Improving animal health on organic dairy farms: stakeholder views on policy options

Krieger, M., Jones, P. J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3464-5424, Blanco-Penedo, I., Duval, J. E., Emanuelson, U., Hoischen-Taubner, S., Sjöström, K. and Sundrum, A. (2020) Improving animal health on organic dairy farms: stakeholder views on policy options. Sustainability, 12 (7). 3001. ISSN 2071-1050 doi: 10.3390/su12073001

Abstract/Summary

Although ensuring good animal health is a stated aim of organic livestock farming and an important reason why consumers purchase organic products, the health states actually achieved are comparable to those in conventional farming. Unfortunately, there have been no studies to date that have assessed stakeholder views on different policy options for improving animal health on organic dairy farms. To address this deficit, stakeholder consultations were conducted in four European countries, involving 39 supply-chain stakeholders (farmers, advisors, veterinarians, inspectors, processors, and retailers). Stakeholders were encouraged to discuss different ways, including policy change, of improving organic health states. Acknowledging the need for further health improvements in organic dairy herds, stakeholders generally favoured establishing outcome-oriented animal health requirements as a way of achieving this. However, as a result of differing priorities for animal health improvement, there was disagreement on questions such as: who should be responsible for assessing animal health status on organic farms; and how to define and implement minimum health requirements. The results of the study suggest that future research must fully explore the opportunities and risks of different policy options and also suggest ways to overcome the divergence of stakeholders’ interests in public debates.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/90019
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development
Uncontrolled Keywords	production diseases, dairy cows, organic farming, health requirements, outcome-oriented measures, stakeholder consultation, policy instruments
Publisher	MDPI
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