Decision-Making Regarding On-Farm Culling Methods for Dairy Cows Related to Cow Welfare, Sustainable Beef Production, and Farm Economics.

IF 2.7 2区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE

Animals Pub Date : 2025-06-03 DOI:10.3390/ani15111651

Mariska Barten, Yvette de Geus, Joop den Hartog, Len Lipman

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Abstract

In the Netherlands, around 52,000 dairy cows die on the primary farm each year due to natural death, euthanasia, or on-farm emergency slaughter (OFES). The decision as to what is the best option is made by the farmer, often after consulting a veterinarian, a livestock trader, or a slaughterhouse operator. To determine which factors play a role in this decision-making process, semi-structured interviews were conducted with dairy farmers, private veterinary practitioners, livestock traders, and slaughterhouse operators in the Netherlands. Dairy cattle culling decisions are influenced and limited by strict enforcement of livestock transport regulations and limited options for on-farm killing methods. Requirements regarding mortality rates imposed by the dairy industry and private quality labels for raw milk also influence culling decisions in the Netherlands. Most participants stated that restrictive conditions regarding OFES and mobile slaughterhouses (MSHs) appear to have (unintended) negative effects on cow welfare and meat salvage in general. Different interests, such as cow welfare, food safety, economic concerns of various stakeholders, the reputational interests of the dairy and beef industries, and sustainability objectives such as meat salvage can be conflictive. The results of this study show that the decision-making process regarding culling or (prolonged) veterinary treatment of dairy cattle is complex because various factors, interests, and uncertainties must be weighed. This weighing can vary between individual dairy farms and individual dairy farmers.

查看原文本刊更多论文

与奶牛福利、可持续牛肉生产和农场经济相关的奶牛农场扑杀方法决策。

在荷兰，每年大约有52000头奶牛死于主要农场，原因是自然死亡、安乐死或农场紧急屠宰（OFES）。最好的选择是由农民在咨询兽医、牲畜贸易商或屠宰场经营者后做出的决定。为了确定哪些因素在这一决策过程中发挥作用，对荷兰的奶农、私人兽医从业人员、牲畜贸易商和屠宰场经营者进行了半结构化访谈。奶牛的扑杀决定受到严格执行牲畜运输法规和有限的农场屠宰方法选择的影响和限制。乳制品行业对死亡率的要求和原料奶的私人质量标签也影响了荷兰的扑杀决定。大多数与会者表示，关于OFES和移动屠宰场的限制性条件似乎对奶牛福利和肉类回收产生了（意想不到的）负面影响。不同的利益，如奶牛福利、食品安全、各利益相关者的经济关注、乳制品和牛肉行业的声誉利益，以及可持续性目标，如肉类回收，可能是相互冲突的。本研究结果表明，由于必须权衡各种因素、利益和不确定性，有关扑杀或（长期）兽医治疗奶牛的决策过程是复杂的。这一权重在个体奶牛场和个体奶农之间可能有所不同。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Animals Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Animal Science and Zoology

CiteScore

4.90

自引率

16.70%

发文量

3015

审稿时长

20.52 days

期刊介绍： Animals (ISSN 2076-2615) is an international and interdisciplinary scholarly open access journal. It publishes original research articles, reviews, communications, and short notes that are relevant to any field of study that involves animals, including zoology, ethnozoology, animal science, animal ethics and animal welfare. However, preference will be given to those articles that provide an understanding of animals within a larger context (i.e., the animals'' interactions with the outside world, including humans). There is no restriction on the length of the papers. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical research in as much detail as possible. Full experimental details and/or method of study, must be provided for research articles. Articles submitted that involve subjecting animals to unnecessary pain or suffering will not be accepted, and all articles must be submitted with the necessary ethical approval (please refer to the Ethical Guidelines for more information).