Animal Welfare Production Research Articles

PSXIII-B-20 Variants within Genes Tspan18 and NRG3 Associated with Angular Limb Deformity in Rambouillet Rams

Abstract Incidence of angular limb deformities (ALD) have been described in many species of livestock and companion animals. Young, rapidly growing animals are at an increased risk for developing ALD. Although work has been done to identify the casual genetic basis of ALD, bone deformities are likely influenced by the environment, making clear genetic answers challenging to discover. Rambouillet rams from Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota annual ram performance tests have been observed to develop limb abnormalities consistent with ALD. Historical incidence of ALD in test rams has ranged from 3 to 18%. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted with 342 ram-test animals, including 40 ALD-affected rams and 302 unaffected rams collected over three consecutive years. Significant markers were identified within the genes tetraspanin 18 (TSPAN18; p-value = 4.87e-07) and neuregulin 3 (NRG3; p-value = 8.06e-07). In mice, Tspan18 has been proposed as a regulator of endothelial cell Orai1/Ca2+ signaling. Orai1 has also been shown to mediate osteogenic differentiation via the bone morphogenic protein signaling pathway, which suggests the possibility for TSPAN18 involvement in differentiation of chondrocytes and osteocytes. The gene NRG3 is a member of the neuregulin family, which encodes ligands for epidermal growth factor receptors ERBB3 and ERBB4. The epidermal growth factor receptor system has described roles in the regulation of proliferation and differentiation of osteoblast, chondrocyte and osteoclast cells. Identifying genetic risk factors for ALD has the potential to improve animal welfare and animal production in at-risk breeds. This study proposes TSPAN18 and NRG3 as targets for further research towards identifying genetic risk factors for ALD in Rambouillet sheep of the NW United States.

Consumers attitudes toward animal welfare friendly produce: An island of Ireland study

Public concern has arisen between increased productivity in animal production systems and farm animal welfare (FAW). Consumers demand ethical production systems and tend to purchase products that reflect their animal welfare concerns. They are becoming increasingly judicious, with growing expectations around animal produce. Nonetheless, positive attitudes concerning FAW do not always correspond to purchasing behavior, where higher concern is not related to higher purchasing frequency. The study seeks to determine if individuals behave differently in their dual roles as citizens and consumers, expressing preferences for FAW but ultimately failing to act on such preferences when making purchasing decisions. Theoretically, the research uses elements of the COM-B model to investigate the importance of capability, opportunity, and motivation for consumers. The study is conducted on an island of Ireland basis and investigates the perceptions and purchasing frequency of Irish and Northern Irish consumer’s (n = 972). Firstly, attitudes towards purchasing animal welfare products are elicited using Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CATPCA). Cluster analysis subsequently defines three distinct typologies based upon the final cluster centers attained from CATPCA. The largest cluster is characterized as being Indifferent (n = 672) and differentiated by relatively low concern for animal welfare. Despite this, their purchasing frequency of animal welfare products is monthly. The other two clusters, The Engaged and The Struggling, are similar in size and share the same concern for animal welfare but are polarized in their motivation, capability, and opportunity to purchase animal welfare friendly products. The Struggling typology act as citizens rather than consumers; while they are highly concerned for welfare they have significantly lower purchasing frequency even compared to The Indifferent. Finally, Non-Linear Canonical Correlation Analysis (NLCCA) is used to reveal and visually demonstrate the structure of the whole dataset. The analysis demonstrates that concern for animal welfare is not associated with purchase frequency of animal welfare friendly produce when contextual factors are not conducive to doing so. The findings are relevant to a broad audience including industry, policymakers, and academics.

The Relationship between Animal Welfare and Farm Profitability in Cage and Free-Range Housing Systems for Laying Hens in China.

