From an economic standpoint, sustainable breeding and reproduction means that the level of livestock capital in farming can be maintained, expanded, and improved in quality over time consistent with the needs and preferences of society.

Because the operating environment almost inevitably changes over time, a sustainable process is a dynamic one that adapts to exogenous influences and evolves over time.

Animal breeding and reproduction has to respond to new demands, adopt new techniques in response to social, economic or
competitive pressures, exploit new opportunities that offer greater productivity, and reject/eliminate procedures which become unacceptable, carry risks or threaten costs that might outweigh short term benefits.

The history of livestock farming demonstrates this array of sustainability characteristics:

a) technical - whether or not animal breeding methods are sustainable is not simply a matter of whether there are sufficient resources to allow them to continue, it is also a matter of whether those methods and processes are consistent with the other components of the livestock production system of which they form a part, and remain consistent as those components change,

b) commercial - as a means by which individuals and companies earn their living, livestock production must in the long run be sufficiently profitable to prevent the resources employed moving to some other area of business, and

c) economical  - to be sustained over time all elements in the process of livestock production rely on the fact that they meet real demands in the economy and in society