Best practice versus farm practice: Perspectives of lecturers and students at agricultural colleges in England on management of lameness in sheep

Abstract

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Sheep farmers’ attitudes towards lameness control: Qualitative exploration of factors affecting adoption of the lameness Five-Point Plan

“…More experienced farmers are less likely to employ sustainable parasite control practices [13] and less likely to seek external advice proactively [31]. Furthermore, embedded farming experience has been reported to supersede knowledge acquired from college education when treating lame sheep using best-practice recommendations [27]. Some farmers in our study did not perceive themselves having a deficit in knowledge, which led to inconsistencies in treatment priorities, as previously shown by [26].…”

“…Furthermore, utilising 'peer champions' could also help discourage use of ill-advised measures, such as foot trimming. Directing efforts to develop tacit knowledge of evidencebased practice could encourage positive behavioural change [27].…”

“…Here, economics, alongside constraints on practicality, time and habit were identified to be among key barriers to changing lameness management practices, although ironically, saving time and money were also perceived as benefits of implementing control measures leading to sustained change. Tacit knowledge, derived from working alongside trusted farmers, was also reported to dominate agricultural students' beliefs in treating lame sheep [27]. Here, some young farmers continued to practice foot trimming, despite being taught best-practice at agricultural college.…”

From the other perspective: Behavioural factors associated with UK sheep farmers’ attitudes towards antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance

“…Guidelines on sustainable parasite control avoiding non-targeted routine anthelmintic treatments have been developed and promoted [ 41 ], and evidence shows that sustainable parasite management was associated with lower anthelmintic use without a lower productivity or higher worm burden [ 42 ]. Yet, it is known that farmers may reject this information in favour of their traditional "family farm" identities and perceptions of productivity [ 16 ]. Farmers may discard information on recommended practices for parasite or lameness control due to cognitive dissonance, as the information does not align with their traditional practices.…”

“…However, the uptake of the five-point plan by farmers is very low [ 14 , 15 ]. This may be because foot trimming was traditionally best practice that has been embedded as a cultural norm of what a ’good farmer’ does, which makes the behaviour resistant to change [ 16 , 17 ].…”