Simple SummaryWith public concern increasing in China for animal welfare in livestock production, the welfare and economic outcomes of different farming systems for laying hens needs to be examined. Animal welfare outcomes and initiatives are linked to the economic efficiency of the farm, which for the producer may require a balance or trade-off between these issues. This study investigated animal welfare, egg production and economic parameters in cage and free-range farms in China. Our results identified potential welfare issues that can be addressed on both farm types, and potential points of income that can be improved by enhancing hen welfare. Therefore, our results offer some directions for welfare and economic improvements on cage and free-range egg farms in China.Several countries and regions have regulations in place to provide standards for the welfare of production animals, which have implications for breeding, management and trade. In the chicken egg production industry, the welfare impacts of this are not well understood. In the past decades, free-range systems were widely used for local chicken breeds in poultry industry in China, but their use has gradually declined due to the lower competitiveness compared to commercial cage systems. However, the practices of free-range systems for hens raising have gradually increased again over the past decade, as consumer individualized demand for higher food quality and animal welfare has increased. We recruited 14 free-range farms and 45 cage farms from Beijing, Shandong, Hebei, Anhui, Yunnan, Gansu and Jiangsu provinces in China, for an evaluation of hen welfare, production and economic outcomes from farm operations. This study provides data for the welfare outcomes of laying hens in China and preliminarily explored the relationship between welfare level and economic income within farming system types. The researchers visited the farms and used Welfare Quality measures to investigate the welfare, and farm self-reported profits. Nonparametric Mann–Whitney U tests were used to compare the welfare scores between cage and free-range rearing farms. Correlation and regression are used for the analysis of the animal welfare scores, economic data, and production metrics. The general income from free-range farms was linearly correlated with red mite score and stocking density (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively). The results showed less centimeters of feeder and drinker space per animal in the free-range system than in cage systems (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). Welfare scores for both the stocking density and beak condition were significantly better in the free-range systems than the cage systems (p < 0.001), as were qualitative behavior assessment scores (p < 0.05). The total egg production and peak egg production in cage farms were much higher than in free-range farms (p < 0.001), and egg loss rate was significantly lower (p < 0.001). While the production efficiency of free-range farms was lower than that of cage farms, general income per 10,000 hens was actually higher. Our results provide some evidence that some welfare indicators and general income (per 10,000 hens) in free-range farms in China were better than those of cage farms. The results indicate that better parasite control and lower stocking densities may result in improved hen welfare on free-range farms and potentially improve profitability. The level of welfare and economic benefits of free-range farms vary widely, and there was potential room for improvement in feeding space, drinking water space and human–animal relationship.

Meat consumption and consumer attitudes in Japan: An overview

Among Asian countries, Japan has the shortest history of eating meat in its food culture. It was only after 2007 that household fresh meat consumption surpassed fresh fish consumption in Japan. Although it was forecast that slowing population and economic growth would limit the demand for meat, household meat consumption in 2020 increased remarkably from that in 2019, perhaps due to COVID-19. Meat consumption has regional variations within Japan attributable to historical background. Japanese consumers prefer domestically produced meat and focus on the visual characteristics of meat, in particular marbling. Extrinsic factors such as information also contribute to Japanese consumers' meat choices more than the quality of the meat. Although Japanese consumers are concerned about the safety of meat, reassurance from appropriate inspection will restore their purchasing intention. Novel factors such as animal welfare and environment-friendly production are also recognized in Japan. Also notable is that wild animal meat consumption is beginning to increase in recent years.

Challenges to Use Machine Learning in Agricultural Big Data: A Systematic Literature Review

Agricultural Big Data is a set of technologies that allows responding to the challenges of the new data era. In conjunction with machine learning, farmers can use data to address problems such as farmers’ decision making, water management, soil management, crop management, and livestock management. Crop management includes yield prediction, disease detection, weed detection, crop quality, and species recognition. On the other hand, livestock management considers animal welfare and livestock production. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the evidence regarding the challenges involved in implementing machine learning in agricultural Big Data. We conducted a systematic literature review applying the PRISMA protocol. This review includes 30 papers published from 2015 to 2020. We develop a framework that summarizes the main challenges encountered, machine learning techniques, and the leading technologies used. A significant challenge is the design of agricultural Big Data architectures due to the need to modify the set of technologies adapting the machine learning techniques as the volume of data increases.

