Comfort, health and production: Portuguese dairy farmers talk about animal welfare

Abstract

Farm animal welfare has increasingly become a concern and a subject of public debate within Europe, with different stakeholders emphasizing different aspects of animal welfare. In Portugal, the discussion of animal welfare issues is relatively recent and the available data about how different stakeholder groups conceptualize animal welfare is very scarce. In this study we explored Portuguese dairy farmers’ representations of animal welfare, its significance and how farmers perceive other stakeholders’ roles in the welfare of dairy cattle. The sample population was chosen considering that farmers, in their role as caregivers, are central actors in the promotion of animal welfare, and considering the importance of dairy farming within agricultural activity in the region. During the period October 2012-January 2013 we carried out semi-structured interviews with dairy farmers (n=22) from the north-west region of Portugal, randomly selected from the public records made available by local cooperatives. The interview guide was outlined to prompt an open discussion about animal welfare. It started by exploring the general requirements of dairy farming and the farmer’s personal history. Targeted questions included what is considered important for success in dairy farming, the current welfare status of their cows, how animal welfare is defined and how to assess it, its importance within daily routine and how they perceive their own role in promoting animal welfare. The interviewees were further presented with three visual stimuli: the Five Freedoms; a list of other actors for dairy cow welfare and a picture of the Compassion in World Farming poll ‘Where do you want our milk to come from?’. Results presented here are preliminary as the full content analysis is under process at the time of writing (April 2013). All farmers considered animal welfare centrally important for their activity and the reasons that were pointed out have mainly to do with improving production. The farmers’ overall perspective on welfare was, however, broader and more complex. It encompasses concerns with subjective experiences, biological functioning and to some extent also natural behaviour, within both resource-based and animal-based approaches. Several tensions became evident in the discussion of the CiWF poll, i.e. between: (1) own current conditions and practices versus representation of an optimal production system; (2) consumers’ opinion versus willingness to pay; and (3) different aspects of animal welfare.