Tackling the future challenges of Organic Animal Husbandry - vTI

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! Agriculture and Forestry Research, Special Issue No 362 (Braunschweig, 2012) ISSN 0376-0723 Download: www.vti.bund.de/en/startseite/vti-publications/landbauforschung-special-issues.html Abstract 446 Animal welfare in organic farming legislations and standards – analysis & proposal for a more outcome-oriented approach/tool – OTTO SCHMID 1 , STEFAN KNUTTI 2 1 FiBL, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Frick, Switzerland, www.fibl.org, eMail: otto.schmid@fibl.org 2 Balchenstal, Hittnau, Switzerland, eMail: stefan.knutti@bluewin.ch Based on the analysis of animal welfare legislation and private organic and non-organic standards in the EU funded project EconWelfare areas for improvement of animal welfare in organic farming regulations and standards were identified. A more outcome-oriented approach to improve animal welfare for cattle with a checklist for inspectors and farmers was tested and evaluated in Switzerland. Proposals are made how to improve animal welfare on organic farms in standard setting and with complimentary assessment tools. Currently, certification examines in detail whether thresholds have been breached; in future it could rather determine where a farm is along the path to optimisation and what can be further improved. Key words: animal welfare, organic standards, EU regulation, assessment tool Introduction The main focus in this paper is on animal welfare (AW) in organic animal husbandry. The question was, in which areas in EU organic regulation, governmental rules and private organic standards animal welfare could (or should) be further developed. Special attention is given how to improve animal welfare without necessary making standards more detailed (and over-prescriptive). A possible approach is the introduction of complimentary tools for inspection and self-assessment of farmers. Material and methodology Within the EU funded project EconWelfare (“Good animal welfare in a socio-economic context”) an analysis of Animal Welfare legislation and standards has been made in selected EU-countries (DE, IT, NL, PL, SE, UK) and 8 third (non-EU) countries (Schmid and Kilchsperger 2010). These included also organic regulations world-wide as well as 15 private organic and non-organic standards with animal husbandry requirements beyond the EU Regulations COM 834/2007 and COM 889/2008. The focus was on cattle, pigs and poultry as well as transport and slaughter. The project allowed also identifying areas for improvement of animal welfare in organic farming regulations and standards. Based on experiences from UK (AssureWel-Project) and Germany (Bioland) as well as the EU Project WelfareQuality a checklist for cattle has been developed, which was tested on several farms in Switzerland. The farmers had to give a feedback with a semi-structured questionnaire. Furthermore interviews were made with standard setters, public and certification bodies in Switzerland, UK and Germany.
Results RAHMANN G & GODINHO D (Ed.) (2012): Tackling the Future Challenges of Organic Animal Husbandry. Proceedings of the 2 nd OAHC, Hamburg/Trenthorst, Germany, Sep 12-14, 2012 The comparison of AW differences in private organic standards and governmental rules in Europe with the EU general and organic legislation on one hand and on the other hand with high-level private non-organic AW standards (like Freedom Food, UK or Neuland, Germany) showed differences on different levels and of different accuracies (preciseness). Some were of major and other of minor relevance (from an ethological point of view). The aspects were grouped into specific aspects like accommodation, feeding and health care. The main differences are summarised below, which were found in at least 5 standards (first number indicates the total number of differences, the second figure the more relevant ones based on literature and expert opinions). Marked with * indicates major weaknesses in organic regulation/standards compared with high non-organic AW standards from ethological expert point of view. Areas for further development of organic rules/standards are written in Italics; some have been found also in few organic standards. Cattle (70/20): Areas for further development of organic standards: more space and light requirements*; more specific feeding requirements (e.g. roughage)*; More restricted tethering, adequate anaesthesia for castration and non-allowance of certain surgical practices (e.g. dehorning). Main differences of EU organic regulation compared with general EU AW legislation: slatted floors forbidden or limited, specific bedding requirements, outdoor access, longer weaning periods and provision of calving pens. Pigs (51/16): Areas for further development of organic standards: more space allowance*, slatted floors forbidden or restricted*, possibilities for investigation and manipulating activities, limitation of certain surgical practices, adequate anaesthesia for castration. Main differences of EU organic regulation compared with general EU AW legislation: availability of litter, provision of roughage, no hormonal treatments, Poultry (48/17): Areas for further development of organic standards: lower indoor and outdoor stocking densities*, higher frequency of regular visits*, better defined outdoor run and pasture. Main differences of EU organic regulation compared with EU AW legislation: more light requirements, more perches and nests, access to dust baths, better access to fresh water and restrictions in breeding (mainly broilers). Transport of animals (28/9): more drinking, resting and feeding possibilities before transport*, provision of bedding material for the youngest in transport vehicles,, adequate pathway/ramps design, the separation of unfamiliar groups, reduced length of journey. Only main difference of EU organic regulation compared with EU AW legislation: interdiction of sedatives/tranquilisers Slaughter of animals (39/9): time between stunning and bleeding*, more lairage requirements (start of lairage, space, lighting, floors etc.), the avoidance of group mixing, the, specific education of the staff. Only main difference of EU organic regulation compared with EU AW legislation: nonuse of electric stimulation. Where and how to improve AW in organic farming? There are several areas, where animal welfare can be improved in organic agriculture. The most crucial weaknesses in organic standards are related to transport and slaughter, where almost no specific requirements are set.. One of the major challenges of improving animal welfare, not only in organic farming but also generally, is the scepticism of farmers against new (over-prescriptive) rules. A possibility to overcome this scepticism is to develop complimentary instruments for selfassessment tools for farmers and inspectors how animal welfare can be developed on a farm. For improving AW in organic farming it is desirable to put stronger emphasis on animal-related criteria and indicators. Organic standard setting organisations should take a lead in this approach. 447
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Foreword Organic animal husbandry s
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RAHMANN G & GODINHO D (Ed.) (2012):
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Content RAHMANN G & GODINHO D (Ed.)
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Introduction RAHMANN G & GODINHO D
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Abstract RAHMANN G & GODINHO D (Ed.
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Discussion RAHMANN G & GODINHO D (E
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Factors Plant Height (cm) RAHMANN G
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FEC adjusted for dry matter 12000 1
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