Sistemas de producción de pequeños rumiantes en México y su efecto en la sostenibilidad productiva

En el sector de los pequeños rumiantes existe un gran interés en medir y mejorar sus sistemas de producción y desempeño ambiental, pues poseen una gran adaptabilidad y habitan distintos ecosistemas, con una gran biodiversidad de recursos alimenticios, el pastoreo genera beneficios económico-productivos y medio ambientales. Pero, el manejo no planificado y la sobreexplotación de recursos naturales de estas zonas han ocasionado erosión, agotamiento del agua y desertificación, lo mismo ocurre con los sistemas intensivos de producción y la agricultura que alimenta estas explotaciones. Para comparar innovaciones científicas en la sustentabilidad de los diferentes sistemas de producción de pequeños rumiantes, se realizó un análisis bibliométrico para describir las ventajas y desventajas del manejo de los sistemas de producción extensivos, semi-intensivos e intensivos en la sustentabilidad de pequeños rumiantes. Existe una preocupación de la sociedad por el impacto ambiental de los sistemas de producción y que se realicen de manera sustentable. Esta tendencia influye en la producción de ovinos, cabras y venado cola blanca, que se desarrollan en sistemas intensivos, semi-extensivos y extensivos. Dada la presión para aumentar el volumen y la eficiencia de la producción, los sistemas intensivos son más adecuados, pero enfrentan mayores problemas ambientales como, la emisión gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) y de bienestar animal. Por otro lado, los sistemas semi-extensivos y extensivos también producen GEI, pero se asocian con mayor bienestar animal y producción más limpia, pero se ven afectados por las variaciones estacionales para la producción de forraje para mantener los niveles de producción.

C3D-ConvLSTM based cow behaviour classification using video data for precision livestock farming

Cow behaviour provides valuable information about animal welfare, activities and livestock production. Therefore, monitoring of behaviour is gaining importance in the improvement of animal health, fertility and production yield. However, recognizing or classifying different behaviours with high accuracy is challenging, because of the high similarity of movements among these behaviours. In this study, we propose a deep learning framework to monitor and classify dairy behaviours, which is intelligently combined with C3D (Convolutional 3D) network and ConvLSTM (Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory) to classify the five common behaviours included feeding, exploring, grooming, walking and standing. For this, 3D CNN features were firstly extracted from video frames using C3D network; then ConvLSTM was applied to further extract spatio-temporal features, and the final obtained features were fed to a softmax layer for behaviour classification. The proposed approach using 30-frame video length achieved 90.32% and 86.67% classification accuracy on calf and cow datasets respectively, which outperformed the state-of-the-art methods including Inception-V3, SimpleRNN, LSTM, BiLSTM and C3D. Additionally, the influence of video length on behaviour classification was also investigated. It was found that increasing video sequence length to 30-frames enhanced classification performance. Extensive experiments show that combining C3D and ConvLSTM together can improve video-based behaviour classification accuracy noticeably using spatial–temporal features, which enables automated behaviour classification for precision livestock farming.

Leveraging Sub-national Collaboration and Influence for Improving Animal Health Surveillance and Response: A Stakeholder Mapping in Tanzania.

Animal health surveillance plays a vital role in ensuring public health, animal welfare, and sustainable food production by monitoring disease trends, early detecting (new) hazards, facilitating disease control and infection, and providing data for risk analysis. Good stakeholder collaboration across the sector can lead to better communication, better science and decision-making and more effective surveillance and response. An understanding of relevant stakeholders, their interests and their power can facilitate such collaboration. While information on key stakeholders in animal health surveillance is available at the national level in Tanzania, it is missing at the subnational level. The study aimed to explore the existing stakeholders' collaborations and influences at the subnational level through stakeholder mapping and to determine potential leverage points for improving the national animal health surveillance system. A qualitative design was used, involving consultative workshops with government animal health practitioners in Sumbawanga, Sikonge and Kilombero districts of Tanzania from December 2020 to January 2021. Data were collected using an adapted USAID stakeholder collaboration mapping tool with the following steps: (i) Define the objective (ii) Identify all stakeholders (iii) Take stock of the current relationships (iv) Determine resource-based influence (v) Determine non-resource based influence and (vi) Review and revise the collaboration map. Forty-five stakeholders were identified in all three districts and grouped into four categories: private sector and non-government organizations (n = 16), government (n = 16), community (n = 9) and political leaders (n = 4). Animal health practitioners had a stronger relationship with community stakeholders as compared to other categories. The results also showed that most of the stakeholders have non-resource-based influence compared to resource-based influence. The private sector and non-government organizations have a relatively higher number of resource-based influential stakeholders, while political leaders have more non-resource-based influence. The mapping exercise demonstrated that the system could benefit from community mobilization and sensitization, resource mobilization and expanding the horizon of surveillance data sources. Some of the leverage points include integration of surveillance activities into animal health services, clear operational processes, constant engagement, coordination and incentivization of stakeholders. The diversity in the identified stakeholders across the districts suggests that collaborations are contextual and socially constructed.

