Perspectives of Western Canadian dairy farmers on providing outdoor access for dairy cows

Abstract

Dairy cows are highly motivated to access pasture, especially at night in summer. When pasture is not available, dairy cows show a partial preference for alternative types of outdoor access, spending half the night outside in summer on an outdoor sand or wood chip pack. However, many dairy farms do not provide cows outside access. To better understand reasons why dairy farmers choose to provide or not provide outdoor access, we studied the perspectives of dairy farmers located in the 4 Western Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Data were collected via (1) 11 focus group discussions with a total of 50 Western Canadian dairy farmers, and (2) semi-structured individual interviews with 6 dairy farmers of Hutterite colonies. Transcripts were analyzed using template analysis. Reasons to not provide outdoor access fell into 5 main themes: (1) adverse climate conditions, (2) negative implications of outdoor access for cow welfare including concerns about udder health, (3) concerns regarding decreases in profitability, (4) farm infrastructure not set up for outdoor access, and (5) higher ability to manage animals kept indoors. Reasons to provide outdoor access fell into the 5 main themes: (1) local climate conditions conducive for outdoor access, (2) beneficial effects of outdoor access on cow welfare including lower lameness prevalence, (3) increased profitability due to a premium milk price provided to farmers that allow pasture access to their cows, (4) farm infrastructure that is set up for outdoor access, and (5) easier management of animals outdoors. We conclude that the decision to provide outdoor access depends on how farmers weigh these factors given the constraints on their farm, as well as their personal beliefs and values.

Dairy farmer practices and attitudes relating to pasture-based and indoor production systems in Scotland

“…Respondents who operate a system involving grazing, as opposed to an indoor system, and respondents who had spent longer in farming were significantly more likely to agree, and respondents with higher yields were significantly more likely to disagree. This accords with finding with German [ 30 ], Danish [ 31 ] and Canadian [ 32 ] farmers, that people whose system involved grazing were more likely to have more positive attitudes towards grazing. The result of the model that farmers who have spent longer in farming are more likely to agree that cows should have access to pasture accords with the findings of the cluster analysis.…”

“…Farmers who operated a system involving grazing were significantly more likely to strongly agree or agree with the statement. This accords with research that farmers are more likely to endorse the benefits of the system they operate [ 29 – 32 ].…”

“…There has been research with farmers in Germany, Denmark and Canada about their attitudes towards grazing, both countries where the majority of farms house cows all year-round [ 29 – 32 ]. These studies found that farmers whose system involved grazing had more positive attitudes towards grazing, emphasising lower feed costs, lower labour input, improvements in cow health and fertility [ 30 ], public image [ 31 ] and suitability to the local climate and existing infrastructure, better animal welfare, easier management outdoors and a price premium based on pasture access [ 32 ]. Respondents whose system did not involve grazing had more negative attitudes towards grazing, emphasising lower yields, lower profits and difficulties in grazing a larger herd [ 30 – 32 ] and adverse climate conditions [ 32 ].…”

“…These studies found that farmers whose system involved grazing had more positive attitudes towards grazing, emphasising lower feed costs, lower labour input, improvements in cow health and fertility [ 30 ], public image [ 31 ] and suitability to the local climate and existing infrastructure, better animal welfare, easier management outdoors and a price premium based on pasture access [ 32 ]. Respondents whose system did not involve grazing had more negative attitudes towards grazing, emphasising lower yields, lower profits and difficulties in grazing a larger herd [ 30 – 32 ] and adverse climate conditions [ 32 ]. Another study in Germany found that older farmers had more negative attitudes towards grazing than younger farmers [ 29 ].…”

Developing ‘Smart’ Dairy Farming Responsive to Farmers and Consumer-Citizens: A Review

“…For example, Danish research found that farmers have different views on the impact of grazing on milk yield, with non-grazing farmers associating it with lower yields and seeing this as an obstacle to increased grazing, despite a poor relationship between milk yield per cow and profit [Kristensen et al, 2010, cited in [70]]. Qualitative research on farmers in Western Canada shows the impact of farm specific aspects on farmers' attitudes towards outdoor access (as opposed to grazing per se) as well as their personal beliefs and values [81]. They found that reasons not to provide outdoor access related to five main thematic areas: (1) adverse climate conditions; (2) concerns about cow welfare; (3) concerns about profitability; (4) lack of suitable farm infrastructure; and (5) ease of management with indoor systems.…”