About the Animal Production Systems Group

As scientists working at the Animal Production Systems Group we care about planet earth, people, and animals. We observe that livestock production comes with benefits and costs. Looking at individual farms is not enough to understand the impact of animal production. We need to look at animal production in a wider systemic contexts, at farm, value chain, regional, and food system levels, both in developed and developing countries.

We need to explore the trade-offs and synergies between environmental impacts, the use of resources, animal welfare, and the social and economic viability of livestock systems. We use scientific means to achieve a sustainable future in which livestock plays a role. 

We apply interdisciplinary approaches and integrate knowledge from different research disciplines to contribute to solve problems related to sustainable development in livestock production.

Positive and negative implications of livestock production

Worldwide livestock has an important place in food security. Livestock supplies essential nutrients like protein and micronutrients; many livestock functions are valuable for humankind, sometimes even essential, especially in developing countries: it gives farmers a means of living; it helps farmers to grow crops by providing manure and draught power to plough crop lands, and animals are a store of capital, of wealth. Without livestock, human life in some parts of the planet would be nearly impossible.  

On the other hand, livestock production has downsides. Livestock keeping competes for land with nature and food crop production. Livestock currently uses 40 percent of crop land for feed. Including grassland 70 percent of the world’s agricultural area is used for livestock. In addition, losses of nitrogen and phosphorus to air and water from livestock production affect biodiversity whereas livestock also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. 

We include both positive and negative implications of livestock production. 

History of our chair group

On September 1, 1962 Prof. Piet Hoekstra was appointed as professor of Tropical Animal Production. It was the start of education integrating disciplinary knowledge on animal husbandry, while also considering its ecological, economic, social and institutional context. Students were highly involved in both our education and research projects aimed at animal husbandry in the tropics.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s there was a growing concern about the negative effects of intensive animal production on the environment. As a consequence, discussions started to establish a chair in Sustainable Animal Production. In 1994 this group was launched under Prof. Herman van Keulen, and accommodated within Tropical Animal Production. This joint accommodation was a unique opportunity, considering that research within Tropical Animal Production was increasingly dealing with sustainability issues in animal production. In 1995, the two groups merged into Animal Production Systems.

Our chair holders

1962-1977 Prof. Piet Hoekstra
1979-1985 Prof. Henk Bakker
1986-1995 Prof. Dick Zwart
1994-1998 Prof. Herman van Keulen
1999-2010 Prof. Akke van der Zijpp
2010-2011 Prof. Peter Groot Koerkamp (interim)
2011-2021 Prof. Imke de Boer
2021-current Prof. Simon Oosting