Negative attitudes of Danish dairy farmers to their livestock correlates negatively with animal welfare

The Welfare of Dairy Cows in Pasture, Free Stall, and Compost Barn Management Systems in a Brazilian Subtropical Region

The effect of milk production systems on the welfare of dairy cows has been studied worldwide, but studies that compare pasture-based, compost barn, and free stall systems, according to animal welfare, are more scarce. In this work, the welfare of 51 dairy herds, including 17 from each management system, was investigated through the application of the Welfare Quality® protocol. Descriptive statistics and the Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric method were used to analyze variables. In the present work, the welfare of the evaluated herds was significantly better in the pasture-based system than in the confinement systems. However, the pasture-based system presented weaknesses in providing water resources. The compost barn had fewer animal welfare critical points than the free stall system, as well as it was better than the free stall in measures related to comfort and health. The free stall did not present better scores than the other systems. It is concluded that the welfare of dairy cows is affected by the rearing system, with better scores, in most measures, in the pasture-based system, followed by the compost barn and, finally, the free stall.

Knowledge and Perception on Animal Welfare in Chilean Undergraduate Students with Emphasis on Dairy Cattle

Simple Summary

Consumer perceptions on animal welfare have been assessed, providing results that are necessary for the development of policies and legislation regarding animal welfare standards. In Latin America, societal concerns and specifically consumers’ concerns about animal welfare are increasing but so far, the interest of university students on this subject has received little attention. The objectives of this study were to determine differences on knowledge and perception on animal welfare (with emphasis on dairy cattle) from undergraduate students from two universities with different missions and visions and between students from different faculties. Undergraduate students from the two main Chilean universities were surveyed. Overall, this study showed that University only affected the source of animal welfare information used by undergraduate students and some perceptions on dairy cows’ welfare. On the other hand, Faculty did affect most of the variables on awareness, knowledge and perception towards animal welfare. Thus, the knowledge background provided by the faculty of students has a greater influence on their knowledge and perceptions about animal welfare than their university.

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to determine differences in knowledge and perception of animal welfare (with emphasis on dairy cattle) among undergraduate students from two universities with different missions and visions and between students from different faculties. One thousand surveys were obtained from Universidad de Chile (UChile; n = 500) and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC; n = 500) students. The students from both universities were from the following faculties: Agronomy, Architecture, Biology, Economic Sciences, Psychology, Law, Philosophy, Basic Education, Civil Engineering and Medicine. The majority (77%) of students from both universities were aware of animal welfare. Most (56%) students understand animal welfare as the ‘mental and physical state of animals’. Regardless of their faculty, around 97% of the total respondents perceived animal welfare as important for production systems. Regarding specific knowledge about cows’ welfare related to milk management and behavior, students from Economic Sciences, Psychology, Law, Philosophy, Basic Education, and Civil Engineering had less (p < 0.001) self-reported knowledge about cows’ basic behavior and specific management practices such as milking and were more negative in their perceptions of dairy production. Overall, results showed that the students’ faculty explained most of the differences among undergraduate students in relation to their perceptions and knowledge about animal welfare. Our data is important, as undergraduate students will make purchasing and power decisions as well as having potential influence on future policies that could modify the animal production industry.

Understanding German Pig Farmers' Intentions to Design and Construct Pig Housing for the Improvement of Animal Welfare

Improving farm animal welfare requires modifications to the behavior of many stakeholders. Investments in more animal-friendly barns to improve animal welfare have already been made by some farmers. However, more farmers must be persuaded to modernize their barns. The marketing of animal-friendly products is the responsibility of retailers, and consumers have to purchase these products. Currently, little is known about what (and how) underlying psychological factors influence a farmer's intention to construct pig housing to improve farm animal welfare. Pig farmers in Germany were questioned via an online questionnaire in May 2020 (n = 424). Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), partial least squares path modeling was used. The constructs: attitude, subjective norm, direct and indirect experience associated with the construction of pig housing substantially influenced the farmers' behaviors. As expected, the impact of perceived behavioral control on intention was negative but was also very low and only slightly significant. Contrary to expectations, the perceived behavioral control had no significant influence on farmers' behaviors. Pig farmers who have already rebuilt their pigs' housing should be motivated to share their experiences to influence their colleagues' intentions to construct. Our results will encourage policy makers to consider the important role of the different psychological and intrinsic factors influencing pig farmers. Thus, the sustainability of pig farming can be improved by giving politicians a better understanding of farmers´ behaviors.

Methodology for studying human attitudes and behaviour to cow-calf contact systems

This position paper describes a common stand on methodology of human attitudes and behaviour that is suitable to use in studies regarding cow-calf contact (CCC) in dairy production, in order to create a common knowledge base and foundation for future recommendations of CCC systems. We describe how different quantitative and qualitative methods can be used to study human attitudes to CCC as well as farmer or consumer behaviour. We aim to contribute to a better understanding of the available methods, and hope that this paper can be used as a guideline for future studies in this area.