Attitudes and personality of farm managers and association with cow culling rates and longevity in large-scale commercial dairy farms

Rilanto, Triin; Viidu, Dagni-Alice; Kaart, Tanel; Orro, Toomas; Viltrop, Arvo; Emanuelson, Ulf; Ferguson, Eamonn; Mõtus, Kerli

doi:10.1016/j.rvsc.2021.11.006

Cited by 12 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Neuroticism is positively related to cow culling rates (Rilanto et al, 2022) and negatively to negative beliefs towards cows and their treatments (Hanna et al, 2009). Significant relationships regarding openness are reported in three papers: Openness is negatively related to a superficial approval of animal welfare, and positively to higher levels of an animal hygiene index (Döring et al, 2019) as well as to empathy towards cows (Hanna et al, 2009).…”

Section: Animal Welfarementioning

confidence: 98%

“…Also, the ratings of others (i.e., persons affiliated with the surveyed farmers) regarding how extraverted piglet breeders are, are negatively related to farmers' level in a technical animal hygiene index(Döring et al, 2019). Five papers discuss the associations between agreeableness and animal welfare: Agreeableness positively relate to the cow culling rates(Rilanto et al, 2022), the particpation in an animal welfare scheme (Schröter and Mergenthaler, 2021), as well as animal welfare orientation and empathy towards animals(Austin et al, 2005) and specifically empathy towards cows(Hanna et al, 2009). It is negatively associated with negative beliefs towards cos(Hanna et al, 2009) and being in the group of non-intenders to vaccinate against Bluetongue(Sok et al, 2018).…”

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confidence: 99%

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(Why) Do farmers’ Big Five personality traits matter? – A systematic literature review

Lehberger¹,

Grüner²

2023

Preprint

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Agricultural economists are increasingly incorporating insights from psychology into their research to better understand farmers’ behavior. The Big Five model of personality is frequently used in psychological research. This paper aims at answering how and when researchers use the Big Five personality traits when focusing on farmers (research questions, measurement of personality traits). In addition, we analyze to what extent the Big Five personality traits contribute to explaining farmers’ behaviors and outcomes. To answer these research questions, we carry out systematic literature research guided by the PRISMA approach. We searched three databases (Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed) at the end of February 2022 and identified n = 36 eligible studies. We included studies, which were written in English, which focused on farmers, including primary data and measurements of the Big Five personality traits. This is the first systematic and comprehensive review of the role of the Big Five personality traits in farmers’ behavior. Our review shows an increase in interest in the farmers’ Big Five personality traits in the past years, most often incorporated in research conducted in Europe. By carrying out the main steps of content analysis, we develop a taxonomy, categorizing the research aims of the reviewed studies. We identify three main categories: well-being (human and animal), business (in a broad sense and in a narrow sense), and methodological aims. Overall, our review suggests that some personality traits are more important for understanding farmers’ behaviors and outcomes than others, depending on the context. Indeed, we were able to identify some patterns. For instance, our review shows that neuroticism is most often negatively related to measures of human well-being, or business development, whereas agreeableness supports non-technical skills and education. Openness and extraversion seem to be strong predictors of pro-environmental behavior, whereas conscientiousness tends to increase business performance. To assess the possible risk of bias in the reviewed studies, we included a quality discussion. We further discuss the limitations of our review and identify avenues for future research. To increase the review’s credibility, we pre-registered our procedure (INPLASY202230138, DOI: 10.37766/inplasy2022.3.0138).

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Section: Animal Welfarementioning

confidence: 98%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

(Why) Do farmers’ Big Five personality traits matter? – A systematic literature review

Lehberger¹,

Grüner²

2023

Preprint

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“…It has been widely recognized that breeding goals should not only focus on maximal production, but also on animal health and resilience. Still, dairy farmers show difficulties in focusing on more health related traits, as production traits are more directly related to farm economics and emission reduction (Rilanto et al, 2022). Further support and education is required here to help dairy farms find an optimal production level integrating farm economics, animal health and environmental sustainability.…”

Section: Effect On Cow Health and Lifespanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving adaptation to lactation: nutrition and management strategies for periparturient dairy cattle

Goselink

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After completing my veterinary studies, I started my professional life in a research position at Wageningen Livestock Research in the department of Animal Nutrition. I was always interested in the connection between nutrition, physiology and health in dairy cattle, but I was not sure whether a research career could truly match my skills and passions. What I was sure about, was that committing to a PhD ("working four years on a single topic") would be extremely boring… And here it is: my PhD thesis. It was not a four-year route, it was not really a single topic, and: not boring at all! This academic journey started in my early days at Wageningen Livestock Research with the first project assigned to me, entitled 'Zwangerschapsgym voor koeien' (Prenatal exercise in dairy cattle). This unconventional idea came from my colleague Frank Lenssinck who wanted to see how exercise could affect calving ease. Thinking along, this idea started my interest in the effect of physical exercise on dairy cow metabolism and health. That initial (crazy) pilot study we performed yielded some intriguing results regarding the energy and lipid metabolism of the cows involved. It was followed by a larger trial which is reported in Chapter 3 of this thesis.Simultaneously I engaged in several other trials monitoring cows around calving, supporting their health by different strategies. With the inspiration of colleagues Ad van Vuuren, Gert van Duinkerken and Thomas Schonewille, the outline of this PhD thesis was shaped with a combination of four studies. It was a challenge to synthesize the wide variation of management and nutrition strategies into one thesis… but without such a challenge, it may have become dull! Numerous people actively and passionately contributed along the way and I am grateful to each one of you. Highlighting some specific persons, I will start with my promotor Wouter Hendriks: even though I remember your first statement was "I have no interest in cows", thank you for giving me the opportunity to start this thesis, and for guiding me to the end, including the last hurdles! To Thomas and Gert, my co-promotors, your support during brainstorming sessions and manuscript reviews was invaluable, and you also kept reminding me now and then that I had a thesis to finish ;-) Here it is! The data reported in this thesis has been collected with the help of many colleagues at our research farm De Waiboerhoeve / Dairy Campus. Thanks to Martin de Bree, Edwin Bleumer, Gerard de Bree, Jan Zandbergen, and many others, cows were selected, checked, sampled, and where needed: convinced to exercise. Thank you all for keeping an eye on the cows! Ad, Jan Dijkstra, André Bannink, Ariëtte van Knegsel, Jurgen van Baal, Eddy Weurding and Ronald Zom: thank you for your collaboration and co-authorship on one or more scientific articles with me. Ariëtte and Yvette de Haas, thank you for our "tea sessions". Ad and Arie Klop, thank you for the moral support as my paranymphs towards this day.The artistic touch on the cover was created by my mother -than...

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Keeping profitable cows in the herd: A lifetime cost-benefit assessment to support culling decisions

Warner

Dallago

Dovoedo

et al. 2022

animal

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Attitudes and personality of farm managers and association with cow culling rates and longevity in large-scale commercial dairy farms

Cited by 12 publications

References 59 publications

(Why) Do farmers’ Big Five personality traits matter? – A systematic literature review

(Why) Do farmers’ Big Five personality traits matter? – A systematic literature review

Improving adaptation to lactation: nutrition and management strategies for periparturient dairy cattle

Keeping profitable cows in the herd: A lifetime cost-benefit assessment to support culling decisions

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