Animal Welfare Assessment: Can We Develop a Practical, Time-Limited Assessment Protocol for Pasture-Based Dairy Cows in New Zealand?

Abstract

Despite being a leading producer and exporter of dairy products, New Zealand has no industry-recognised welfare assessment protocol. A New Zealand-specific protocol is essential, as almost all dairy farms in New Zealand are pasture-based and housing is rarely used. Therefore, protocols developed for intensive cows are not suitable. The aim of this study was to develop a simple yet practical welfare assessment protocol that could be used to assess the welfare of a dairy herd during one visit timed to occur around milking. Six welfare assessment protocols and four studies of dairy cattle welfare assessments that had some focus on dairy cattle welfare at pasture were used, along with the New Zealand Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare, to identify potential assessments for inclusion in the protocol. Eighty-four potential assessments (20 record-based and 64 that needed assessing on-farm) were identified by this process of welfare assessments. After screening to exclude on-farm assessments that were not relevant, that had only limited practical application in pasture-based dairy cows or that required more time than available, 28 on-farm assessments remained, which were put together with the 20 record-based assessments and were tested for feasibility, practicality and time on two pasture-based dairy farms. Assessments were then identified as suitable, suitable after modification or not feasible. Suitable and modified assessments were then included in the final protocol alongside additional measures specific to New Zealand dairy farms. The final protocol included 24 on-farm assessments and eight record-based assessments. Further testing of these 32 assessments is needed on more dairy farms across New Zealand before the protocol can be used to routinely assess the welfare of dairy cows in New Zealand.

Historical Evolution of Cattle Management and Herd Health of Dairy Farms in OECD Countries

“…In the beginning, farms were pasture-based, with grassland being the main constituent of cattle feed [ 5 ]. Currently, this system is still implemented in regions of great preponderance in the dairy sector, and in available pastures, such as New Zealand [ 7 ], Ireland [ 6 ], Uruguay [ 91 ], and the Azores [ 8 ] ( Figure 2 ). These regions allow the cultivation of annual rich pastures [ 5 , 8 ], due to the mild climate and abundant rainfall throughout the year.…”

“…In these systems, there is a greater possibility of implementing veterinary herd health management (VHHM) programs, including reproduction, prevention, and nutrition management, and veterinary consultancy. However, in areas such as Ireland [ 6 ], New Zealand [ 7 ], or even the Azores [ 8 ], due to their climatic and geographic characteristics, pasture-based systems are still the most common production systems. However, these do not allow for such effective control of the health and performance indicators of the animals, and are frequently linked to a delay in the implementation of new management practices and technologies [ 9 ].…”

“…New Zealand [7], or even the Azores [8], due to their climatic and geographic characteristics, pasture-based systems are still the most common production systems. However, these do not allow for such effective control of the health and performance indicators of the animals, and are frequently linked to a delay in the implementation of new management practices and technologies [9].…”

Practicability of a Time-Limited Welfare Assessment Protocol for Pasture-Based Dairy Farms, and a Preliminary Assessment of Welfare Outcome Thresholds

“…This is because many parameters useful in housed systems are not relevant or useful in cows that are never housed [ 5 ]. As there is currently no industry-standard welfare assessment scheme for dairy farms in New Zealand, we developed a welfare assessment protocol for use on pasture-based dairy farms in New Zealand [ 6 ]. This protocol was focused on being time-limited with measurements made during and around milking.…”

“…Indeed, it seems unlikely that universally agreed thresholds are feasible, as there are significant disagreements even between experts on what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable welfare [ 1 , 5 ]. Thus, any expert-set threshold will be a compromise, even if experts are carefully chosen [ 6 ]. However, there is increasing recognition that optimising animal welfare is a crucial part of farming’s “social licence” and that this social licence is determined by people other than experts [ 8 ].…”