22 Sustainable Livestock Breeding: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract Animal breeders have exploited many technological advances for increasing genetic gain in economically and functionally important traits. The implementation of such technologies routine breeding programs has permitted gains traditional milk, meat egg production traits as well as, more recently, low-heritability like health, fertility, even behavior. As global demand animal products increases, must ensure the technologies, methods strategies employed are sustainable, to consider emerging that currently being investigated various fields, a social license continue producing products. Here we discuss societal, ethical, environmental, economical aspects sustainability context livestock breeding. We review number helped shape past present, along with those potentially forthcoming. These tools materialized areas reproduction, genotyping sequencing, modification, epigenetics, other “omics” technologies. Although these bring encouraging opportunities improvement populations, their applications benefits need be weighed impacts on sustainability.