US Resident Perceptions of Dairy Cattle Management Practices

Abstract

As public perception continues to shape the dairy industry, an understanding of consumer views and purchasing behaviors is critically important. The objectives of this paper are to: 1) summarize consumer perceptions or views of 12 common dairy cattle management practices (humane methods of slaughter, humane transportation, increased pen stall or size, access to pasture, feeding of a GMO-free diet, feeding of an organic diet, feeding of a diet the animal would naturally consume, ability to interact with other animals of the same species, access to fresh water at all times, tail docking, use of antibiotics for sick animals, and dehorning), and 2) analyze relationships between respondent's household demographic characteristics and perceptions of three specific contentious dairy practices, including antibiotic use, tail docking, and dehorning. An online, national survey was used to collect data on household demographics, dairy consumption and purchasing behavior, and perceptions of dairy production practices from 1201 US residents. The findings of this study indicate that 87% of participants consumed dairy products. Of these respondents, 12% had altered their consumption of dairy products over the past three years because of animal welfare concerns and 10% had done so due to food safety concerns. Respondents perceived tail docking and dehorning to have the least beneficial and most negative implications for dairy cattle welfare of the dairy production practices considered.

Consumers’ Attitudes towards Animal Suffering: A Systematic Review on Awareness, Willingness and Dietary Change

“…Consumers’ awareness, willingness and dietary change regarding animals and animal agriculture have been studied with participants from several countries in North and South America (Canada [ 86 , 87 , 88 ], U.S. [ 86 , 87 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 , 105 ], Mexico [ 106 , 107 ], Argentina [ 108 ], Bolivia [ 108 ], Brazil [ 71 , 72 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 ], Chile [ 108 , 116 ], Colombia [ 108 ], Ecuador [ 108 ], Peru [ 108 ]), Western and Eastern Europe (Belgium [ 109 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 ], Denmark [ 117 ], Finland [ 121 , 122 , 123 ], France [ 115 , 119 , 124 ], Germany [ 117 ...…”

Factors influencing public support for dairy tie stall housing in the U.S.

“…Previous work has shown that many US citizens (63%) are concerned about the welfare of dairy cattle [37]. Moreover a number of studies have examined public support for specific dairy management practices such as tail docking [3,38], cow-calf separation [39,40], dehorning [3,41] and provision of pasture access [3,42]. Most of these studies have found a substantial gap between public support and current industry practice.…”

“…The emphasis on restrictive housing systems seems to reflect widespread public sentiment that animals lacking the opportunity to move freely and express normal, social behaviors have reduced levels of welfare [2]. In one recent survey of US citizens the ability of animals to interact socially was perceived as the most important factor for ensuring the welfare of dairy cattle [3]. Collectively there is a growing body of evidence that restrictive housing is a source of public controversy.…”

Understanding public preferences for different dairy farming systems using a mixed-methods approach

“…Global production of milk has doubled over the past 50 yr (Roser and Ritchie, 2019), yet dairy farming in high-income countries faces scrutiny over its practices, especially those believed to affect the welfare of the cow (Olynk Widmar et al, 2017;Placzek et al, 2021). A particular concern is the impact of different living environments, chiefly how long the cow spends inside housing or out at pasture (Ellis et al, 2009), which is usually a component of the dairy farming system adopted.…”