In this study the development of meat sector in terms of livestock population, production, farm size and reproductive material, which forms economic basis for effective meat production was analysed. The aim of the study was to investigate main tendencies of meat production sector and development of economic basis in Latvian agriculture. To achieve the set aim following objectives were defined: 1) to analyse concentration and specialization processes of pig breeding farms; 2) to describe restructuring processes of reproductive pig breeding; 3) to investigate restructuring processes of farms producing beef; 4) to characterize concentration and integration processes in poultry production. The study was based on annual statistical data and statistical bulletins covering results of the Farm Structure Survey from 2001 to 2006, scientific publications, special literature and reports of international organizations. To carry out the research adequate research methods were used. The results of this study showed that meat industry has structurally changed in recent years, where the structural change can be defined as the change in the number and size of farms in pig, cattle and poultry sectors. The results also suggested that meat production sector in Latvia has become more intensive, concentrating meat production in large and specialized farms, where this tendency can stimulate the increase of meat production. Therefore, knowledge of the current tendencies and strategies of pig, cattle and poultry sectors is a necessary precondition for the development of the meat sector.

Large amounts of waste and by-products which are suitable for further use are generated in the food production chain. Globally, one-third of the food produced virtually becomes waste, in total 1.3 billion tonnes per year. The livestock sector is experiencing new challenges in the food and feed supply chain and waste valorization and there is a considerable diversity in animal origin food processing systems and broad knowledge base of expertise across Europe. However, due to local food production peculiarities, there is a considerable discrepancy in the waste management and processing methodology. An increasing amount of different novel feed and new functional food is available. These new products require a proper authentication and health and safety verification. Available know-how is increasing exponentially and therefore the potential for new and old bioactive component production from various currently poorly used materials is huge. Similarly, our knowledge about threats and food/feed safety is increasing. It is crucial to keep the balance between these processes. There are also several obstacles in data harmonization (data collection, used methodologies and reliability) and in data quality (lack of the comparability and completeness). The aim of the paper is to summarize the challenges in food research related to latest developments in methods.

The process of creation of the informative systems based on the account of such animals as horses, sheep and goats is analyzed in the work. Three structural models are created and their comparative analysis is conducted. As a result of analysis the general elements of structures, characteristic to each model were found. The Meta modelling approach to facilitate the system was used. The system has a more abstract structure and allows dynamically to adding not only the animal specimens but also new types of attributes in fly during runtime. Recompilation of the system is not required there is no necessity of the analytical restructuring of the model, the absence of type explosions is guaranteed in a database because not a new table-type, but a new record in one or two tables is added.

Same public goods can only be produced jointly with private goods. This paper focuses on the biological diversity that could be produced on semi-natural pastures through the assistance of grazing animals. The question that is being investigated is what shapes the total and marginal cost functions for biological diversity production on semi-natural pastures have if private goods are already being produced using livestock at farms near the pastures. The empirical analysis shows that a quadratic function describes the costs well and that the production is characterized by increasing marginal costs.