Smallholder family farmers’ perceptions, attitudes and choices regarding husbandry practices that influence performance and welfare of lactating dairy calves

Fruscalso, Vilmar; Antillón, Gabriela Olmos; Hötzel, María José

doi:10.1590/0103-8478cr20170184

Cited by 8 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Their lack of knowledge was also apparent in the words they used to describe their ideal dairy farm, with descriptors such as properly or adequate frequently used, rather than specific terms or references to specific practices and their outcomes. Not surprisingly given their background, most participants had low awareness of the four common dairy management practices described in the questionnaire [ 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ]. Despite the low awareness of the existence and prevalence of these practices on Brazilian dairy farms, participants overwhelmingly opposed them, a phenomenon also shown in other surveys [ 22 , 64 , 65 , 66 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brazilian Citizens: Expectations Regarding Dairy Cattle Welfare and Awareness of Contentious Practices

Cardoso

Keyserlingk

Hötzel

2017

Animals

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Simple SummaryAnimal welfare is an important issue for citizens in North America and Europe, but much less is known about how citizens from emergent countries, such as Brazil, view this topic. Our aim was to explore attitudes of urban Brazilian citizens about dairy production and, in particular, how they view four routine husbandry practices: early cow-calf separation; zero-grazing; culling of the newborn male calf; and dehorning without pain mitigation. Through in-depth interviews and a questionnaire using open-ended questions, we can conclude that animal welfare was a major issue for our participants, especially in terms of its perceived relation with milk quality. Although participants were initially unaware about any of the four management practices, they were all viewed as contentious and not supported. This study provides some insights that farmers and others working in the Brazilian dairy supply chain should take into consideration, particularly in terms of social sustainability.AbstractThe primary aim of this study was to explore attitudes of urban Brazilian citizens about dairy production. A secondary aim was to determine their knowledge and attitudes about four potentially contentious routine dairy cattle management practices: early cow-calf separation; zero-grazing; culling of newborn male calves; and dehorning without pain mitigation. To address the first aim 40 participants were interviewed using open-ended semi-structured questions designed to probe their views and attitudes about dairy production in Brazil, and 300 participants answered a questionnaire that included an open-ended question about the welfare of dairy cattle. Primary concerns reported by the participants centered on milk quality, which included the rejection of any chemical additives, but also animal welfare, environmental and social issues. The interviewees rarely mentioned animal welfare directly but, when probed, expressed several concerns related to this topic. In particular, participants commented on factors that they perceived to influence milk quality, such as good animal health, feeding, clean facilities, and the need to avoid or reduce the use of drugs, hormones and pesticides, the avoidance of pain, frustration and suffering, and the ability of the animals to perform natural behaviors. To address our second aim, participants were asked questions about the four routine management practices. Although they self-reported being largely unaware of these practices, the majority of the participants rejected these practices outright. These data provide insight that animal welfare may be an important issue for members of the public. Failure to consider this information may increase the risk that certain dairy production practices may not be socially sustainable once lay citizens become aware of them.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brazilian Citizens: Expectations Regarding Dairy Cattle Welfare and Awareness of Contentious Practices

Cardoso

Keyserlingk

Hötzel

2017

Animals

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“…The variables included: a) importance of dairy activity on farm (of first importance = 1 vs. second or less importance ≥ 2), b) breed (pure/one breed vs. mixed breed farm), c) calving assistance (yes vs. no), d) umbilical disinfection (yes vs. no), e) time the calf stayed with mother (≤ 12 h vs. > 12 h), f) colostrum quantity provided (≤ 4 L vs. > 4 L), g) type of colostrum (natural vs. colostrum replacer), h) type of liquid diet provided (whole milk vs. powder milk), i) form of provision of liquid diet (dam vs. bucket/bottle), j) housing type (group vs. individual), k) weaning age (≤ 60 d vs. > 60 d), and h) number of lactating cows (3 categories: ≤20, 21-40, 41-130). The lactating cows (LC) chosen categorization sought to represent the average, medium, and big size farms in the area that linked farm management dynamics, based on empirical knowledge gathered during in-depth interviews done by the authors in the region (Fruscalso et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The study was carried out between October 2014 and December 2015 in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil and was part of a larger project that focused on the socio-environmental characterization of dairy calves rearing systems in pasture-based dairy farms in Brazil (Fruscalso et al, 2017). All procedures were approved by the Ethics Committees on Research on Humans (Protocol 1.344.025, 2015) and Animals (Protocol PP00962, 2015) of the Federal University of Santa Catarina.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The methodology aimed to attain a representative variability in preweaning heifer calf mortality and herd management practices, within the time and resources available to carry out the full project. We focused the questionnaire on preweaned heifer calves because few smallholder dairy producers rear the male calves in this region in Brazil (Hötzel et al, 2014;Fruscalso et al, 2017). All dairy farmers in RS that raised their own heifer calves on farm and attended the municipal offices of Emater during the research period, were eligible to participate.…”

