In the developed world, the last fifty years has seen a great convergence of breeding objectives and strategies in all farmed species. This is part of the effects of globalisation, which has led to ever increasing specialisation of livestock producers. A general consequence is that breeding goals and structures of dairy, beef, pig and poultry production are now very similar throughout the developed world.

After some decades of successful concentration on narrow breeding goals (yield of milk solids in the dairy sector, growth, feed conversion and lean yield in meat animals) objectives have now broadened to take in product quality, reproduction and disease traits.