Survey of dairy cattle welfare in small-scale mountain farming systems of the Eastern Alps
Contact Information
Zuliani, A.1; Mair, M.2, Kraševec, M.3; Lora, I.4; Brscic, M.4; Cozzi, G.4; Leeb, C.2; Zupan, M.3; Winckler, C.2; Bovolenta, S.1
1. Department of Food, Agricultural, Environmental and Animal Sciences, University of Udine (Italy);
2. Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Austria);
3. Department of Animal Science, University of Ljubljana (Slovenia);
4. Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padova (Italy).
Zuliani Anna
DVM, MSc, PhD candidate
[email protected]
Abstract
GERMANY
Small-scale dairy farming is a key activity in most mountain regions worldwide. The goal of the present study was to provide robust survey data for health and
welfare of dairy cows in small-scale farms in the Eastern Alps using outcome-based indicators, as recently suggested in the OIE welfare standards.
The present study included 67 small-scale dairy farms in the transboundary alpine region of Austria (n=25, mean herd size=20 cows), Italy (n=21, mean herd
size=32) and Slovenia (n=21, mean herd size=14). Measurements were based on the EFSA protocol targeting small-scale dairy farms modified after the Welfare
Quality® approach. Assessments were carried out 3 times in each farm to capture the seasonal change in management practices characterizing traditional alpine
systems. Information on farm practices and resources in both the lowland and the highland farm sites was collected using questionnaires.
Most farms raised local dual-purpose breeds and mean milk yield/cow/year ranged between 3,330 kg and 10,200kg. In all countries, more than 30% of cows were
at least in their fourth lactation. Reported time on pasture ranged between 1200h and 11568h per year. At herd level, variability of most outcome-based indicators
was large and welfare issues were mainly related to poor body condition (mean: 10% lean cows/farm, range 0-60%), soiling of animals (mean: 61% dirty cows/farm,
0-100%) and integument alterations (mean: 7,5% cows with lesions/farm; 0-100%). For measures such as mortality, dystocia or lameness consistent low prevalence
(mean <5%) were found.
This survey indicated on the one hand that small scale alpine farming system are very diverse in both farming practices and prevalence of outcome-based indicators
and on the other hand that high levels of animal welfare can be achieve when small-scale alpine farms are properly managed resulting in 0% prevalence for most
outcome-based indicators.
AUSTRIA
SWITZERLAND
SLOVENIA
ITALY
Introduction
The need of common indicators for the assessment of animal welfare on farm has led to the
development of several outcome-based measures (OIE 2015, EFSA 2015, WQ 2009), deemed to be
suitable for a wide range of husbandry systems and regions worldwide.
Mountain dairy farmers in the Alpine region usually keep cows indoors during winter-time and
release the cows on pasture during the summer season. This small-scale farming system represents
a peculiar case-study for the heterogeneity in housing and management practices where to
investigate dairy cattle health and welfare using outcome-based measures.
Figure 1. Gridded polygons represent the areas of the Eastern Alpine region
involved in the dairy cattle welfare assessment survey.
Activities
Sixty-seven small-scale dairy farms were selected in the transboundary eastern Alpine region (Figure 1) encompassing Austria (n=25), Italy (n=21) and Slovenia (n=21). Welfare
measurements were based on the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) protocol targeting small-scale dairy farms modified after the Welfare Quality® approach. Most outcomebased measures included in the protocol are in line with the OIE welfare indicators for dairy cattle. Assessments were carried out 3 times in each farm to capture the seasonal
change in management practices characterizing traditional alpine systems. Face to face interviews took place during each visit to collect information on farm practices and
resources. Table 1 displays data on management practices while Table 2 summarizes data on outcome-based indicators. The results represent an average of all assessments
carried out during the survey.
Table 1. Summary statistics for management practices and husbandry characteristics in 67 eastern alpine dairy farms.
Eastern
Alpine
Region
Income from
Functional
Family members
Milk Yield
dairy
Dairy cows
Disbudding
trimming
working in the farm
(Kg
production
(n)
(%)
(intervention/
(n)
/cow/year)
(%)
cow/year)
Natural
mating
(%)
Concentrate at
Altitude
Altitude
peak lactation winter farm summer farm
(Kg/cow/day)
(m asl)
(m asl)
Pasture
(h)
Mean
3
67
22
5928
46
1
23
5
622
1392
3080
Median
2
70
16
5500
5
1
0
4,5
640
1360
2898
Min
1
10
6
3330
0
0,2
0
0
6
710
1200
Max
6
100
63
10200
100
2
100
10
1500
2096
11568
Table 2. Summary statistics for outcome-based indicators (% of cows/farm) in 67 eastern alpine dairy farms.
Eastern
Alpine
Region
Lean
cows
(%)
Dirty
legs
(%)
Dirty
teats
(%)
Hairless
legs
(%)
Hairless
body
(%)
Lesions
swellings
(%)
Ocular
Diarrhea
discharge
(%)
(%)
Severe
lameness
(%)
Old
cows+
(%)
Mean
10,6
61,3
22,0
25,3
10,9
7,5
2,1
Median
4,4
73,0
10,0
16,7
6,5
2,9
Min
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
Dystocia
(%)
1,3
3,4
36,7
1,7
1,3
9,4
1,8
0,0
0,0
0,0
35,3
0,0
0,3
5,7
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
75,0
22,9
69,2
14,3
10,0
78,8
33,3
Max
60,0
100,0
100,0
100,0
70,0
100,0
60,0
+ Cows at least at their 4th lactation; *Cows with somatic cell count greater than 400.000 cells/ml
Somatic
Downer
Mortality
*
cell count
(%)
(%)
(%)
Almost 70% of farmers kept cows tethered and indoors during winter (at least for 6 months). Most farmers raised dual-purpose breeds and mean milk yield/cow/year ranged
between 3,330kg and 10,200kg. In all countries, more than 30% of cows were at least in their fourth lactation. Reported time on pasture ranged between 1200h and 11568h per
year. At herd level, variability of most outcome-based indicators was large and welfare issues were mainly related to poor body condition, soiling of animals, and integument
alterations. For measures such as mortality, dystocia or lameness consistent low prevalence (mean <5%) were found.
Conclusions
The EFSA protocol for small-scale farms was applied in the eastern alpine mountain setting and outcome-based measures were considered as main indicators of dairy cattle welfare.
The results indicated that small scale alpine farming systems are very diverse in management practices and resources but high levels of animal welfare can be achieved when smallscale alpine farms are properly managed resulting in 0% prevalence for most outcome-based indicators.
Acknowledgments:
The authors are grateful to the farmers who participated in this study. The project was partially funded by the DairyCare Short Term Scientific Mission grant.
References:
EFSA 2015 Scientific Opinion on the assessment of dairy cow welfare in small-scale farming systems. EFSA Journal 13: 4137-4239
OIE 2015 Animal Welfare and Dairy Cattle Production System. In Terrestrial Animal Health Code World Organisation for Animal Health: Paris, France
WQ 2009 Welfare Quality® assessment protocol for cattle. Welfare Quality Consortium. Lelystad, Netherlands