What Difference Does a Visit Make? Changes in Animal Welfare Perceptions after Interested Citizens Tour a Dairy Farm

Abstract

Citizens’ concerns about farm animal welfare are often dismissed on the assumption that they are not well informed about farming practices. We conducted exploratory surveys of interested citizens (n = 50) before and after a self-guided tour of a 500-head dairy farm. ‘Before’ survey questions explored perceptions, concerns, and values about dairy cattle farming and welfare, in addition to a short knowledge-based quiz on dairy cattle husbandry. An ‘after’ survey explored the extent to which these constructs shifted after the tour. Before, most participants correctly answered quiz questions about general feeding and housing practices, but scores were low on questions about specific practices such as cow-calf separation. Participants considered several elements as necessary for a ‘good’ life for dairy cattle: fresh food and water, pasture access, gentle handling, space, shelter, hygiene, fresh air and sunshine, social companions, absence of stress, health, and safety from predators. These elements reflect a diverse conception of animal welfare that incorporates values for physical and mental well-being, natural living, and humane care. The visit had a mixed effect on perceptions of whether dairy cows had a ‘good’ life, improving perceptions for a quarter of participants, worsening perceptions in a third, with no shift in the remaining participants. The visit appeared to mitigate some concerns (e.g., provision of adequate food and water, gentle humane care) while reinforcing or eliciting others (e.g., lack of pasture access, early cow-calf separation). Moreover, animal welfare-relevant values held by participants (e.g., natural living, care) appeared to play an important role in influencing perceptions of farm practices. These results suggest that education and exposure to livestock farming may resolve certain concerns, but other concerns will likely persist, especially when practices conflict with deeply held values around animal care.

Public concerns about dairy-cow welfare: how should the industry respond?

“…In another relevant study, Ventura et al (2016a) examined the views of individuals with little previous exposure to dairy, before and after they toured a working dairy farm. Visiting this farm seemed to address certain concerns, including that cows did not have adequate access to food and water and that they were not handled appropriately.…”

“…Moreover, there is also some evidence suggesting that moral values appear to have a greater impact on negative attitudes towards farm-animal welfare than does factual knowledge (Boogaard et al 2011), which may explain why criticisms regarding production practices fail to disappear following an educational intervention. As Ventura et al (2016a) concluded (p. 15), 'livestock industries cannot expect one-way education efforts (even immersive experiences such as a farm tour) to resolve societal concerns about animal welfare'.…”

“…For example, the non-farming public wants assurance that the people who care for dairy cattle, really do care about their animals (Ventura et al 2016a). People may be tempted to use the argument that farmers care about their animals because good care translates into good productivity.…”

“…Early cow-calf separation provides another example of this divergence between public views and industry practice (Ventura et al 2013). There is evidence that the public is often unaware of common practices on farms (Ventura et al 2016a) and failure to address these gaps may affect public trust when the public does become aware (Robbins et al 2016b).…”

Performance off Forage Crops and Grass Mixtures in Kosovo

“…Pastures are preferential to other animal feed resources, as having high nutritional value, and good taste, meeting nutritional requirements of herbivorous (cattle, sheep, goats, horses, etc.). Animals that feed on pastures have better health because they are daytime in the fresh air and other influence in health [10,11]. Therefore, this also has an impact on the productivity and fertility of animals, are cheaper meals and there is no need to invest in food preparation, Plots in which grazing is continuously improved has an impact on the grazing quality.…”