Construction of science for animal agriculture

Current animal science research is dominated by disciplinary studies that are experimentally controlled and statistically analyzed. Research in animal science is also placed predominantly within a hierarchy of biological sciences ranging through molecular mechanisms, cells, organ systems, organisms, life systems, ecosystems, and human systems. In the main, disciplinary and applied animal investigations differ from each other only in that they are conducted within different biological work boundaries. Both are largely reductionist and often fragmentary. Animal science, however, has two sets of constituents, the scientific community and external interests, and both are legitimate. External interests will judge the research according to how well it contributes to a hierarchy of functional and practical knowledge instead of the biological. The functional hierarchy of inquiry ranges through validation of ideas; actions; tactics of management; strategies and systems of production; agrospheres including land and water resources, landscapes, human capital, and community; and the anthrosphere including consumers, food product chains, and global markets. More interconnection of the biological and biophysical research with functional knowledge is needed but may be limited by insufficient theoretical development of the new contributing disciplines such as molecular biology, system science, and those represented by the functional hierarchy, and recruitment of specialized scientists who often lack practical experience in agriculture and the food system. Multiple opportunities for intervention of animal agriculture exist, and multiple disciplines including the new biological and functional disciplines will be needed to provide what will be perceived to be the full scope of animal science research. Disciplinary competence and specialization will remain essential, but the domains of science for animal agriculture should be reconstructed to include a larger integrating component that interconnects the pieces and levels of knowledge and the components of the functional hierarchy. Integrative studies may take any of a number of forms but would be concerned with biological, physical, and social issues and values and their interconnectedness in a context. Both institutional (administrative) and professional responses are appropriate.