[Evaluation of voluntary incentive--based animal welfare programs to decrease antimicrobial use on source dairies and veal calf fattening operations]

INTRODUCTION

Increased antimicrobial use (AMU) and poor animal health are common problems on Swiss veal farms. The creation of incentive systems could contribute to reduce AMU and to implement supportive management measures. Voluntary government-funded programs could be an option. Therefore, the present study developed four hypothetical programs, which differed in their approach and funded measures. Depending on the program, the objective of reducing AMU should be achieved either by promotion of farm specific advice from the Swiss calf health service, benchmarking the antibiotic use, promotion of health measures on the source dairy (farm of birth) or by promoting veal calf fattening on the source dairy instead of selling calf to fattening operations. A survey using the contingent evaluation method evaluated the willingness of farm manager to participate in these programs. A total of 135 veal farm managers filled in the questionnaire, of which 131 were managers of family-run small scale veal fattening farms. In addition, 309 managers of dairy farms where no veal was produced participated in the study. These farms served as source dairies and sold excess calves for subsequent fattening mostly at the age of three to five weeks. Participation was moderate to good depending on the program. Approximately 30% of farm managers would participate in the program with farm specific advice from the Swiss calf health service and with benchmarking of AMU, 35% in the promotion of veal calf fattening on the source dairy, and 60% in health measures on the source dairy. Probability of participation in the program with farm specific advice and in health measures on source dairies can be influenced by the amount of the extra pay. The main reasons for which managers would not want to participate were having reservations about the need to improve animal health on the own farm, a lack of space and time, as well as concerns about increased administrative work. The study can be a starting point for the development of voluntary programs to reduce AMU on farms, in particular on source dairies and veal calf fattening farms. The results of this study may allow of estimation of the percentage of farm managers to participate in voluntary programs, thus addressing an optimal number of farms.

[Comparative economic analysis of the new concept for veal calf fattening «outdoor veal calf» and the conventional IP-SUISSE label]

INTRODUCTION

The evaluation of new animal husbandry concepts includes, beyond the exploration of chosen parameters, that the question is addressed whether economic benefits for producers and ethical benefits for society result of the new system when compared to traditional systems. In a previous study, a novel management and housing concept for veal production («outdoor veal calf», OVC) was tested from October 2016 to July 2018. The OVC concept was associated with distinctly lower antimicrobial use while average daily weight gain was similar and calf welfare better; furthermore mortality was lower compared to conventional label fattening. The aim of the present study was to compare economics between the OVC concept on intervention farms (IF) and the IP-SUISSE label concept on control farms (CF) by calculating contribution margins (CM). The CM indicates the difference between the performance of a production branch (e. g. slaughter return) and the allocable costs for this production branch (e. g. feed costs). In the present study, two different approaches were used for CM calculation to analyze the available data in detail. No substantial differences in CM between the OVC concept and the IP-SUISSE concept were found in either approach. However, the specific CM varied between the approaches as different calculation criteria for quantities and prices were applied (approach «real» with accurate costs and returns from the OVC study and approach «standardized» with costs and returns based on the CM catalogue). The CM varied slightly for the CM per man-hour (IF «real»: 6.96 CHF/man-hour, «standardized»: 4.49 CHF/man-hour; CF: 7.90 CHF/man-hour and 8.08 CHF/man-hour, respectively) and considerably for the CM per fattening space and year (IF «real»: -380.36 CHF, «standardized»: -559.50 CHF; CF: -244.70 CHF and -318.80 CHF, -respectively). Producing veal with the OVC concept -allowed for achieving comparable CM/man-hour as in conventional label production. Thus, the farmers' economic interests should be warranted when implementing the OVC concept.