Animal protein consumer's perception on the welfare of production animals in Belém, Pará State, Brazil

The objective was to identify the level of knowledge of animal protein consumers about the welfare of production animals, in Belém city, Pará State, Brazil. The survey was carried out in two supermarkets, using 401 structured questionnaires, with 10 closed questions, with a “Yes” or “No” answer, taking into consideration, for the formation of a socioeconomic profile, questions related to gender, age group, educational level and family income of the interviewees. Most consumers of animal protein from the municipality of Belém, Pará State, Brazil, recognize that these products are part of their daily diet, however, the interviewees have no knowledge about the topic, and are not willing to pay more for the product with a seal of quality, as well as showing no interest or concern with the way animals are reared or slaughtered. The age group of consumers influences the level of knowledge about the welfare of production animals, observing that consumers aged 40 to 50 years have more knowledge on the subject. Education was a decisive factor in determining the level of knowledge of animal protein consumers about the welfare of production animals, as consumers from high school had more knowledge about the subject.

Genome-Wide Association Studies for Milk Somatic Cell Score in Romanian Dairy Cattle.

Mastitis is one of the most frequently encountered diseases in dairy cattle, negatively affecting animal welfare and milk production. For this reason, contributions to understanding its genomic architecture are of great interest. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified multiple loci associated with somatic cell score (SCS) and mastitis in cattle. However, most of the studies have been conducted in different parts of the world on various breeds, and none of the investigations have studied the genetic architecture of mastitis in Romanian dairy cattle breeds up to this point in time. In this study, we report the first GWAS for SCS in dairy cattle breeds from Romania. For GWAS, we used an Axiom Bovine v3 SNP-chip (>63,000 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism -SNPs) and 33,330 records from 690 cows belonging to Romanian Spotted (RS) and Romanian Brown (RB) cattle. The results found one SNP significantly associated with SCS in the RS breed and 40 suggestive SNPs with −log10 (p) from 4 to 4.9 for RS and from 4 to 5.4 in RB. From these, 14 markers were located near 12 known genes (AKAP8, CLHC1, MEGF10, SATB2, GATA6, SPATA6, COL12A1, EPS8, LUZP2, RAMAC, IL12A and ANKRD55) in RB cattle, 3 markers were close to ZDHHC19, DAPK1 and MMP7 genes, while one SNP overlapped the HERC3 gene in RS cattle. Four genes (HERC3, LUZP2, AKAP8 and MEGF10) associated with SCS in this study were previously reported in different studies. The most significant SNP (rs110749552) associated with SCS was located within the HERC3 gene. In both breeds, the SNPs and position of association signals were distinct among the three parities, denoting that mastitis is controlled by different genes that are dependent according to parity. The current results contribute to an expansion in the body of knowledge regarding the proportion of genetic variability explained by SNPs for SCS in dairy cattle.