Section: Selection Of Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dairy calves’ mortality survey and associated management practices in smallholding, pasture-based herds in southern Brazil

Fruscalso

Olmos

Hötzel

2020

Preventive Veterinary Medicine

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Our retrospective, cross-sectional study aimed to identify the mortality rate of preweaned heifer calves and associated herd-management factors in family-run dairy holdings in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. A survey was made available through an online platform to all the municipalities (n = 494) with a state official extension office (Emater), allowing for any milk producer in RS raising the calves on-farm to take part in the study. A total of 1451 farmers responded to the survey between October 2014 and December 2015. Yearly total mortality, stillbirths and post-natal mortality to weaning were calculated from responses. The association of herd characteristics and practices with herd mortality was evaluated using multilevel multivariable logistic regression models. Herd mortality was modelled as a two vector binded variable that included the number of failures (n = female calves born alive but dead before weaning) and successes (n = weaned female calves) on-farm in the past 12 months. Models included region as random effect. The herds had 13 lactating cows (median, range 1-130). Pure breed herds, especially Holstein, predominated (81 %). Milk production was 190 L/d (median, range 7-4000). Total mortality rate was 8.5 % (1065/12563, median 0.0 %, Q 1 -Q 3 0.0-14.3 %/farm), and stillbirths 1.7 % (207/12563; median 0.0 %, Q 1 -Q 3 0.0 -0 %/farm). Post-natal mortality rate was 6.9 % (858/ 12356, median 0.0 %, Q 1 -Q 3 0.0-11.1 %/farm). In 89.2 % of the farms, no stillborn calf was reported, and in only 2.8 % there was more than one case. In 67 % of farms, no death calf born alive was reported; in 33 %, an average of 2 deaths/farm (range 1-12 deaths/farm) was reported. In 16 % of the farms, mortality was ≥ 20 %, and in 4.3 % it was ≥ 50 %. The main reported causes of death were diarrhoea and unknown causes. Higher mortality was associated with herds with mixed breeds (OR = 1.3, CI = 1.09-1.59), performing unattended calvings (OR = 1.2; IC = 1.04-1.40), leaving the calf for long periods with the cow (OR = 1.21, CI = 1.00-1.45), and housing various calves in a pen (OR = 1.4, CI = 1.20-1.60). Furthermore, reduced mortality was associated with medium size herds (i.e. 21-40 lactating cows; OR = 0.82, CI = 0.69-0.97). Although the mortality rate observed is conservatively lower or equal to other international reports, it is higher than could be desired. The factors identified as associated to mortality are understood as proxies for the poor quality of management of the practices adopted. Thus, reduction of mortality is at hand without representing major infrastructural changes.

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“…Milk production and productivity are influenced by several variables that are internal and external to farms. Authors have intended to model aspects of diverse farms related to improving dairy production (HANSSON & FERGUSON, 2011;ZHENG, et al, 2013;FRUSCALSO, et al, 2017). In this case, focus on variables internal to the farms, several multiple linear regression models were run, to explain variations in milk production and productivity.…”

Section: Factors Influencing Milk Production and Productivity Farmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cow Milk Production and Farm Stability in Agrarian Reform Settlements in the South-Eastern Amazon

Pereira

Martins

Nogueira

et al. 2019

BJA

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This article analyses the current situation and prospects of the permanence of farmers in cow mil production on their lots in two agrarian reform settlements with different historical contexts located in the Marabá municipality, Pará State, Brazil. The analysis makes statistical comparisons with single-factor ANOVA to compare strata between groups of farms that do and do not sell milk and Pearson’s correlation and simple linear regression analysis to evaluate differences among indicators of livestock husbandry activities to identify the best indicator variables for the improvement of productivity and milk sales. Milk production increases when financial credit is present; however, the sale of milk in agrarian reform farms is hampered by the low intensification of this activity and the need for more land to support the herd, which jeopardises the stability of farms and the permanence of family farmers on their lots end favours the migration to urban centres.

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Smallholder family farmers’ perceptions, attitudes and choices regarding husbandry practices that influence performance and welfare of lactating dairy calves

Cited by 8 publications

References 17 publications

Brazilian Citizens: Expectations Regarding Dairy Cattle Welfare and Awareness of Contentious Practices

Brazilian Citizens: Expectations Regarding Dairy Cattle Welfare and Awareness of Contentious Practices

Dairy calves’ mortality survey and associated management practices in smallholding, pasture-based herds in southern Brazil

Cow Milk Production and Farm Stability in Agrarian Reform Settlements in the South-Eastern Amazon

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