Livestock markets and transport by rail between 1848 and 1913

This paper analyzes the transport of livestock by rail between 1848 and 1913. To do this, first of all it has been necessary to previously establish two methodologies that have allowed us to reconstruct the quantitative evolution of live animal shipping and the origin-destination characteristics of rail journeys. The results of this research suggest: first, that during the last third of the nineteenth century the transportation of sheep and pigs grew at a slower pace than that of cows, goods and cereals. And, second, that railways offered from a very early stage enough mobility to meet the demand for fresh meat coming from a national market mainly based on urban consumers. Demand for fresh meat was high and could not have caused the weak trend in sheep and pig transportation growth. Thus, the explanatory factor must be the supply. Although further research on this subject is needed, a plausible hypothesis emerges, namely, that there were two different tendencies in the Spanish farming system, which is consistent with the argument of an agrarian sector for which environmental aspects are a determinant factor. In consequence, while pig and sheep production increased below what the market demand could absorb in the extensive farming model characteristic of dry Spain, in the intensive farming of the rainy part of Spain beef production could grow with few obstacles. Rail transport flows reflect these circumstances, which disappeared after 1900.

Livestock markets and transport by rail between 1848 and 1913 Articles