干旱区生态环境知识资源中心(Arid): Assessing Extensive Semi-Arid Rangeland Beef Cow-Calf Welfare in Namibia: Part 1: Comparison between Farm Production System's Effect on the Welfare of Beef Cows

Arid

DOI	10.3390/ani11010165
	Assessing Extensive Semi-Arid Rangeland Beef Cow-Calf Welfare in Namibia: Part 1: Comparison between Farm Production System's Effect on the Welfare of Beef Cows
	Kaurivi, Yolande Baby; Laven, Richard; Parkinson, Tim; Hickson, Rebecca; Stafford, Kevin
通讯作者	Kaurivi, YB (corresponding author), Massey Univ, Sch Vet Med, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
来源期刊	ANIMALS
ISSN	2076-2615
出版年	2021
卷号	11 期号:1
英文摘要	Simple Summary Namibia is in the process of updating animal welfare legislation. This needs to include an assessment protocol for beef cattle production systems that is sufficiently rigorous for the country to gain and maintain access to high-value beef export markets. Beef is produced in commercial and semi-commercial systems and in communal village farms. Privately owned commercial farms allow maximum herd and rangeland management to ensure optimum productivity and profitability. Village farms (semi-commercial and communal) have limited grazing land, with consequent challenges of grazing and water management, as well as traditional customs of cattle management. A protocol was developed to assess the welfare of beef cattle in the context of these production systems. The application of the welfare assessment protocol indicated that the standards of welfare differed across production systems, with commercial farms achieving the best standard of welfare, followed by semi-commercial, then communal village farms. The greatest opportunity for change exists within the semi-commercial village farms, which need to attain to the requirements imposed by international markets to maximize their returns; hence herd management and welfare status is better than in the purely communal farms. This suggests that commercialization of communal farming may have benefits for animal welfare. A proposed animal welfare assessment protocol for semi-arid rangeland-based cow-calf systems in Namibia combined 40 measures from a protocol developed for beef cattle in New Zealand with additional Namibia-specific measures. Preliminary validation of the protocol had been undertaken with five herds in one semi-commercial village. The aim of the current study was to apply this protocol and compare animal welfare across three cow-calf production systems in Namibia. A total of 2529 beef cows were evaluated during pregnancy testing in the yards of 17 commercial, 20 semi-commercial, and 18 communal (total: 55) herds followed by an assessment of farm resources and a questionnaire-guided interview. Non-parametric tests were used to evaluate the difference in the welfare scores between the production systems. The results indicated a discrepancy of animal welfare between the three farm types, with a marked separation of commercial farms from semi-commercial, and communal village farms in the least. The differences in these production systems were mainly driven by economic gains through access to better beef export market for commercial farms and semi-commercial villages, as well as by the differences in the available grazing land, facility designs/quality, and traditional customs in the village systems. The results indicate an advantage of commercialization over communalization.
英文关键词	animal welfare assessment beef cow systems semi-arid rangelands Namibia
类型	Article
语种	英语
开放获取类型	Green Submitted, gold, Green Published
收录类别	SCI-E
WOS记录号	WOS:000609669400001
WOS类目	Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science ; Veterinary Sciences
WOS研究方向	Agriculture ; Veterinary Sciences
资源类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/347693
作者单位	[Kaurivi, Yolande Baby; Laven, Richard; Parkinson, Tim] Massey Univ, Sch Vet Med, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand; [Hickson, Rebecca; Stafford, Kevin] Massey Univ, Sch Agr & Environm Management, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Kaurivi, Yolande Baby,Laven, Richard,Parkinson, Tim,et al. Assessing Extensive Semi-Arid Rangeland Beef Cow-Calf Welfare in Namibia: Part 1: Comparison between Farm Production System's Effect on the Welfare of Beef Cows[J],2021,11(1).
APA	Kaurivi, Yolande Baby,Laven, Richard,Parkinson, Tim,Hickson, Rebecca,&Stafford, Kevin.(2021).Assessing Extensive Semi-Arid Rangeland Beef Cow-Calf Welfare in Namibia: Part 1: Comparison between Farm Production System's Effect on the Welfare of Beef Cows.ANIMALS,11(1).
MLA	Kaurivi, Yolande Baby,et al."Assessing Extensive Semi-Arid Rangeland Beef Cow-Calf Welfare in Namibia: Part 1: Comparison between Farm Production System's Effect on the Welfare of Beef Cows".ANIMALS 11.1(2021).