impacts of animal production.

Key Challenges

Sustainable animal production

By many estimates, output from animal production will need to increase by at least 50% by 2050 owing to population growth, urbanisation and rising affluence. Aquaculture is the fastest growing sector of food production and now accounts for over 50% of the world's food fish.

Alleviating hunger, malnutrition and poverty

Intake of adequate protein and nutrients in early life is critical for physical and cognitive development, yet close to a billion people worldwide do not have sufficient food, and the majority of those are chronically undernourished.

In low- and middle-income countries, farmed animals contribute significantly to protein intake, income and gender equality. The challenges are exacerbated by competition for crops, land and water and by the disproportionate impact of climate change, where animals that are optimally adapted to their environment are needed.

Mitigating the negative impacts of animal agriculture

While intensive agriculture contributes to global food security, aspects of it cause harm to the planet. Terrestrial livestock are responsible for substantial greenhouse gas emissions, and some argue that rapid phasing out of animal-based foods is required to stabilise the climate.

However, global trends show an inexorable rise in both meat production and consumption that will be challenging to reverse. Around 50% of Earth’s habitable land is now used for agriculture and 77% of farmland is used to graze animals or to produce crops to feed them, resulting in loss of habitats and biodiversity.

Meeting the challenges

We aim to enhance productivity and efficiency while mitigating environment impacts, both via genomic selection and reducing early mortality.

Research in the Division of Bacteriology impacts key endemic livestock and zoonotic diseases, creating an inseparable link to sustainable agriculture practices.

Research in the Division of Functional Genetics aims to improve understanding of how genes function across the animal lifespan, and how they regulate fundamental biological processes that underpin productivity and health in livestock and poultry.

Research in the Division of Quantitative Biology focuses on understanding genetic adaptations in livestock, improving reproductive success and health in sheep, enhancing skeletal health in hens, and developing methods for optimising breeding programs and reducing harmful livestock behaviour.

Research in the Division of Translational Bioscience harnesses the potential of animal stem cells to increase animal health and productivity through applications for accelerating genetic gain in livestock, increasing biodiversity, and treating disease in livestock and companion animals. We combine cellular agriculture and engineering biology approaches towards improving the sustainability of food production and creating healthier foods. We aim to understand the genetic basis of key production and disease traits in aquatic species towards selective breeding for sustainable aquaculture. We contribute to sustainable farming of mammalian, avian and aquatic species through reducing infectious diseases burden with the use of genetic engineering to make animals resistant to different pathogens.

Research in the Division of Genome Biology aims to empower farmed animal breeding by creating datasets and methodologies to reveal how genomic variation impacts animal health, welfare and productivity. We aim to contribute to the conservation of genetic diversity in both large commercial and small local populations of farmed animals.

The Division of Epidemiology undertakes work in a range of areas to understand the impact of disease on health and methane emissions. We investigate how these may change with climate change and how these impacts can be mitigated using a range of statistical and mathematical models as well as primary data collection. We also work with social scientists and economists to understand how land use decision-making and environmental change intersects with the emergence of infectious disease problems.