Tackling the future challenges of Organic Animal Husbandry - vTI

! Agriculture and Forestry Research, Special Issue No 362 (Braunschweig, 2012) ISSN 0376-0723
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Reducing the amount of slaughter transports in modern
Swedish cattle production systems
STEFAN SELLMAN 1 , ANNIE JONSSON 2 , BO ALGERS 3 , PATRIK FLISBERG 4 , MATHIAS HENNINGSSON 4 ,
NINA HÅKANSSON 2 , MIKAEL RÖNNQVIST 5 , UNO WENNERGREN 4
Abstract
1 Linköping University, Sweden, www.liu.se, stefan.sellman@liu.se
2 Skövde University, Sweden, www.his.se
3 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, www.slu.se
4 Linköping University, Sweden, www.liu.se
5 Norwegian School of Economics, www.nhh.no
Two methods that can help to reduce the distances involved in transportation of cattle to slaughter
are presented, route optimization and spatial redistribution of slaughter capacities. In a comparison
of three route optimization techniques we show that RuttOpt is the most effective and that the
number of stops on routes can be reduced compared to what is the case today. We also find that
transport distances can be reduced by 40 % compared to the real transports of 2008 if animals are
sent to the closest available facilities. We believe that the methods highlighted here can help improve
the sustainability and animal health in both organic and conventional farming.
Key words: animal transport, slaughter, route optimization, abattoir
Introduction
Animal transportation is related to economic costs and environmental costs in the form of carbon
dioxide emissions which makes it desirable to minimize them. Reducing transport distances and
time would also benefit animal welfare through less stress (Gebresenbet et al. 2005, Hartung 2003),
shorter lairage times (Geverink et al. 1996, Jarvis et al. 1996), and fewer injured animals (Hoffman
et al. 1998, Huertas et al. 2010). Many consumers are positive towards paying more for meat from
animals with improved welfare (Andersson et al. 2004, Lagerkvist & Hess 2011, Ljungberg et al.
2006). Stress and injuries also yields meat of lower quality which leads to reduced profit (Huertas et
al. 2010, Fernandez et al. 1996). Using an extensive transport data set provided by the Swedish
Board of Agriculture, we demonstrate two approaches that can reduce the distances and time involved
in transporting animals to slaughter, (1) a tactical approach through optimization of the
transportation routes, (2) a strategic approach altering the localization and capacities of abattoirs
throughout Sweden.
Material and methodology
Route optimization
Slaughter transports are suitable for optimization since a truck often visits multiple farms during
one route, especially when transporting cattle. The mean size of reported batches in Swedish cattle
slaughter transport data from 2008 is 4.53 with a large variation (4.68 std). Of the 94 573 transport
events, 23 % were for only one animal, translating into roughly 4-5 stops per route. With such a
large amount of sites to visit per route and considering that an abattoir easily can collect animals
from 200-300 farms during a week, manually finding an optimal transport solution is not possible.