A Theoretical Framework to Assess the Impact of Flooding on Dairy Cattle Farms: Identification of Direct Damage from an Animal Welfare Perspective

Abstract

For the economic sectors, the need to address the challenges posed by natural disasters due to climate change is an outstanding issue. To date, according to the European Commission (2019), there is still a gap in the estimation of the costs of flood in all European countries and the direct impact that these floods have on agricultural activities. More specifically, the damage to livestock has been minimally studied. The aim of this study is is therefore to identify the flood damage that affects dairy cattle farms, focusing on the damage to herds caused by a flood event; in fact, poor welfare conditions of dairy cattle directly affect production and thus farm revenue. To accomplish the aim of this study, a framework was first developed to identify possible damage types. Then, scientific literature focusing on the identification of flood damage to dairy herds was reviewed, and to quantify this damage to herds, literature sources providing information on the magnitude of variation in the identified damage types were used. Thus, our results provide relevant information on the variables that should be taken into account when assessing of the direct damage affecting the overall welfare of a dairy herd after a flood event. This evidence could then contribute to the development of tools aimed at assessing damage to dairy cattle on flood-affected farms.

Quantifying National-Scale Changes in Agricultural Land Exposure to Fluvial Flooding

“…This will lead to greater economic damage from flood events and more expensive insurance claims [ 1 ]. Similar trends in increasing vulnerability are being observed in Eastern Europe, where wetlands and crops are being converted to less resilient pastoral agriculture, including dairy farming [ 64 ].This is also occurring in Italy, India, and the UK, where economic reliance on dairy farming in floodplains continues despite a notable increase in flood frequency [ 17 , 65 - 67 ], and globally, where the diversification of agricultural systems required to be resilient to flooding under various climate change scenarios is not being uniformly undertaken due to economic and social constraints [ 68 , 69 ]. The widespread occurrence and, in some cases, expansion of dairy farms in floodplains is driven by high global demand and increasing prices for dairy products compared to other agricultural products (such as meat, wool, and crops).…”

Flood Damage on Dairy Farms: A What-If Analysis to Assess Economic Losses

“…To prevent and mitigate the impacts of flood events, insurance tools could constitute an effective solution. However, similar to other risk management measures, as pointed out in the European Commission (EC) communication "The Future of Food and Farming" [1], the subscription to agricultural insurance programs is still limited and mainly related to cropping systems rather than livestock production [22]. In contrast to other MSs, Italy allocated a substantial budget for each risk management measure for the period of 2014-2020.…”

“…The current research proposes a tool useful for the estimation of flood damage on dairy farms developed based on the conceptual framework proposed by Gaviglio et al [4] and Gaviglio et al [22]. The first part of this framework [4] includes a conceptual model to evaluate flood damage on dairy cattle farms and is composed of four parts: (i) Vulnerability parameters, and thus the internal characteristics of the farm preflood, include the state/condition of the herd (e.g., age and condition of animals) and of farm structures (e.g., age and condition of rural buildings and agricultural machinery); (ii) Hazard, and thus external, parameters are essentially the features that characterize every flood event (e.g., the period of the year in which a flood occurs, the duration of an event, and water velocity).…”

“…The second part of the model [22] aims to identify variables that can be used to estimate economic damage that livestock farms may experience after flooding, focusing on damage to herds. This framework has been implemented since Gaviglio et al [4] suggested that poor welfare conditions of dairy cattle directly affect production and thus farm profitability.…”

“…However, what about the quantification of flooding damage to livestock production? As highlighted by Gaviglio et al [22], a tool for the estimation of economic losses caused by floods is still lacking, not only in the academic literature but also among private insurance companies. In this regard, it is also essential to highlight that under the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) proposal, agricultural risk management tools (i.e., insurance support-Reg.…”