Protective efficacy of the peptide Subolesin antigen against the cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus under natural infestation

The cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus affect animal health, welfare, and cattle production in tropical and subtropical zones of the world. Anti-tick vaccines have been an effective alternative for cattle tick control instead of traditional chemical products. To date, Subolesin antigen has shown efficacy for the control of tick infestation in cattle, and previous studies showed that one peptide derived from this protein has demonstrated to elicit a strong and specific humoral immune response. Based on these findings, herein we characterized the efficacy of the peptide Subolesin for the control of cattle tick, R. microplus infestation under field conditions. Twenty-four female calves were assigned to four experimental groups and immunized with three subcutaneous doses of the peptide Subolesin, Bm86, both antigens (dual vaccine) and adjuvant/saline alone, respectively. Serum antibody levels (IgG) were assessed by ELISA and confirmed by Western blot; also, reproductive performance of naturally infested R. microplus was determined. The results showed that immunizations with the experimental antigens reduced tick infestations with vaccine’s efficacy of 67 % (peptide Subolesin), 56 % (Bm86), and 49 % (dual vaccine) based on adult tick numbers, oviposition, and egg fertility between vaccinated and control animals. Peptide Subolesin-immunized calves developed a strong humoral immune response expressed by high anti-pSubolesin IgG levels, and the Western blot analysis confirmed that it is immunogenic. Cattle receiving Bm86 and dual vaccine showed less protection, although Bm86 was within the range reported previously. The negative correlation between antibody levels and reduction of naturally infested R. microplus strongly suggested that the effect of the vaccine was the result of the antibody response in immunized cattle. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that the peptide Subolesin induced a specific immune response in cattle under field conditions, resulting in reduced R. microplus populations in subsequent generations. Finally, integrated tick control must consider anti-tick vaccines as a cost-effective, sustainable, and successful tool for controlling cattle tick infestations.

Благополуччя тварин молочного стада

Dairy animal welfare is of growing interest around the world, especially in developed countries, which have animal welfare programs and resources to establish optimal management systems for cows and understand that animal welfare is the foundation of innovative dairy farming. The article, based on the analysis, synthesis and generalization of world research and the results of own scientific expert assessment of animal welfare identifies the main problems of animal welfare on dairy farms, considers methods of assessing animal welfare in the world and substantiates the importance of implementing welfare programs and management protocols in dairy farming. Thus, in dairy farming, animal welfare is an important component based on world regulations. The analysis of regulations requires an understanding of the legislative aspects of different levels and examples of best practice: a) EU directives and practices, b) directives and practices of each European country c) national directives of non-EU countries, which must take into account all three legislative features. It has been shown that the EU has implemented a number of animal welfare acts, compromises between dairy producers and consumers on a number of instruments to harmonize law enforcement through audit, training, scientific expertise and consulting, and contributes to the stability of the EU food chain. In Ukraine, it is important to harmonize legislation with European Union norms and create a system for assessing the welfare of dairy animals, as well as information and educational activities and training on animal welfare on dairy farms for stakeholders and practical approaches to implementing animal welfare in production. We launched the European approach "Signals of cows" within the Ukrainian-Dutch project "Dairy farm", which allowed to work out the basic aspects of animal welfare in research farms NULES. In 2021, a new law on veterinary medicine was adopted, which implements 14 EU acts and includes a section on animal welfare, which is already a big step forward and opens new opportunities. However, in addition to the provisions on the welfare of calves (harmonization with Regulation 98/58 EC) do not consider regulations on the welfare of the dairy herd, which is not enough to develop the dairy industry in a global transformation. The article presents the basic indicators of welfare of cows, which are used in European countries and which we use in expert assessments. However, systemic data to assess the welfare of cows is not enough, because it is in the plane of consulting, which does not allow the analysis of the welfare of cows. In the context of globalization, the basic problem of animal welfare on dairy farms is the intensification, so the main welfare assessment programs (FARM, The Code of welfare, Welfare Quality and IDSW), which are widely used in milk production in accordance with current animal welfare standards. Intensification of animal husbandry, which provides greater economic efficiency, poses many threats to animal health and remains one of the biggest problems of animal welfare. The desire for profit reduces the ability to implement the principles of sustainable development. We consider it expedient to develop and implement programs for assessing the welfare of cows in Ukraine. So in the EU there is a voluntary WQ program that certifies producers and aims to meet the needs of society, develop a reliable monitoring system on farms and improve the welfare of cows in general. In New Zealand, the Code of welfare has been implemented, which forms awareness of farmers and care for animal welfare. Almost 98% of US farms are members of the FARM (USA) program, which is positioned as a voluntary program and a number of others. Thus, despite the fact that dairy farming is one of the strategic sectors of animal husbandry in Ukraine, the welfare of dairy farms is insufficiently studied and covered. In the perspective of research, it is important to analyze the experience of other countries in this area and the introduction of a system of welfare assessment, as well as the development and implementation of protocols on animal welfare in Ukraine based on the concept of "Five Freedoms". It is important to raise the awareness of stakeholders and officials to ensure proper compliance with EU animal welfare rules, taking into account national, regional and local networks, different support and understanding of the target audience (both farmers and producers, civil servants, scientists and educators, etc.). Also a priority is research on animal welfare, as well as the development of modern approaches to the legal provision of animal welfare, which will improve animal welfare. Thus, in order to ensure a high level of welfare of cows in relation to world standards of animal welfare, the priority is to assess the welfare of cows, improve the legal framework in Ukraine, further research in this area, implementation of effective programs to control the welfare of dairy animals.

