Sentient commodities and productive paradoxes: the ambiguous nature of human–livestock relations in Northeast Scotland

Wilkie, Rhoda

doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2004.10.002

Cited by 135 publications

(121 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…As noted in the analysis, an important element in the development of good stockmanship skills is the direct contact between the stockperson and individual animals e which assists in the development of empathy and allows stockpeople to build up knowledge of behaviours or even 'moods' which can be used to identify welfare problems. In large industrially managed systems, however, the lack of this contact can hinder the development of these relationships (Boivin et al, 2003;Wilkie, 2005). This observation lead Boivin et al (2003) to ask "What is the number of animals that a stockperson is really able to care for with respect to animal welfare and productivity?"…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Farmers often identify with individual animals that stand out from the herd in some way (also see Wilkie, 2005). For example, "Worker: Um, I've got a cow, 230, she's, um, comes on last, kicks like crap, but um, without her standing in the way of the milker for the entire milking, everyone else will, um -sort of if she wasn't there, they wouldn't come in.…”

Section: Understanding Between the Cow And Human Components Of The Cumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the development of large confined systems with a high ratio of animals to people has increased the difficulties in providing human care to farm animals (Vaarst and Alrøe, 2011). Similarly, changes to the production chain have lead to animals having shorter more transient lives which, consequently, limits the ability of farmers to form relationships or develop empathy (Te Velde et al, 2002;Wilkie, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some recent sociological/geographical studies have focused more specifically on farm animals. For example, Wilkie (2005) used the concept of emotional 'attachment' and 'detachment' to investigate changes in the welfare social contract between animals and stockpeople in the context of agricultural intensification. Riley (2011) investigated how dairy farmers emotionally detach themselves from their animals at the point of retirement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Building ‘cowshed cultures’: A cultural perspective on the promotion of stockmanship and animal welfare on dairy farms

Burton

Peoples

Cooper

2012

Journal of Rural Studies

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a b s t r a c tImproving animal welfare is an important part of the development of the agricultural industry, particularly at a time when intensification and the encroachment of factory-style production systems is making the maintenance of human-animal relations increasingly difficult. Animal science deals with the issue of improving stockmanship by focusing on the relationships between attitudes and behaviour, under the premise that improved attitudes will lead to improved behaviour. From an analysis of 42 interviews with owners, sharemilkers and workers on dairy farms in New Zealand we present a different view, seeing behaviour instead as part of a self-reinforcing culture in which animals, humans and the physical structure all contribute to the development of farm specific ways of doing and being. We further suggest that changing one stockperson's attitude alone is insufficient to ensure a change in the culture as other actors e including animals and non-human actors e reinforce any existing culture that has developed, making both attitudinal and behavioural change difficult. We conclude by discussing the key importance of designing farm systems and structures that promote positive interactions between animals and humans and suggest that this, rather than simply promoting knowledge and attitudinal change, is likely to be the most effective way of maintaining stockmanship in the face of an industrialising agriculture.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Understanding Between the Cow And Human Components Of The Cumentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Building ‘cowshed cultures’: A cultural perspective on the promotion of stockmanship and animal welfare on dairy farms

Burton

Peoples

Cooper

2012

Journal of Rural Studies

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“…Recognizing cattle as complex beings creates moral conflict, and farmers and ranchers have responded to this conflict in a wide variety of ways (e.g., Wilkie, 2005). Some become so conscientious about animal care that they cannot sleep a full night in calving season for fear that an animal might suffer (Spooner et al, 2012).…”

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 99%

"Everyday" Knowledge and a New Paradigm of Animal Research

Fraser¹,

Spooner²,

Schuppli³

2017

ABC

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You'll watch say ten cows come down to that [water] bowl. The boss cow gets to drink first. Of that ten, there'll be two that'll say, 'Ah, the hell with this', and they'll go downThese were the words of a cattle rancher from western Canada recorded during interviews that tried to capture farmers' and ranchers' views about animal welfare (Spooner, Schuppli, & Fraser, 2012). The quote indicates a little of the rancher's understanding of cattle: that they are individuals with very different personalities, that they have relationships with each other -sometimes hierarchical -based on individual recognition, and that they form specific affiliations with other members of the herd.This kind of "everyday understanding" is possessed by a great many farmers and ranchers whose work revolves around animals. It is based on what scientists might term "narrative data" (Fraser, 2009): descriptive observations of how specific individuals interact with other specific individuals, how they deal with the environment in their individual ways, how they respond to different human beings, and how all this changes (or remains consistent) in different individuals over time with maturation and learning. This type of information gives farmers and ranchers an understanding of cattle that is similar in many respects to the understanding that observant dog-owners have of their dogs, or that attentive zoo keepers develop of the animals in their charge.Some scientists develop a similar understanding of animals through research. As one example, Goodall's (1971) narrative accounts of the lives of chimpanzees led her to recognize emotions and cognitions in the animals, and a similar approach has been used on other species (e.g., Moss, 1988;Smuts, 1999). However, the everyday understanding of animals possessed by farmers and ranchers is quite different from the scientific understanding that comes from much of the formal research on animal behavior, partly because of the dominant research paradigm that behavioral scientists have traditionally used: studying animals under experimental conditions rather than observing their normal lives; treating animals as exemplars of a species, not as unique individuals; and relying on quantitative data while

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Health and Welfare of Organic Livestock and Its Challenges

Sundrum

2012

Organic Meat Production and Processing

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Sentient commodities and productive paradoxes: the ambiguous nature of human–livestock relations in Northeast Scotland

Cited by 135 publications

References 20 publications

Building ‘cowshed cultures’: A cultural perspective on the promotion of stockmanship and animal welfare on dairy farms

Building ‘cowshed cultures’: A cultural perspective on the promotion of stockmanship and animal welfare on dairy farms

"Everyday" Knowledge and a New Paradigm of Animal Research

Health and Welfare of Organic Livestock and Its Challenges

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