Globalising Livestock Feeding: Oilseeds and Animal Feedstuff (1800-1940)

Abstract

This paper examines the birth of the modern world feed market. Between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, increased production of vegetable oils created conditions for the use of seed waste in the manufacture of meal and oilcakes rich in protein and nutrients. For the first time, farmers were able to overcome the ecological limits imposed by traditional animal forages. A symbiotic relationship was created between the seed oil industry and feed manufacturing. As research shows, a very complex cluster was formed worldwide. Some countries specialised in the export of raw materials (seeds) while in Western European countries and in the United States, a dynamic feed sector developed that should be considered as one of the factors contributing to the radical transformation of agriculture in the twentieth century. The study of the market for this type of product is essential in order for us to better understand the opportunities made available to these countries through the development of a production sector specialised in supplying the markets of the industrialised countries.