On-farm biosecurity in livestock production: farmer behaviour, cultural identities and practices of care

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Portland Press via the DOI in this recordefinitions of biosecurity typically include generalised statements about how biosecurity risks on farms should be managed and contained. However, in reality, on-farm biosecurity practices are uneven and transfer differently between social groups, geographical scales and agricultural commodity chains. This paper reviews social science studies that examine on-farm biosecurity for animal health. We first review behavioural and psychosocial models of individual farmer behaviour/decisions. Behavioural approaches are prominent in biosecurity policy but have limitations because of a focus on individual farmer behaviour and intentions. We then review geographical and rural sociological work that emphasises social and cultural structures, contexts and norms that guide disease behaviour. Socio-cultural approaches have the capacity to extend the more commonly applied behavioural approaches and contribute to the better formulation of biosecurity policy and on-farm practice. This includes strengthening our understanding of ‘good farming' identity, tacit knowledge, farmer influence networks, and reformulating biosecurity as localised practices of care. Recognising on-farm biosecurity as practices of biosecure farming care offers a new way of engaging, motivating and encouraging farmers to manage and contain diseases on farm. This is critical given government intentions to devolve biosecurity governance to the farming industry

Good methods for good farmers? Mapping the language of good farming with “diligent farmers” in Hong Kong

This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordData availability: Data will be made available on request. The research data supporting this publication are provided within this paper.This paper explores two questions facing the use of the concept of the ‘good farmer’ in rural studies: what are the most appropriate methods to understand good farming; and what is the relevance of the concept in non-western countries? The paper explores these issues in the context of pig farmers' biosecurity decisions and daily disease management practices in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Specifically, we argue that to broaden the relevance of the good farming concept, we need to devise specific methodologies to capture the relational practices among farmers, non-human life forms and substances that construct the ‘good farmer’ meaning in different cultural contexts. Firstly, we consider the language of ‘good farming’, its possible translations, potential meanings and alternative phrases used amongst Chinese-speaking farmers. Secondly, we develop a farmer-oriented methodology to analyse how these locally specific translations of good farming are constructed and used in relation to the management of animal disease. Drawing on 12 farmers' mapping and their interview discussion, we develop a narrated mapping methodology in which the creation of farm maps acts as a device to illustrate and talk about biosecurity and good farming. This visual method triangulates the graphical data with subsequent interview data of farmers' maps. From this we show how the idea of the ‘diligent farmer’ has much stronger resonance in Hong Kong than good farming. Farm maps identify specific symbols of diligence, highlighting values of productivism, environmentalism and social relationships. The mapping methodology also reveals the performative work involved in becoming a diligent farmer. In conclusion, the paper considers the broader methodological implications for the concept of good farming, suggesting that cultural linguistic differences need to be recognised in the concept, and arguing for further methodological advancement.Wellcome Trus

Creating an innovation ecosystem for rapid diagnostic tests for livestock to support sustainable antibiotic use

This is the final version. Available on open access from Routledge via the DOI in this recordAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of today’s greatest public health threats and reducing antimicrobial use in livestock is essential to prevent its spread, requiring rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to ensure that the drug prescribed matches the sensitivity of the disease organism. However, despite decades of research on RDTs and a relatively permissive regulatory environment in the UK, few devices are in commercial use. Challenges discussed by RDT developers included identifying commercially-viable targets, and management of the innovation ecosystem, e.g. to create clear pathways to market supporting positive interactions between farmers, vets, and other actors along the value chain. Future support for RDT development could be provided through incorporation in: assured food systems; business service packages provided by centralised laboratories; or animal health monitoring packages related to the spread of AMR. Breeding stock sales could require an accompanying health package including RDTs, vaccines and/or antibiotics, linking to precision agriculture approaches. Unlike the example of RDT development for COVID-19, it seems that the urgency of the issue and the clarity of links between animal and human health outcomes are not yet sufficient to support a fast-tracking programme for the development of RDTs to combat AMR

What can ecotheological and agroecological accounts contribute to biopolitical perspectives on farming?

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Routledge via the DOI in this recordThe authors consider how ecotheological principles have the potential to guide emerging farming movements such as agroecology and regenerative agriculture in ways that would promote the resilience and autonomy of farmers to move toward environmentally sustainable practices. They outline the case study of the village of Amanbaev in Kyrgyzstan, which after the fall of the Soviet Union was able to develop new farming practices. They identify various areas where these principles offer mutual support to one another and consider how ecotheological principles might offer additional support for farmers to build resilience and develop sustainable farming practices. Foucault’s analysis of the pastoral language of religion is particularly pertinent to our account, which draws on examples from farming to consider the positive contributions of ecotheological perspectives for farming policy. They also argue that this provides a foundation for much-needed balance to the primarily political and governmental perspectives on the impacts on farming

Developing PDA for low-bitrate low-delay video delivery

Pervasive wireless multimedia applications often require Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) for processing and playback. The capability of PDAs, however, are generally much lower than desktop PCs. When these devices are used to play back video delivered over a network from a desktop server, their buffers can easily overflow, seriously degrading the video quality. In this paper, we report our implementation of some special stream processing techniques to deal with the capability mismatch between a PC and PDAs for low-delay live video streaming. These techniques are, the Selective Packet Drop (SPD) algorithm, the Game API (GAPI) optimization and the speed adaptation algorithm. All of them can be easily implemented. We show that our system provides much better video quality than systems without our techniques

Influence on the implementation of biosecurity measures in dairy cattle farms: Communication between veterinarians and dairy farmers

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordThis study was carried out in two regions in Spain (Catalonia and Galicia) through eight focus groups; four for dairy farmers and four for veterinarians. The results showed that dairy farmers and veterinarians attributed responsibility to one another for not following biosecurity practices. The study brings to light contradictions among veterinarians and certain individual veterinary practices that participated in the study, which lead to doubt and confusion on the part of dairy farmers. Distinct perceptions were also identified of the role that government authorities should play in relation both to training and sanctions as a means of improving biosecurity on dairy farms. Additionally, the participants expressed varying opinions as to whether biosecurity measures ought to be made mandatory or remain voluntary. Results from this study highlight the need to promote initiatives through which distinct stakeholders such as veterinarians, government authorities, and dairy farmers can develop consensus-based messages on the implementation of biosecurity practices.Spanish Ministry of Science and InnovationEuropean Regional Development Fund (ERDF)National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT), ChileUniversitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spai