Assessing Extensive Semi-Arid Rangeland Beef Cow–Calf Welfare in Namibia: Part 1: Comparison between Farm Production System’s Effect on the Welfare of Beef Cows

Abstract

A proposed animal welfare assessment protocol for semi-arid rangeland-based cow–calf systems in Namibia combined 40 measures from a protocol developed for beef cattle in New Zealand with additional Namibia-specific measures. Preliminary validation of the protocol had been undertaken with five herds in one semi-commercial village. The aim of the current study was to apply this protocol and compare animal welfare across three cow–calf production systems in Namibia. A total of 2529 beef cows were evaluated during pregnancy testing in the yards of 17 commercial, 20 semi-commercial, and 18 communal (total: 55) herds followed by an assessment of farm resources and a questionnaire-guided interview. Non-parametric tests were used to evaluate the difference in the welfare scores between the production systems. The results indicated a discrepancy of animal welfare between the three farm types, with a marked separation of commercial farms from semi-commercial, and communal village farms in the least. The differences in these production systems were mainly driven by economic gains through access to better beef export market for commercial farms and semi-commercial villages, as well as by the differences in the available grazing land, facility designs/quality, and traditional customs in the village systems. The results indicate an advantage of commercialization over communalization.

Assessment of Welfare in Transhumance Yak Hybrids (Chauris) in the Lower Himalayan Region of Nepal

“…This is, in part, because of the perceived naturalness of those systems, but it is increasingly being recognized that the natural environment can result in poor welfare conditions and that we need to systematically assess the welfare of pasture-based livestock in order to provide evidence that the claims of higher animal welfare in these systems are robust [6,7]. Furthermore, most of this interest in the systematic assessment of farm animal welfare has focused on commercially farmed livestock rather than livestock that are farmed on a subsistence or semi-commercial basis, even though increasing commercialization may actually be positively associated with welfare outcomes [8].…”