Attentes en matière d’élevage des acteurs de la sélection animale, des filières de l’agroalimentaire et des associations

Le projet COSADD a été conduit de 2007 à 2009 pour identifier, tester des objectifs de sélection animale compatibles avec une perspective de développement durable, et cohérents avec les attentes des acteurs concernés. Au cours des années 2008 et 2009 nous avons réalisé des entretiens semi-directifs auprès d'une soixantaine d'acteurs de la sélection animale, des filières, de la distribution et des associations (de consommateurs, de protection des animaux ou de l'environnement). Les priorités et attentes des différents types d'acteurs ont été identifiées, à la fois dans une perspective générale, et en focalisant l'approche autour du développement durable. Les acteurs du secteur économique partagent un certain nombre de points de vue autour de la priorité à accorder aux enjeux économiques et de marchés, autour de la nécessité de produire des animaux faciles à élever, robustes et résilients. L'environnement et le bien-être animal sont considérés comme des demandes «extérieures», mais importantes. Des spécificités existent bien entendu par rapport à chaque espèce. Pour les acteurs des associations, la perspective est inversée. Les enjeux économiques sont compris, mais l'accent est mis sur les enjeux sociétaux. En définitive deux paradigmes ou modèles productifs apparaissent, avec la possibilité d'une agriculture duale combinant les deux modèles. L'un que l'on peut qualifier «d'écologiquement intensif» autour d'un élevage productif, tourné vers des marchés de masse et de hauts niveaux de consommation, avec le respect de normes strictes ; et un «alternatif et extensif» où l'on accepte une diminution de la consommation de viande pour promouvoir des signes de qualité et des systèmes extensifs.To contribute to the management of European farm animal genetic resources in Europe, the project «COSADD» identified and tested relevant sustainable breeding goals, according to the preferences of the food chain and general public stakeholders. Four species - cattle, fish, pigs and poultry - were studied, as representatives of the diversity of meat production systems and breeding schemes. In 2008 and 2009 about 60 semi-guided interviews were carried out with representatives of the breeding schemes, agro-industrial actors, retailers and representatives of general public NGOs (consumers, animal and environment protection). Stakeholders’ priorities were analyzed in both current economic and sustainable development contexts. The interviewees from the economic sector shared some views: the priority of the economic and marketing aspects, the necessity to produce animals, both easy to raise and resilient to sanitary risks. Environment and animal welfare were also important traits even if considered as external demands. However, many differences in priorities were associated with the specificities of each species’ production system (intensive, linked to the soil, or not in both cases) and breeding schemes (private or public). The representatives of general public NGOs focused on public views and expectations toward animal production, definition of sustainable development and opinion on some controversial questions about the relationships between animal production and environment or animal welfare. Two different paradigms are in fact described, even if many people think that both will coexist through the next decade. On the one hand, a «green growth» paradigm, productive but respecting strict regulations; and on the other hand an «alternative and extensive» one, with quality schemes and a lower level of meat consumption

The dehorning of dairy calves: Practices and opinions of 639 farmers

Calf dehorning is a routine husbandry practice on dairy farms that is justified by safety reasons for stockpersons and by a reduced risk of injures among herdmates. In Europe, the practice is regulated by law but little is known about the methods applied or about farmers' attitude to the practice. This study aimed to broaden the existing information on dehorning in dairy holdings by processing results of 639 farm questionnaires gathered in a traditional dairy area of northeastern Italy. Farm questionnaires were stratified according to herd size, type of housing, and productive purpose of the predominant reared breed(s). Chi-squared tests were performed to verify the significant association between a given practice or opinion and the 3 classification factors, and odd ratios were calculated. The outcomes of the study showed that dehorning was carried out on 80% of the surveyed farms, and disbudding was the method reported by all the interviewed farmers. Hot-iron cauterization was the preferred method for disbudding (91%). On average, disbudding was performed at 32 d of age and it was more likely in farms with ≥60 cows than in smaller dairy holdings (OR=7.3). The practice was carried out mainly by farm personnel, but the intervention of a veterinarian was far more likely (OR=5.98) on farms with ≤30 cows than on larger dairies. Most farmers (70%) stated that they had not received any specific training on how to perform disbudding. Fifty-two percent of the respondents reported that disbudding causes prolonged postoperative pain (≥6 h) but pain management was rare. Only 10% of the farmers used local anesthesia before cauterization, and 5% of the farmers provided calves with postoperative analgesia. Consistent with these results, farmers indicated limited willingness to pay the cost of analgesia or to call a veterinarian to perform the procedure. This low motivation of the respondents toward the adoption of practices able to reduce pain related to disbudding might arise from their insufficient knowledge on long-term negative effects of early painful experiences on behavior and handling of dairy heifers. Farmers in favor of keeping horned cows were asked about the reasons for not carrying out dehorning. Aesthetic motivations (54% of respondents) and lack of time (24%) were the main reasons cited. Moreover, a large majority of these respondents (74%) reported no difficulty in handling horned cattle