Vergleich erwünscht – Benchmarking mit Tiergesundheitsindikatoren auf ökologischen Milchviehbetrieben

Recent findings emphasise the need to improve the animal health status on organic dairy farms in Germany. To assess what are appropriate improvement measures in the farm specific situation and to define health targets, the farmer needs orientation. In this study a competitive benchmarking in relation to production diseases was performed for 60 organic dairy farms. Instead of herd averages, percentages of diseased animals in the herd were used to determine sets of indicators for the four disease complexes udder, metabolism, reproduction, and claws/limbs based on milk recording data. The benchmarking showed that none of the farms performed well (or poorly) in all health areas. Instead, it was shown that each farm possessed its own strengths and weaknesses. The great variance between farms supports a farm-individual approach for improving animal health

Ausfallkosten durch Eutererkrankungen und Lahmheiten auf ökologisch wirtschaftenden Milchviehbetrieben in Deutschland

Production diseases have severe economic impacts in dairy farms. Financial losses due to culling, decreased productivity, discarded milk as well as costs for treatment and labour efforts are failure costs related to the occurrence of production diseases. To support decision making regarding herd health measures, failure costs caused by clinical and subclinical mastitis as well as mild and severe lameness were assessed on 60 organic dairy farms in Germany. Failure costs varied substantially between farms. Decision-making in terms of animal health requires a farm specific calculation of failure costs to enable the identification of those measures that provide the best cost-benefit relationship

Produktionskrankheiten in der ökologischen Milchviehhaltung und die Notwendigkeit von Zielformulierungen

Organic farming is based on the four principles health, ecology, fairness and care, and is governed by EU regulation 834/2007. The question leading to this research was whether these provisions are sufficient to ensure good animal health. Prevalences of production diseases in 192 organic dairy farms in France, Germany, Spain and Sweden were assessed based on routinely collected herd data and locomotion scoring. Herd-level indicators were determined for udder health, metabolism, reproduction and lameness. The median (min - max) prevalence of subclinical mastitis was 51.3% (18.9 - 94.2) and 14.2% (0 - 79.2) of the animals were lame. Prevalence of subclinical ketosis was 10% (0 - 45) and 42% (4.3 - 90.5) of the animals had a prolonged calving interval. Mean values and distributions showed that the organic principles and regulations do not lead to consistently low levels of production diseases. Thus, there is a gap between the organic principle of health and the health performance of organic farms. The formulation of a common objective and continuous monitoring of the degree to which health targets are achieved may be a means to reduce the gap and to sustainably improve animal health

Wechselwirkungen zwischen Systemvariablen und Produktionskrankheiten auf ökologischen Milchviehbetrieben

Production diseases (PDs) emerge from complex interactions between a multitude of variables. In order to prevent and control PDs, measures need to be taken that are likely to be effective in the farm context. In this study, an impact analysis was performed on 60 organic dairy farms in Germany to assess the relationships between 13 system variables and to determine factors with a large impact on PDs. Direct impacts were estimated during a round-table discussion between farmer, veterinarian and advisor using an impact matrix. Indirect impacts were computed and evaluated by graph analysis. Across farms, feeding, hygiene, and treatment had the highest direct impact on PDs, whereas knowledge and skills, herd health monitoring, and dry cow management were most influential considering indirect impacts. Despite these general tendencies, there was great variation between farms regarding their most influential variables. By enabling system understanding and identifying farm areas where improvement measures are most likely to have an effect, the presented approach is expected to considerably support decision-making with respect to animal health management

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

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

Structural characteristics of organic dairy farms in four European countries and their association with the implementation of animal health plans

The aim of the present study was to classify the diversity of organic dairy farms in four European countries according to their structural characteristics and investigate the association of these farm types with implementation of herd health plans. A Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), followed by Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC), was used to classify the farms. Data for the analysis came from a survey of 192 organic farms from France, Germany, Spain and Sweden and contained farm and farmer descriptions from which the typologies were derived. Herd health plans was agreed for each farm, via a participatory approach involving the farmers, their veterinarians and other advisors (e.g. dairy advisors) by the use of an impact matrix. The MCA yielded two principal component axes explaining 51.3% of variance. Three farm groups were identified by AHC using the factor scores derived from the MCA. Cluster 1, the most numerous group (56.7% of the sample), had medium herd sizes with moderate use of pasture and moderate intensity of input use. Cluster 2, representing 17.7% of the sample, were the most extensive system and mainly of very small farm size. Cluster 3 (25.5% of the sample and only found in Sweden), had an intensive management approach, but relatively low stocking rate. The analysis also showed that organic dairy farms adopted differentiated strategies towards economic assets and animal health status, according to group membership. The typology therefore provides insights into the potential for advisory strategies relating to husbandry practices, different housing, pasture management and intensity, etc. adapted to different groups of farms. Regarding herd health plan implementation, Cluster 1 was the group with most implemented actions and Cluster 2 with lowest rate of implemented actions. These results may be used as background for directing (tailored) advice strategies, i.e. different types of organic dairy farms (clusters) may require different types of advisory services and recommendations adapted to the specific farm situation in order to deliver future improvements in animal health.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Capturing systemic interrelationships by an impact analysis to help reduce production diseases in dairy farms

