Evaluation of the impact of a Herd Health and Production Management programme in organic dairy cattle farms: a process evaluation approach

Abstract

Animal health planning activities are not always providing a satisfactory positive impact on herd health and welfare. Moreover, evaluating the impact of advisory programmes is complex due to multiple interacting elements that influence its outcome. Therefore, measuring solely health outcomes is not sufficient: the whole process of the implementation and use of such programmes should be evaluated. In order to evaluate the impact of an intervention with a Herd Health and Production Management (HHPM) programme a process evaluation framework was designed and used. The intervention involved 20 organic dairy cattle farmers and their advisors, in both France and Sweden. In both countries 20 organic dairy farms were selected as control herds. The evaluation of the HHPM programme was based on: (a) the compliance to the programme; (b) the programme's functions influencing herd health management practices and stimulating dialogue between farmers and advisors; (c) its effectiveness in terms of improving herd health compared with control farms. Complete compliance to the programme was fulfilled by 21 out of 40 farmers-advisors. Results from a questionnaire showed that the programme functioned as intended (e.g. by allowing early identification of herd health problems), stimulated change in farmers' herd health management practices and farmer-advisor dialogue. Even though the majority of the users perceived that the programme contributed to herd health improvements, no significant differences in health outcomes were found when compared with control farms 12 months after the start of the intervention. The programme allowed creating an environment promoting the exchange of information between farmers and advisors, necessary to define pertinent advice in a farm-specific situation. Future research should aim at improving methods for the evaluation of the effect of advisory programmes, by identifying early indicators for effective advice and developing methods to evaluate the quality of advisory situations without interfering with them.

Combining several indicators to assess the effectiveness of tailor-made health plans in pig farms

“…The implementation of preventive measures could be motivated by farmers' risk aversion (Renault et al, 2021), farmers' confidence in their ability to implement new management practices in their daily work (Jones et al, 2016), or the need to comply with French legislation which has been strengthened since the spread of African Swine Fever in Europe (République Française, 2018). Using compliance as a "marker of success" was suggested by and used in other studies on tailor-made health plans in pig (Collineau et al, 2017) or dairy farms (Green et al, 2007;Duval et al, 2018;Sjöström et al, 2019). Here, we proposed to use compliance as the first indicator of the effectiveness of health plans, then to add outcome-based indicators to the assessment when it is assumed to be relevant.…”

“…In dairy cow studies, tailor-made health plans are aimed at improving different health conditions that could differ between farms (e.g. udder health, reproduction or locomotor disorders) (Ivemeyer et al, 2012;Duval et al, 2018;Sjöström et al, 2019;Svensson et al, 2019). In pig and poultry studies, most tailor-made health plans are aimed primarily at reducing antimicrobial use, without jeopardizing health, technical or economic performances (Rojo-Gimeno et al, 2016;Collineau et al, 2017;Roskam et al, 2019;Raasch et al, 2020).…”

A Q study: exploring the purpose of transdisciplinary dairy advisory services in Denmark

“…In contrast, advisors rated follow-up as neutral. There are several possible definitions of ‘follow-up’; (1) repeated herd visits and intensive quantitative monitoring [ 23 ]; (2) evaluation of prospective planned herd-specific interventions in trial set ups [ 24 ], and; (3) varying qualitative exploration with feedback, ongoing dialogue, and networking involving participants both at the farm and externally [ 25 – 27 ]. Regardless of the definition, our study gives emphasis to the importance of discussing the level and method of follow-up and the areas of responsibility before initiating transdisciplinary teamwork.…”

Graduate Student Literature Review: Challenges and opportunities for human resource management on dairy farms

“…Advisors are an important aspect of any business. Farmer-advisor dialog is needed to foster shared understanding and build new knowledge (Duval et al, 2018). Advisors in the dairy industry may need training in communication (Bard et al, 2017), specifically in how to discuss farm management practices with farmers.…”

“…For example, veterinarians view their role in management of their client's farm (i.e., optimizing milk production, decreasing economic costs) as more prominent than perceived by the farmers (Hall and Wapenaar, 2012). Additionally, although farmers appear to trust their veterinarians, they do not feel that their veterinarian has a role in management decisions (e.g., antimicrobial stewardship; Golding et al, 2019) or disease prevention practices (Svensson et al, 2018), or they are unwilling to pay for certain services (Duval et al, 2018). Additionally, although a sample of Alberta, Canada, farmers appeared to be satisfied with veterinary services, they were less satisfied with how veterinarians discussed costs related to procedures (Ritter et al, 2019).…”