Spatial model of foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in an endemic area of Thailand

Foot-and-mouth disease (FDM) is a disease of cloven-hoofed animals with high costs in animal welfare and animal production. Up to now, transmission between farms in FMD-endemic areas has been given little attention. Between farm transmission can be quantified by distance independent transmission parameters and a spatial transmission kernel indicating the rate of transmission of an infected farm to susceptible farms depending on the distance. The spatial transmission kernel and distance-independent transmission parameters were estimated from data of an FMD outbreak in Lamphaya Klang subdistrict in Thailand between 2016 and 2017. The spatial between-farm transmission rate in Lamphaya Klang subdistrict was higher compared with the spatial between-farm transmission rate from FMDV in epidemic areas. The result can be explained by the larger size of the within-farm outbreak in the endemic area due to no culling. The inclusion of distance-independent transmission parameters improved the model fit, which suggests the presence of transmission sources from outside the area and spread within the area independent of the distance between farms. The remaining distance-dependent transmission was mainly local and could be due to over-the-fence transmission or other forms of contact between nearby farms. Farm size on the kernel positively affects the transmission rate, by increasing both infectivity and susceptibility with increasing farm size. The results showed that both distance-dependent transmission and distance-independent transmission were contributed to FMDV transmission in Lamphaya Klang outbreak. These transmission parameters help to gain knowledge about FMD transmission dynamic in the endemic area.

Clinical Applications and Factors Involved in Validating Thermal Windows Used in Infrared Thermography in Cattle and River Buffalo to Assess Health and Productivity.

Simple SummaryInfrared thermography is a clinically useful method for detecting physiopathological alterations in animals through microvascular changes. It has been adapted for applications with large species, as a support tool in evaluating animal welfare, and can also contribute to productive and reproductive evaluations. This review discusses the thermal windows currently in use and characterizes their differences and limitations as resources for early detection and diagnosis in cattle and river buffaloes.Infrared thermography (IRT) is a non-ionizing, non-invasive technique that permits evaluating the comfort levels of animals, a topic of concern due to the growing interest in determining the state of health and welfare of production animals. The operating principle of IRT is detecting the heat irradiated in anatomical regions characterized by a high density of near-surface blood vessels that can regulate temperature gain or loss from/to the environment by modifying blood flow. This is essential for understanding the various vascular thermoregulation mechanisms of different species, such as rodents and ruminants’ tails. The usefulness of ocular, nasal, and vulvar thermal windows in the orbital (regio orbitalis), nasal (regio nasalis), and urogenital (regio urogenitalis) regions, respectively, has been demonstrated in cattle. However, recent evidence for the river buffalo has detected discrepancies in the data gathered from distinct thermal regions in these large ruminants, suggesting a limited sensitivity and specificity when used with this species due to various factors: the presence of hair, ambient temperature, and anatomical features, such as skin thickness and variations in blood supplies to different regions. In this review, a literature search was conducted in Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and PubMed, using keyword combinations that included “infrared thermography”, “water buffalo”, “river buffalo” “thermoregulation”, “microvascular changes”, “lacrimal caruncle”, “udder”, “mastitis”, and “nostril”. We discuss recent findings on four thermal windows—the orbital and nasal regions, mammary gland in the udder region (regio uberis), and vulvar in the urogenital region (regio urogenitalis)—to elucidate the factors that modulate and intervene in validating thermal windows and interpreting the information they provide, as it relates to the clinical usefulness of IRT for cattle (Bos) and the river buffalo (Bubalus bubalis).