Production diseases, such asmetabolic and reproductive disorders,mastitis, and lameness,emerge from complex interactions between numerous factors (or variables) but can be controlled by the right management decisions. Since animal husbandry systems in practice are very diverse, it is difficult to identify the most influential components in the individual farm context. However, it is necessary to do this to control disease, since farmers are severely limited in their access to resources, and need to invest in management measures most likely to have an effect. In this study, systemic impact analyses were conducted on 192 organic dairy farms in France, Germany, Spain, and Sweden in the context of reducing the prevalence of production diseases. The impact analyses were designed to evaluate the interrelationships between farm variables and determine the systemic roles of these variables. In particular, the aim was to identify the most influential variables on each farm. The impact analysis consisted of a stepwise process: (i) in a participatory process 13 relevant system variables affecting the emergence of production diseases on organic dairy farms were defined; (ii) the interrelationships between these variables were evaluated by means of an impact matrix on the farm-level, involving the perspectives of the farmer, an advisor and the farm veterinarian; and (iii) the results were then used to identify general system behaviour and to classify variables by their level of influence on other system variables and their susceptibility to influence. Variables were either active (high influence, lowsusceptibility), reactive (low influence, high susceptibility), critical (both high), or buffering (both low). An overall active tendency was found for feeding regime, housing conditions, herd health monitoring, and knowledge and skills, while milk performance and financial resources tended to be reactive. Production diseases and labour capacity had a tendency for being critical while reproduction management, dry cow management, calf and heifer management, hygiene and treatment tended to have a buffering capacity. While generalised tendencies for variables emerged, the specific role of variables could vary widely between farms. The strength of this participatory impact assessment approach is its ability, through filling in the matrix and discussion of the output between farmer, advisor and veterinarian, to explicitly identify deviations from general expectations, thereby supporting a farm-specific selection of health management strategies and measures

Structural characteristics of organic dairy farms in four European countries and their association with the implementation of animal health plans

The aim of the present study was to classify the diversity of organic dairy farms in four European countries according to their structural characteristics and investigate the association of these farm types with implementation of herd health plans. A Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), followed by Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC), was used to classify the farms. Data for the analysis came from a survey of 192 organic farms from France, Germany, Spain and Sweden and contained farm and farmer descriptions from which the typologies were derived. Herd health plans was agreed for each farm, via a participatory approach involving the farmers, their veterinarians and other advisors (e.g. dairy advisors) by the use of an impact matrix. The MCA yielded two principal component axes explaining 51.3% of variance. Three farm groups were identified by AHC using the factor scores derived from the MCA. Cluster 1, the most numerous group (56.7% of the sample), had medium herd sizes with moderate use of pasture and moderate intensity of input use. Cluster 2, representing 17.7% of the sample, were the most extensive system and mainly of very small farm size. Cluster 3 (25.5% of the sample and only found in Sweden), had an intensive management approach, but relatively low stocking rate. The analysis also showed that organic dairy farms adopted differentiated strategies towards economic assets and animal health status, according to group membership. The typology therefore provides insights into the potential for advisory strategies relating to husbandry practices, different housing, pasture management and intensity, etc. adapted to different groups of farms. Regarding herd health plan implementation, Cluster 1 was the group with most implemented actions and Cluster 2 with lowest rate of implemented actions. These results may be used as background for directing (tailored) advice strategies, i.e. different types of organic dairy farms (clusters) may require different types of advisory services and recommendations adapted to the specific farm situation in order to deliver future improvements in animal health

Diversity and Strain Specificity of Plant Cell Wall Degrading Enzymes Revealed by the Draft Genome of Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD-1

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