Abstract
BackgroundIn Denmark, it has recently become mandatory for all dairy farmers with more than 100 cows to sign up for a herd health programme. Three herd health programmes are available. These differ in a number of aspects, including the frequency of veterinary visits and the farmer’s access to prescription drugs. The objective of this study was to investigate whether dairy farmers’ behavioural intentions, i.e. to call a veterinarian or start medical treatment on the day that they detect a cow with mild clinical mastitis (MCM), are different depending on the type of herd health programme.MethodsA questionnaire survey based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was conducted. TPB proposes that a person’s behavioural intention is strongly correlated with his or her actual behaviour. Three behavioural factors determine the behavioural intention: attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. Each of these factors is decided by a set of beliefs, each of which in turn is weighted by an evaluation: 1) the expected outcomes of performing the behaviour, 2) what a person believes that others think of the behaviour, and 3) the person’s perceived power to influence the behaviour.A set of statements about the treatment of MCM based on interviews with 38 dairy farmers were identified initially. The statements were rephrased as questions and the resulting questionnaire was distributed to 400 randomly selected Danish dairy farmers who use the two most restrictive herd health programmes, either Core or Module1, and to all 669 farmers with the least restrictive herd health programme, Module2. The association between intention and the herd health programme was modelled using logistic regression.ResultsThe farmers with the Module2 herd health programme had a significantly higher behavioural intention to perform the behaviour, when compared to farmers with a more restrictive herd health programme (OR = 2.1, p < 0.0001).ConclusionDanish dairy farmers who participate in Module2 herd health programme had a higher intention to treat cases of MCM, compared to farmers who participate in a more restrictive herd health programme in which the veterinarian initiates treatments.
Highlights
In Denmark disease recording for dairy cattle is mandatory
Our objective was to investigate whether farmers who signed up for the Module2 herd health programme and farmers having either ‘Core’, ‘Module1’ or no herd health programme had different behavioural intentions regarding the treatment of mild clinical mastitis (MCM)
Females and males had the same median behavioural intention score if they participated in the same herd health programme
Summary
In Denmark disease recording for dairy cattle is mandatory. The practice of herd health advisory visits by veterinarians in Denmark was introduced by legislation in 1995 [1]. Dairy farmers can choose to sign up for one of three different herd health programmes: 1) Core, 2) Module1, 3) Module2 [2]. The Core programme allows the farmer to perform retreatments on young stock, while the herd veterinarian initiates treatments and re-treats adult cows if needed. In Denmark, it has recently become mandatory for all dairy farmers with more than 100 cows to sign up for a herd health programme. These differ in a number of aspects, including the frequency of veterinary visits and the farmer’s access to prescription drugs. The objective of this study was to investigate whether dairy farmers’ behavioural intentions, i.e. to call a veterinarian or start medical treatment on the day that they detect a cow with mild clinical mastitis (MCM), are different depending on the type of herd health programme
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