Employment and farmers’ work in European ruminant livestock farms: A review

Hostiou, Nathalie; Vollet, Dominique; Benoît, Marc; Delfosse, Claire

doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2020.01.008

Cited by 28 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…This information is relevant to assess whether the working conditions can be regarded as sustainable (Navarrete et al 2015). Moreover, how the workload is experienced is not necessarily only related to the amount of work but also to the distribution of work over time and how it is balanced with free time (Cournut et al 2018b) and family life, for example (Servière et al 2019a;Hostiou et al 2020).…”

Section: Contrasting Impacts On Workload Work Organization and Complexity Of Agroecological Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Europe, just 7.5% of farmers are under 35 years of age, while 30% are over 65 (Council of the European Union 2014). A major obstacle to ensuring continuity is the perceived lack of attractiveness of farming in general and livestock farming in particular, as a profession (Servière et al 2019b;Hostiou et al 2020). The working conditions of livestock farmers are even more challenging than those of crop farmers; livestock farmers are known to have long working days, are concerned with work-related health problems (Hostiou et al 2020), and must deal with the constraint posed by animals needing daily care and monitoring which cannot be postponed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A major obstacle to ensuring continuity is the perceived lack of attractiveness of farming in general and livestock farming in particular, as a profession (Servière et al 2019b;Hostiou et al 2020). The working conditions of livestock farmers are even more challenging than those of crop farmers; livestock farmers are known to have long working days, are concerned with work-related health problems (Hostiou et al 2020), and must deal with the constraint posed by animals needing daily care and monitoring which cannot be postponed. Livestock farmers also have expressed the desire for working conditions that would enable them to achieve a better work-family balance and obtain greater financial rewards for their work (Servière et al 2019b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Livestock farmers’ working conditions in agroecological farming systems. A review

Duval

Cournut

Hostiou

2021

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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The livestock farming sector is under stress as fewer and fewer people are willing or able to become livestock farmers. Contributing to the decline in attractiveness of the profession are, among other factors, agricultural crises, higher consumer expectations, and difficult working conditions. Agroecology is a sustainable solution that can maintain livestock production and provide positive contributions to society without negatively affecting the environment. Moreover, in its search for social sustainability, agroecological farming could offer better working conditions to farmers and thus contribute to a sustainable future for the livestock farming sector. Here, we review research on livestock farmers’ working conditions in agroecological farming systems. This paper aims to give a comprehensive overview of the available research findings and the dimensions used to describe farmers’ working conditions. The major findings are the following: (i) relatively little published research is available; (ii) it is difficult to compare findings across studies as different dimensions are used to study working conditions and, in certain cases, detailed descriptions of the farming systems are not provided; (iii) certain dimensions were rarely addressed, such as farmers’ health, or work organization; and (iv) in general, farmers’ work is addressed as a component of environmental and economic analyses of the performance of agroecological livestock farming systems, using most often indicators on labor productivity and/or efficiency. Comprehensive multidimensional approaches to study working conditions are lacking, as are studies on the interactions and trade-offs between dimensions (e.g., workload, fulfillment, work organization). To study livestock farmers’ working conditions in agroecological farming systems, we recommend to use a comprehensive approach assessing different dimensions contributing to working conditions, combined with the description of farmers’ activities and work environment.

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Section: Contrasting Impacts On Workload Work Organization and Complexity Of Agroecological Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Livestock farmers’ working conditions in agroecological farming systems. A review

Duval

Cournut

Hostiou

2021

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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“…However, studies in which a proper economic assessment is carried out are lacking, mostly because of farm-specific inputs and expenses. As regards social sustainability, this aspect is aimed at analyzing production, taking into account the welfare and health conditions of reared animals and of workers, which must be kept in a safe environment and work conditions (45,46). Only recently has attention been paid to this aspect; therefore, there is still much to be done (45).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relating Lying Behavior With Climate, Body Condition Score, and Milk Production in Dairy Cows

et al. 2020

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Attention on animal behavior and welfare has been increasing. Scientific knowledge about the effect of behavior and welfare on animals' production augmented and made clear the need of improving their living conditions. Among the variables to monitor in dairy cattle farming, lying time represents a signal for health and welfare status as well as for milk production. The aim of this study is to identify the relationship among the lying behavior of dairy cows and milk production, body condition score (BCS), weather variables, and the temperature-humidity index (THI) in the barn from a dairy farm located in Northern Italy. One-year data were collected on this farm with sensors that allowed monitoring of the environmental conditions in the barn and the activity of primiparous lactating cows. Principal components analysis (PCA), factor analysis (FA), generalized linear model select (GLMSelect), and logistic analysis (LA) were carried out to get the relationships among variables. Among the main results, it emerges that the effect of weather parameters is quite restrained, except for THI > 70, which negatively affects the lying time. In addition, the most productive cows are found to lie down more than the less productive ones, and the parameters of milk production, lying time, and BCS are found to be linked by a similar trend.

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“…The analysis estimated an employment multiplier of 13 in Spain's dairy sector. The additional jobs induced by farming vary at local and national levels but are usually low compared with other activity sectors (tourism, industry) (Hostiou et al 2020). However, farms that sell directly in local markets, as those of Aralar, tend to have higher forward multipliers and consequently generate more income and employment in the region (Ekanem et al 2016;Malagon-Zaldua et al 2018).…”

Section: Socio-economic Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mountain sheep grazing systems provide multiple ecological, socio-economic, and food quality benefits

Garmendia

Aldezábal

Galán

et al. 2022

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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Pastoral systems face increasing pressure from competing global markets, food sector industrialization, and new policies such as Europe’s post-2020 Common Agriculture Policy. This pressure threatens the use of extensive sheep-grazing systems in mountain areas of low productivity but high natural value. Using information gathered at a long-term research setting in a mountainous area of the Basque Country (northern Spain), we assessed the multiple benefits of extensive dairy sheep grazing systems from multiple perspectives using indicators pertaining to ecological, socio-economic, and food quality domains. In this way, we address the benefits that would be lost if sheep grazing abandonment persists in mountain regions. Our results show that the benefits of extensive dairy sheep grazing in the research area include the production of healthy and high-quality foods and multiple ecological benefits including biodiversity conservation. Extensive dairy sheep grazing also contributes to rural development by generating employment and income in marginal, low-productivity lands that can support few economic alternatives. In particular, we found that sheep farmers who produce high-value products, such as cheese, have enhanced their economic profitability and are less dependent on public subsidies. However, careful attention to sustainable practices, support for new generations of farmers, and streamlined supply chains are required. These would contribute to ensure socio-economic benefits for farmers, avoid the ecological costs associated with grazing abandonment, and enhance ecosystem services for the whole society.

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Employment and farmers’ work in European ruminant livestock farms: A review

Cited by 28 publications

References 58 publications

Livestock farmers’ working conditions in agroecological farming systems. A review

Livestock farmers’ working conditions in agroecological farming systems. A review

Relating Lying Behavior With Climate, Body Condition Score, and Milk Production in Dairy Cows

Mountain sheep grazing systems provide multiple ecological, socio-economic, and food quality benefits

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