Fair to the cow or fair to the farmer? The preferences of conventional milk buyers for ethical attributes of milk

Nonka Markova-Nenova and Frank Wätzold

Land Use Policy, 2018, vol. 79, issue C, 223-239

Abstract: Conventional dairy farming has been under pressure for lacking animal welfare, biodiversity loss through abandonment and intensification of grassland, and low milk prices during the 2015/16 milk price crisis. The relatively stable organic milk prices during the milk price crisis indicate that consumers have preferences for product characteristics besides the price. We investigate through a choice experiment the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of German conventional milk buyers for ethical attributes of milk production that address the above-mentioned concerns. Respondents have the highest WTP for animal welfare – free-stall plus summer pasture – followed by biodiversity conservation, support for small, below-average income farms, and regional milk production. Respondents also have a positive WTP to support all farms but only in combination with regional production. We further find a positive WTP to support small farms in combination with tethering. This implies animal-welfare concerns are somewhat counterbalanced by fairness aspects. Our insights may support developing labels and agri-environmental policies concerning ethical aspects of conventional milk production.

Keywords: Dairy production; Ethical attributes; Fairness; Grassland biodiversity; Choice modelling; Latent class model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:79:y:2018:i:c:p:223-239

DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.07.045

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