9 pages., Via online journal., Surgical piglet castration without pain relief has been banned in organic farming in the EU since the beginning of 2012. Alternative methods therefore need to be implemented that improve animal welfare and solve the underlying problem of boar taint. This paper explores German organic consumers' preferences for piglet castration without pain relief and three alternative methods. In an innovative approach using a multi-criteria decision making procedure, qualitative data from focus group discussions were compared with quantitative results from Vickrey auctions. Overall, participants preferred all alternatives to castration without pain relief. Different aspects influenced willingness-to-pay for the methods. Animal welfare was important for the evaluation of castration without pain relief and castration with anesthesia. Food safety played a major role for willingness-to-pay for immunocastration, while taste and, to some extent, animal welfare were dominant factors for fattening of boars. These differences should be considered when communicating the alternatives.
16 pages., via online journal, The sustainable intensification of animal production systems is increasing as a consequence of increased demand for foods originating from animals. Production diseases are particularly endemic in intensive production systems, and can negatively impact upon farm animal welfare. There is an increasing need to develop policies regarding animal production diseases, sustainable intensification, and animal welfare which incorporate consumer priorities as well as technical assessments of farm animal welfare. Consumers and/or citizens may have concerns about intensive production systems, and whether animal production disease represent a barrier to consumer acceptance of their increased use. There is a considerable body of research focused on consumer willingness-to-pay (WTP) for improved animal welfare. It is not clear how this relates specifically to a preference for reduced animal production disease incidence in animal production systems. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to establish the publics’ WTP for farm animal welfare, with a focus on production diseases which arise in intensive systems. Systematic review methodology combined with data synthesis was applied to integrate existing knowledge regarding consumer WTP for animal welfare, and reduced incidence of animal production diseases. Multiple databases were searched to identify relevant studies. A screening process, using a set of pre-determined inclusion criteria, identified 54 studies, with the strength of evidence and uncertainty for each study being assessed. A random effects meta-analysis was used to explore heterogeneity in relation to a number of factors, with a cumulative meta-analysis conducted to establish changes in WTP over time. The results indicated a small, positive WTP (0.63 standard deviations) for farm animal welfare varying in relation to a number of factors including animal type and region. Socio-demographic characteristics explained the most variation in the data. An evidence gap was highlighted in relation to reduced WTP for specific production diseases associated with the intensification of production, with only 4 of the 54 studies identified being related to this. A combination of market and government based policy solutions appears to be the best solution for improving farm animal welfare standards in the future, enabling the diverse public preferences to be taken into consideration.
7 pages., Via online journal., Are consumers interested in aspects of pig production and do they take these into account in their buyingdecisions when such information is available? Samples of consumers in Germany and Poland selected the two–for them–most important out of a list of ten production characteristics, relating to animal welfare, health and safety, and environmental issues. In a subsequent choice experiment, the relative weight these characteristics had in consumers' choices was estimated. Relative importance of production characteristics varied between consumer segments, with the production interested segment being bigger in Germany than in Poland. With of one animal welfare related criterion in Germany, those production characteristics that consumers perceive as most important relate to health and safety aspects rather than to animal welfare and environmental impact.
7 pages., via online journal, The purpose of the present paper is to investigate the market potential of pork labelled to indicate medium and high levels of animal welfare. The paper asks, in particular, whether there is a risk that Danish consumers will abandon high level welfare pork if less expensive products with a medium level of animal welfare became avail-able. The study was based on an online questionnaire with a choice experiment involving 396 Danish respondents. The results indicated that the Danish market could accommodate more than one pork product with a welfare label but the price differential separating medium and high level animal welfare pork will have to be quite narrow. In addition, full willingness-to-pay of consumers who want to buy high level welfare pork cannot be relied upon to incentivise new consumers to buy medium welfare pork. Further, raising brand awareness in the shopping situation and improving consumer's understanding of brand attributes for high level welfare brands were found to be vital.
10 pages., Via online journal, Ethical attitudes in relation to meat purchases were studied among urban and rural consumers in Scotland. All subjects perceived at least some ethical issues in relation to animal production systems, in particular, systems keeping animals in close confinement. Welfare‐friendly production systems were viewed as adding value to a food, but this value was not necessarily realizable to producers if purchases occurred only when foods were on special offer. Statements made by individuals were often contradictory, revealing ambivalence, unresolved value conflicts and a general lack of involvement in the nature of meat production. A number of barriers to the establishment of stable attitudes and behaviours in relation to the ethical treatment of food animals were also identified. A key finding of the study is that individuals can hold two views on animal welfare. On the one hand, they may think as citizens influencing societal standards, and on the other, as consumers at the point of purchase. As citizens, they support the notion of animals being entitled to a good life; as meat consumers, they avoid the cognitive connection with the live animal. This paper explores both the citizen–consumer relationship and purchase strategies used by consumers to resolve value conflicts. Lessons for public and commercial policy are highlighted in the context of the Curry Report (2002) which advocates more effective market segmentation where markets are finely attuned to their customers, with the development of a number of assurance schemes discussed in the article.
12 pages., via online journal, Animal welfare and environmental impacts have been emphasized in the sustainable production of livestock. Labels are useful tools for clearly providing such attribute information to consumers. The aim of this study was to evaluate how human values influence consumer segments for beef with information on animal welfare and environmentally friendly production. Using a choice experiment, we examined whether animal welfare and environmentally friendly labels, country of origin and price impact consumer choice. As results, five heterogeneous consumer classes were identified using a latent class model: label conscious, domestic beef preferring, price conscious, animal welfare preferring and not interested in production method. Almost 90% of consumers were interested in and willing to pay for beef with animal welfare or environmentally friendly label. The classes with significant preferences for such labeled beef were affected by “openness to change”, “self-enhancement” and “security”. Improving consumer attitudes and strengthening consumer perception towards labeled beef by marketers and policy makers will be required.
7 pages., Via online journal., Policy makers in the European Union are envisioning the introduction of a community farm animal welfare label which would allow consumers to align their consumption habits with their farm animal welfare preferences. For welfare labeling to be viable the market for livestock products produced to higher welfare standards has to be sufficiently segmented with consumers having sufficiently distinct and behaviourally consistent preferences. The present study investigates consumers’ preferences for meat produced to different welfare standards using a hypothetical welfare score. Data is obtained from a contingent valuation study carried out in Britain. The ordered prohbit model was estimated using Bayesian inference to obtain mean willingness to pay. We find decreasing marginal WTP as animal welfare levels increase and that people’s preferences for different levels of farm animal welfare are sufficiently differentiated making the introduction of a la belling scheme in the form of a certified rating system appear feasible.
8 pages., Via online journal., Increasing concerns about farm animal welfare have led to an increase in the availability of welfare-friendly-products (WFP), but little is known about how much more consumers are willing-to-pay (WTP) for WFP or about their buying trends in Latin America. In this study, a survey was given to 843 meat consumers in the city of Toluca, Mexico. The results show that consumers were interested in farm animal welfare issues and their ethical, sociological and economic implications, as in Europe. The people surveyed also conveyed a high level of empathy with animal feelings and emotions, however they clearly demanded more information and regulations related to farm animal welfare. The majority of respondents expressed that they were WTP more for properly certified WFP, but mostly based on the benefits in terms of product quality and human health. If the demand for WFP begins to increase in Mexico, the supply chain should consider a certification system to guarantee product origin based on current conditions.
