Animals farmed: airport patrol pigs, male chicks and China's meat demand

Welcome to our monthly roundup of the biggest issues in farming and food production, with must-read reports from around the webThe use of gene-editing technology to create female-only and male-only litters of mice has opened the door for the same technique to be used in the chicken industry to prevent the birth of male chicks. Millions of male chickens are culled every year because they don't lay eggs so are surplus to requirements of egg farmers.The demand for animal protein in China could increase by up to 30% by 2050, according to new estimates published in the scientific journal Nature, increasing demands on land and water, as well as greenhouse gas emissions. A significant amount of agricultural goods will need to be imported to meet the demand, with China already hugely reliant on soya bean imports to feed livestock.The EU ban on the use of animal byproducts for animal feed - introduced after the BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) crisis in the early 1990s - has been lifted. It will allow practices such as the use of pork-based feed by chicken farmers, reducing their reliance on soy.Nine US pork plants have been given permission to apply to trial faster processing line speeds. Faster slaughtering would help meat companies boost pork production at a time of strong demand and high bacon prices. The United Food and Commercial Workers union has previously sued the US Department of Agriculture over concerns about worker safety. Continue reading...