- * Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706
- † Quality Milk Production Services, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850
- ‡ Department of Animal Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis 97331
- Received 25 November 2013, Accepted 26 March 2014, Available online 10 May 2014
Abstract
Differences
in adoption of selected practices used in welfare assessment and audit
programs were contrasted among organic (ORG; n = 192) herds and
similarly sized conventional grazing herds (CON-GR; n = 36), and
conventional nongrazing herds (CON-NG; n = 64). Criteria from 3 programs
were assessed: American Humane Association Animal Welfare Standards for
Dairy Cattle, Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM), and the
Canadian Codes of Practice (CCP). Data were collected by trained study
personnel during a herd visit and included information about neonatal
care, dehorning, pain relief, calf nutrition, weaning, record keeping,
use of veterinarians, and animal observations. Associations of
management type (ORG, CON-GR, or CON-NG) with adoption of selected
practice were assessed. Almost all farms (97%) met criteria suggested
for age at weaning but fewer CON-NG farmers weaned calves at ≥5 wk of
age compared with ORG and CON-GR farmers. Only 23% of farms met program
requirements for use of pain relief during dehorning, and fewer CON-NG
farmers used pain relief for calves after dehorning compared with ORG
and CON-GR farmers. Calves on ORG farms were fed a greater volume of
milk and were weaned at an older age than calves on CON-GR and CON-NG
farms. Calves on CON-GR farms were dehorned at a younger age compared
with calves on ORG and CON-NG farms. The calving area was shared with
lactating cows for a larger proportion of ORG herds compared with
conventional herds. About 30% of herds met welfare program criteria for
body condition score but only about 20% met criteria for animal hygiene
scores. The least proportion of cows with hock lesions was observed on
ORG farms. Regular use of veterinarians was infrequent for ORG herds.
Results of this study indicate that most of the organic and conventional
farms enrolled in this study would have been unlikely to achieve many
criteria of audit and assessment programs currently used in the US dairy
industry.
Key words
- organic;
- management;
- dairy;
- welfare
Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