Study on Consumer Preference for Traceable Pork With Animal Welfare Attribute.

We determined consumer preferences for traceable pork attributes in 328 consumers in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, China, based on a traceable pork attribute system composed of traceability, animal welfare, place of origin, and price attributes. Preference was studied using a Choice Experiment and Bayesian inference analysis. Results showed that the marginal utility of health welfare was lower than that of high-level traceability information and similar to that of place of origin but was higher than that of middle-level traceability information. A complementary relationship existed between dietary animal welfare and high-level traceability information and between health welfare and non-indigenous production. A substitution relationship existed between health welfare and indigenous production and between environmental animal welfare and non-indigenous production. The marginal utilities of health welfare and dietary welfare were higher than those of all price levels, and consumers accept a higher price as a result of increased production costs due to the inclusion of animal welfare information. Due to the harsh realities of COVID-19, China has recently approved the animal welfare attribute to be integrated into traceability market systems of new animal-derived food. The government should encourage manufacturers to produce diverse traceable animal-derived food not only to protect animal welfare and promote the construction of an ecological civilization, but also to develop new animal-derived food markets to satisfy different levels of consumer demand.

Animal welfare during a period of intensification: The views of confinement and alternative pig producers

AbstractIn Hungary, where intensive and non-intensive pig production co-exist, in-depth interviews were used to explore the views and priorities of pig producers regarding animal welfare and ethical animal production. Farmers using confinement systems and those with alternative, non-confinement systems shared certain core values such as attachment to animals and to traditional community values. Both groups agreed on most key elements of animal welfare (health, nutrition, etc) but had different priorities for how to achieve these within their production systems. Alternative producers considered unconfined, semi-natural environments important for animal welfare, and confinement producers with medium-sized operations (400-600 sows) generally agreed. Only the three largest producers (&gt; 1,000 sows) expressed strong confidence in confinement methods. Different producers emphasised different features for ensuring animal welfare. Producers with large-scale confinement systems depend strongly on staff and automation and require the means to find and retain good staff. Those with medium-scale confinement systems see automation and personal involvement with animals as crucial, and they need economic conditions that allow herd size to remain within their personal capacity. Those operating alternative systems see small herds and non-confinement systems as crucial for animal welfare and need markets that encourage such systems. Subsidies, regulatory systems and technological developments would need to be tailored to meet the different needs in order for producers to improve animal welfare in the different systems and according to their own values and priorities. Medium-scale confinement producers could better act on their values if economic conditions allowed them to use more natural systems.

Consumer Perceptions of Precision Livestock Farming-A Qualitative Study in Three European Countries.

