Farmer attitude toward improvement of animal welfare is correlated with piglet production parameters

Abstract

The quality of stockmanship has a major influence on farm animal welfare and productivity. Farmers' attitudes are reflected in their behavior toward animals which, in turn, affects animal behavior, welfare and productivity. Yet attitudes toward behaviors that are positive for the animal's welfare have been neglected in previous studies on farmers' attitudes. Our objective was to examine the relationship between farmers' attitudes toward improvement of animal welfare and productivity of the animals. In a framework of the theory of planned behavior, we used a conceptualization of the improvement of animal welfare based on an earlier on-farm interview and questionnaire studies of farmers' methods for constructing such behavior as an object of evaluation, and standardized production parameters that make farms comparable. Psycho-social, production and demographic data from 124 farms were subjected to correlation analyses. Among the farmers' attitudes and attitude-related perceptions, the significance of subjective norms, as well as perceived importance and ease of improving animal welfare, had relevant associations with piglet productivity. The most powerful factor related with several production parameters was the perceived significance of researchers and other specialists as a source of a subjective norm: appreciating researchers was associated with more piglets born, lower piglet mortality and more weaned piglets. Considering it easy to provide the animals with a favorable environment correlated negatively with piglet mortality and positively with the number of weaned piglets. The importance of humane treatment of animals was positively correlated with the number of weaned piglets, as was the perceived ease of catering for the farmer's own well-being. Studying the production parameters of the distinctively positively-oriented farmers' pigs in relation to the average production figures strengthened these results: the farmers with the most positive attitudes (except for the perceived ease of catering for own well-being) gained 0.34–0.54 piglets per litter more than average farmers. In general, farmer attitudes were more strongly correlated with production parameters of gilts and piglets in first parity litters than of multiparous sows and their piglets. Farms with good results in terms of production parameters appeared to also be farms with farmer having more positive attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control in relation to practices that improve the animals' welfare. The indicated link between farmers' attitudes and production parameters warrants further studies on how farmer behavior mediates this association and on causal relationships between attitudes, animal welfare and production.