Animal Welfare Programs in Germany—An Empirical Study on the Attitudes of Pig Farmers

Sirkka Schukat, Louisa von Plettenberg and Heinke Heise
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Sirkka Schukat: Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Louisa von Plettenberg: Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Heinke Heise: Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: In Europe, there is ongoing social criticism of conventional pig farming and demands for higher farm animal welfare standards. This applies primarily to products from pig production, as consumers criticize, among other things, the animals’ housing conditions, tail docking, neutering, or keeping them on slatted floors. Various animal welfare programs have tried to meet the consumers’ demands. Pig farmers are directly involved in the production process and are therefore key stakeholders for the successful implementation of animal welfare programs such as the German Initiative Animal Welfare. The Initiative Animal Welfare was founded in 2015 and serves as an example in this study, as it has been established for two rounds and involves high numbers of participants. However, little is known about the attitudes of pig farmers towards this specific animal welfare program. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate these attitudes towards animal welfare programs using the example of German pig producers and identify group differences. Based on an online survey of German conventional pig farmers, four clusters were formed which differ in their attitude to the Initiative Animal Welfare. Overall, all farmers, regardless of the cluster, feel publicly pressured by politics and the media. In addition, all farmers are skeptical about the effort involved in participating in the Initiative Animal Welfare (IAW), especially with regard to the additional documentation requirements and unannounced controls. The findings can provide guidance for the design of animal welfare programs taking into account the needs of farmers.

Keywords: farmers’ attitudes; cluster analysis; farm animal welfare; pig production (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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