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.
Croney, C.C. (author), Apley, M. (author), Capper, J.L. (author), Mench, J.A. (author), Priest, S. (author), and Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907
Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan 66506
Department of Animal Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman 99164
Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis 95616
Department of Communication, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2015-01-20
Published:
USA: American Society of Animal Science
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 164 Document Number: D08306
Fritz, Melanie (author), Schiefer, Gerhard (author), and Lehmann, Richard J. (author)
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
2011-02
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 185 Document Number: D00488
Notes:
Paper presented at the International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks, 2011 International European Forum, Innsbruck-Igls, Austria, February 14-18, 2011. 17 pages.
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.
Settle, Quisto (author), McCarty, Keelee (author), Rumble, Joy N. (author), and Ruth, Taylor K. (author)
Format:
Conference paper
Publication Date:
2016-02
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 162 Document Number: D08127
Notes:
Research paper presented in the Agricultural Communications Section, Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) in San Antonio,Texas, February 7-8, 2016. 24 pages.
12 pages., Online via UI electronic subscription, Analysis of five cases of peak social media activity in the Dutch livestock sector. Findings indicated that social media hypes revolved around activism, scandals, and conflicts - each with characteristic patterns of activity, framing, interaction and media interplay. "Our results show the need to adopt a proactive and interactive approach that transcends the view of social media as a mere communication channel to respond in crisis situations."
