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- Title
Animal welfare and biosecurity assessment: a comparison between Italian and Irish beef cattle rearing systems.
- Authors
Fusi, Francesca; Lorenzi, Valentina; Franceschini, Giorgio; Compiani, Riccardo; Harper, Valeria; Ginestreti, Jessica; Ferrara, Giandomenico; Sgoifo Rossi, Carlo Angelo; Bertocchi, Luigi
- Abstract
Context: European beef production is facing fresh challenges on various fronts: increasing public concern on animal welfare; declining EU meat consumption; and, conversely, expected growth in global demand for meat. The Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (CReNBA) has developed an assessment protocol for collecting information about beef cattle welfare and biosecurity conditions, with the intention of better understanding animal needs and disseminating best practices. Aims: The protocol was applied on Italian and Irish farms, and the results were used as a starting point for a specific statistical analysis for comparing animal welfare and biosecurity levels in the two countries. Methods: The protocol consists of animal-based measures and non-animal-based measures (management-based and resource-based indicators) and has been designed to determine the major hazards and benefits that can influence cattle health and welfare, including the presence of biosecurity issues. The outcomes of welfare and biosecurity assessments conducted during November 2016–July 2017 of 40 Irish beef herds reared indoors were compared with those of 85 Italian beef units assessed over the same period. Differences obtained within each beef-unit distribution were calculated by the VARNC index (diversity index), and a distance estimate of the beef-unit distribution from a hypothetical ideal condition was calculated by using the distance from ideal (dfi) index. Key results: The dfi index revealed that Irish farms were closer to the ideal condition for the measures 'experience and training of stockpersons', 'water provision', 'handling facilities', 'restraint facilities', and 'temperature, humidity and ventilations conditions'. Italian farms were closer to the ideal condition for 'diet calculation and feed quality', 'feeding management', 'feeding place dimension', 'cleanliness of water points', 'cleanliness of floors', 'type of floors', 'cleanliness of animals', and 'integument alterations'. In contrast to the Italian farms, there was particular awareness of the importance of biosecurity on Irish farms. Conclusions: The results revealed intrinsic management and housing differences between the two rearing systems, although only few dissimilarities were found in the animal outcomes: in fact, the assessment of the animal-based measures gave very similar results for the two countries, except for 'cleanliness of the animals' and 'integument alterations'. Implications: In the face of global challenges affecting the pursuit of farming sustainability, farmers should be encouraged to improve safeguards for animal welfare and reduce the spread of animal diseases. This can be achieved by facilitating knowledge exchange internationally. The Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (CReNBA) developed an on-farm welfare and biosecurity assessment protocol for beef cattle kept indoors, which consists of several indicators to be measured from animals, management practices, the farm environment and biosecurity plans. Despite intrinsic differences in beef production among countries, the protocol was successfully applied in Italy and in Ireland. The data collected revealed strengths and weaknesses of the rearing systems in both countries.
- Subjects
ITALY; IRELAND; BIOSECURITY; ANIMAL welfare; BEEF cattle; HOUSING management; HEALTH of cattle; ANIMAL diseases; CATTLE feeding &; feeds
- Publication
Animal Production Science, 2021, Vol 61, Issue 1, p55
- ISSN
1836-0939
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1071/AN19611