ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to outline the current situation of the livestock industry in relationship to supply and demand, to discuss the economic environment in which the industry must operate, and to speculate on what the future may hold for the US livestock industry. The domestic livestock industry in the US is a large and complex business. The economic well-being of the livestock industry is dependent upon a multitude of complex factors that could threaten to disrupt the delicate balance between supplies and demand for meat products. Domestic farm policies also can profoundly affect the livestock industry. The economic environment for the livestock industry cannot be separated from the general economic climate in the country, or from that of the whole world. The economic environment seems likely to continue in which energy and feed supplies probably continue swinging back and forth from shortage to surplus.