Simple SummaryPrecision livestock farming (PLF) will have a profound influence on animal husbandry, farm animal welfare and animal-based production chains. Even though consumers ultimately pay the costs of innovations, their perceptions of PLF technologies have been under-investigated. To explore consumer perceptions of PLF technologies within the pork and dairy value chains, altogether six focus group discussions were conducted in Finland, the Netherlands and Spain. The results indicate that consumers expect that PLF technologies will enhance the health and welfare of farm animals, while generating environmental improvements and increasing transparency in livestock farming. They, however, also expressed the fear that PLF technologies will lead to more industrialisation in livestock farming; that PLF technologies and data are vulnerable to misuse and cyber-crime; and that PLF information may be inadequately communicated to consumers. The findings are used to formulate directions for strengthening the acceptance of PLF technologies among European consumers.Scholars in the fields of animal science and technology have investigated how precision livestock farming (PLF) can contribute to the quality and efficiency of animal husbandry and to the health and welfare of farm animals. Although the results of such studies provide promising avenues for the development of PLF technologies and their potential for the application in animal husbandry, the perspectives of consumers with regard to PLF technologies have yet to be the subject of much investigation. To address this research gap, the current study explores consumer perceptions of PLF technologies within the pork and dairy value chains. The investigation is based on results from six focus group discussions conducted in three European countries, each reflecting a different market environment: Finland, the Netherlands and Spain. The results indicate that consumers expect the implementation of different PLF technologies to enhance the health and welfare of farm animals, while generating environmental improvements and increasing the transparency of value-chain processes. The analysis further reveals three over-arching consumer concerns: (1) the fear that the integration of PLF technologies will introduce more industrialisation into livestock farming production; (2) the concern that PLF technologies and data are vulnerable to misuse and cyber-crime; and (3) the concern that PLF information is not communicated adequately to allow informed purchase decisions. The research findings provide directions for members of the animal-based food value chain to make informed decisions to improve their sustainability, social responsibility and credibility by endorsing the acceptance of PLF (technologies) amongst European consumers.

Simultaneous production decisions in agricultural contexts: an experimental investigation of pesticide use, animal welfare and wheat production

PurposeFarmers often decide simultaneously on crop production or input use without knowing other farmers' decisions. Anticipating the behavior of other farmers can increase financial performance. This paper investigates the role of other famers' behaviors and other contextual factors in farmers' simultaneous production decisions.Design/methodology/approachMarket entry games are a common method for investigating simultaneous production decisions. However, so far they have been conducted with abstract tasks and by untrained subjects. The authors extend market entry games by using three real contexts: pesticide use, animal welfare and wheat production, in an incentivized framed field experiment with 323 German farmers.FindingsThe authors find that farmers take different decisions under identical incentive structures for the three contexts. While context plays a major role in their decisions, their expectations about the behavior of other farmers have little influence on their decision.Originality/valueThe paper offers new insights into the decision-making behavior of farmers. A better understanding of how farmers anticipate the behavior of other farmers in their production decisions can improve both the performance of individual farms and the allocational efficiency of agricultural and food markets.

Genome evolution and the emergence of pathogenicity in avian Escherichia coli

Chickens are the most common birds on Earth and colibacillosis is among the most common diseases affecting them. This major threat to animal welfare and safe sustainable food production is difficult to combat because the etiological agent, avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC), emerges from ubiquitous commensal gut bacteria, with no single virulence gene present in all disease-causing isolates. Here, we address the underlying evolutionary mechanisms of extraintestinal spread and systemic infection in poultry. Combining population scale comparative genomics and pangenome-wide association studies, we compare E. coli from commensal carriage and systemic infections. We identify phylogroup-specific and species-wide genetic elements that are enriched in APEC, including pathogenicity-associated variation in 143 genes that have diverse functions, including genes involved in metabolism, lipopolysaccharide synthesis, heat shock response, antimicrobial resistance and toxicity. We find that horizontal gene transfer spreads pathogenicity elements, allowing divergent clones to cause infection. Finally, a Random Forest model prediction of disease status (carriage vs. disease) identifies pathogenic strains in the emergent ST-117 poultry-associated lineage with 73% accuracy, demonstrating the potential for early identification of emergent APEC in healthy flocks.

Farm animal welfare: A key component of the sustainability of farming systems

Consumers of food and other products now demand sustainability of production methods and, for most people, the welfare of production animals is an important component of sustainability. Products are not considered to be of good quality unless the welfare of the production animals is good. This is part of a more general change in knowledge that there are few differences between humans and other animal species, with the conclusion that each individual life should be valued and that causing poor welfare to a farmed animal is morally wrong. All vertebrate animals and some invertebrates are now shown to be sentient, that is they have the capacity to have feelings. There have been major advances in animal welfare science so that housing and management systems that result in poor welfare of the animals are now identified and every producer needs to change their systems and methods to ensure good welfare and avoid all of the worst welfare problems.