Department of Geography, Geology and Environment, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, UK.
Centre for Rural Economy, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Vet Rec. 2021 Nov;189(10):e941. doi: 10.1002/vetr.941. Epub 2021 Sep 23.
This paper uses two endemic health conditions to explore farmer understandings of and responses to livestock health and welfare issues.
The findings are based on a survey of 42 livestock farmers in the north of England, exploring how they manage lameness in sheep and cattle and bovine viral diarrhoea in cattle. We identify similarities and differences in their approaches.
Two themes emerge. (1) The importance of difference between animal types (i.e., beef cattle, dairy cattle and sheep), which highlights the 'complex' and 'multifactorial' nature of animal health and welfare. It is necessary to unpack this to understand the interplay of animal, resource and management issues in farmer responses. (2) Previous research has identified 'lack of knowledge' as a key welfare issue. Our findings reveal farmers are in fact seeking, acquiring and sharing knowledge on practices related to the management of animal health however individual circumstance and context influence how this translates in practice.
Our research highlights the importance of integrating different perspectives and knowledges as a way of understanding and responding to animal health and welfare concerns. Facilitating knowledge exchange both within and between different groups and sectors is vital in achieving this.
本文利用两种地方病，探讨了农民对牲畜健康和福利问题的理解和应对。
本研究基于对英格兰北部 42 名牲畜饲养者的调查，探讨了他们如何管理绵羊和牛的跛行以及牛病毒性腹泻。我们确定了他们方法中的相似点和不同点。
出现了两个主题。（1）动物类型（即肉牛、奶牛和绵羊）之间的差异非常重要，这突出了动物健康和福利的“复杂性”和“多因素”性质。有必要对其进行剖析，以了解农民对动物、资源和管理问题的反应的相互作用。（2）先前的研究已经确定“缺乏知识”是一个主要的福利问题。我们的研究结果表明，农民实际上正在寻求、获取和分享与管理动物健康相关的实践知识，但个人情况和背景会影响知识在实践中的转化。
我们的研究强调了整合不同观点和知识的重要性，这是理解和应对动物健康和福利问题的一种方式。促进不同群体和部门内部和之间的知识交流至关重要。
