Attitudes and expectations of beef farmers in Austria, Germany and Italy towards the Welfare Quality® assessment system

The Role of Non‐Use Values in Dairy Farmers’ Willingness to Accept a Farm Animal Welfare Programme

“…Kirchner et al . () conducted interviews with 90 beef farmers in Austria, Germany ( n = 31) and Italy to gather information on farmers’ willingness to join an animal‐based welfare assessment system such as Welfare Quality ® . They found that German farmers consider it important to benefit their animals and they therefore generally favour FAW assessment.…”

Factors that Influence Farmers’ Views on Farm Animal Welfare: A Semi-Systematic Review and Thematic Analysis

“…Regarding general attitudes towards animal welfare, Hansson and Lagerkvist [19], found that farmers gave the most importance to non-use values of FAW when they have an animal centered attitude. Other studies observed a similar trend, however, to be willing to implement changes in management and housing, or to increase the workload and even investment to improve FAW, farmers stressed the importance of a financial return [82]. Furthermore, financial considerations were key determinants for the FAW decision-making process, although this created emotional distress for farmers.…”

“…Other studies have similarly found how farmers applying health and welfare plans adopted significant measures to meet what they considered to be animal health. Sixty-eight percent of German beef cattle farmers interviewed expected personal and "non-monetary" benefits from their practices [82]. Bock et al [48] provided a deeper understanding of the factors that influence HAR and showed that Brazilian farmers in all sectors (beef, dairy, pig, and poultry) felt responsible for taking good care of their animals and they perceived good farming as a key element of their job satisfaction.…”

“…Farmers' views on FAW were influenced by the mandatory inspections for compliance with FAW national and quality assurance scheme regulations and the associated administrative workload. For example, focus groups showed that dairy farmers were stressed by paperwork, such as standard operating procedures required by the quality assurance scheme [48,64,82]. Furthermore, the growing numbers of regulations made Danish farmers feel insecure [91].…”

“…"We have always done it in this way" is a recurring statement by farmers who do not adopt FAW innovation. Evidence shows that farming practices are learned through tradition and communities of practice [36,82,88]. Research aimed at exploring the implications of traditions on farming practices has shown that farmers with the same cultural, social, political and economic context developed a shared understanding of what it is to be a good farmer [81].…”