Perceptie, drijfveren en hindernissen van bioveiligheid in de rundveeproductie

Abstract

Farm biosecurity includes the prevention of disease transmission within and between farms. Two studies were set up to investigate what motivates and withholds farmers to implement biosecurity measures. The first study aimed to assess the perception of cattle farmers towards biosecurity and to identify possible reasons for its low application. This study consisted of a focus group discussion, of which the trends were used to develop a questionnaire for Flemish cattle farmers. Although the 91 participating farmers were familiar with several measures, they associated them with disease prevention rather than biosecurity. Nearly all farmers (98%) identified their herd veterinarian as their main source of information. Twenty percent and 32% of the respondents were convinced that the implementation of biosecurity would cost them more money and time, respectively. Finally, 80% of the farmers saw room for improvement of their herd, but indicated a need for practical information. The second study aimed to identify the key elements of twenty preselected biosecurity measures, motivators and obstacles for their implementation. They were judged by twenty-two cattle stakeholders, such as farmers, veterinarians and advisors, on feasibility, efficacy and return on investment. A box for parturition, a plan for rodent control and cleaning and disinfection of the stables scored highest overall. The lowest scoring measures were showering before entering the stables and an animal-free period of 24 hours. Their return on investment scored very low, since high investments are required. For a farmer to understand why biosecurity is beneficial, he must understand all risks and costs of disease and how biosecurity may reduce these risks and costs.

Biosecurity practices in Belgian veal calf farming: Level of implementation, attitudes, strengths, weaknesses and constraints

“…Most farmers in this study were willing to invest money and time to solve shortcomings on their farm, which is in agreement with previous findings (Damiaans et al, 2018). However, farmers are often hindered by their beliefs that many biosecurity measures are not feasible or important.…”

“…Furthermore, a number of the farmers considered several measures to be unimportant or impossible to implement. This finding confirms previous observations that there is a substantial lack of information on how to improve farm management and how to implement these improvements (Damiaans et al, 2018). The finding also shows that the results of previous studies that suggested measures like risk classification, limitation of the arrival period, and the farms of origin have not been translated into practice (Pardon, 2012).…”

“…However, farmers are often hindered by their beliefs that many biosecurity measures are not feasible or important. Farmers often feel they lack information on both the efficacy and feasibility of disease prevention through biosecurity measures (Sarrazin et al, 2014;Damiaans et al, 2018),…”

“…Biosecurity is defined as all measures that aim to prevent pathogens from entering or leaving a herd, referred to as external biosecurity, and all measures aiming to reduce the spread of pathogens within a herd, referred to as internal biosecurity (Damiaans et al, 2018). External biosecurity contains measures concerning animal movements, e.g., purchase and transport of live animals.…”

“…This assumption is likely not the case for veal farmers since the risk of infection is known to be high (Pardon et al, 2011;Knight et al, 2013). Moreover, cattle farmers have indicated a lack of information regarding biosecurity (Damiaans et al, 2018;Higgins et al, 2018). This lack can be presumed to be similar among veal farmers because comparable channels of information are available.…”