First evaluation of the practicability of the CLASSYFARM welfare assessment protocol in Italian small-scale mountain dairy farms - a case study
The challenges facing the health sector and the agri-food industry have become increasingly complex over the years. Animal welfare, drug consumption, the use of the slaughterhouse as an epidemiological observatory and biosecurity, as well as the health risks associated with it, are increasingly inte...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Italian Journal of Animal Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2023.2259220 |
| _version_ | 1797198428104556544 |
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| author | Louis Holighaus Thomas Zanon Nicole Kemper Matthias Gauly |
| author_facet | Louis Holighaus Thomas Zanon Nicole Kemper Matthias Gauly |
| author_sort | Louis Holighaus |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The challenges facing the health sector and the agri-food industry have become increasingly complex over the years. Animal welfare, drug consumption, the use of the slaughterhouse as an epidemiological observatory and biosecurity, as well as the health risks associated with it, are increasingly interconnected, making an integrated approach necessary. Hence the European Commission developed regulations to ensure a certain standard for animal welfare in livestock husbandry, which led the Animal Health and Veterinary Drugs Directorate of the Italian Ministry of Health to design an integrated system called Classyfarm, aimed at categorising farming according to risk. The aim of our study was to consider the protocol of the Classyfarm system for evaluating the present situation in South Tyrolean dairy farming (1) and discuss the practical implementation of this new system in small-scale mountain dairy farming (2) which largely differs from large dairy enterprises in the lowlands. The results provide important insights about farm structure and management. However, in terms of animal welfare the questionnaire of Classyfarm is not able to properly differentiate and therefore results need to be considered with caution. Similarly, the section about biosafety is hardly applicable for small-scale mountain farms due to limited herd size and building capacity. Therefore, authors underline the necessity of developing a further differentiated questionnaire for the Classyfarm system, which considers the peculiarities of small-scale mountain dairy farming and allow proper conclusions regarding sanitary risk for public health unless the long-term aim is that such structure will stop producing which will have significant effects on many other sectors in the region, e.g. tourism. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T16:58:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5b0975dc2f6e45d8bfda419ede7bbdcb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1594-4077 1828-051X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T06:59:42Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Italian Journal of Animal Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-5b0975dc2f6e45d8bfda419ede7bbdcb2024-04-22T08:52:29ZengTaylor & Francis GroupItalian Journal of Animal Science1594-40771828-051X2023-12-01221995100710.1080/1828051X.2023.22592202259220First evaluation of the practicability of the CLASSYFARM welfare assessment protocol in Italian small-scale mountain dairy farms - a case studyLouis Holighaus0Thomas Zanon1Nicole Kemper2Matthias Gauly3Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, Free University of BolzanoFaculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, Free University of BolzanoInstitute for Animal Hygiene, Animal Welfare and Farm Animal Behaviour (ITTN), University of Veterinary Medicine HannoverFaculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, Free University of BolzanoThe challenges facing the health sector and the agri-food industry have become increasingly complex over the years. Animal welfare, drug consumption, the use of the slaughterhouse as an epidemiological observatory and biosecurity, as well as the health risks associated with it, are increasingly interconnected, making an integrated approach necessary. Hence the European Commission developed regulations to ensure a certain standard for animal welfare in livestock husbandry, which led the Animal Health and Veterinary Drugs Directorate of the Italian Ministry of Health to design an integrated system called Classyfarm, aimed at categorising farming according to risk. The aim of our study was to consider the protocol of the Classyfarm system for evaluating the present situation in South Tyrolean dairy farming (1) and discuss the practical implementation of this new system in small-scale mountain dairy farming (2) which largely differs from large dairy enterprises in the lowlands. The results provide important insights about farm structure and management. However, in terms of animal welfare the questionnaire of Classyfarm is not able to properly differentiate and therefore results need to be considered with caution. Similarly, the section about biosafety is hardly applicable for small-scale mountain farms due to limited herd size and building capacity. Therefore, authors underline the necessity of developing a further differentiated questionnaire for the Classyfarm system, which considers the peculiarities of small-scale mountain dairy farming and allow proper conclusions regarding sanitary risk for public health unless the long-term aim is that such structure will stop producing which will have significant effects on many other sectors in the region, e.g. tourism.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2023.2259220animal welfarebiosecuritydairyrecording systemmanagement |
| spellingShingle | Louis Holighaus Thomas Zanon Nicole Kemper Matthias Gauly First evaluation of the practicability of the CLASSYFARM welfare assessment protocol in Italian small-scale mountain dairy farms - a case study Italian Journal of Animal Science animal welfare biosecurity dairy recording system management |
| title | First evaluation of the practicability of the CLASSYFARM welfare assessment protocol in Italian small-scale mountain dairy farms - a case study |
| title_full | First evaluation of the practicability of the CLASSYFARM welfare assessment protocol in Italian small-scale mountain dairy farms - a case study |
| title_fullStr | First evaluation of the practicability of the CLASSYFARM welfare assessment protocol in Italian small-scale mountain dairy farms - a case study |
| title_full_unstemmed | First evaluation of the practicability of the CLASSYFARM welfare assessment protocol in Italian small-scale mountain dairy farms - a case study |
| title_short | First evaluation of the practicability of the CLASSYFARM welfare assessment protocol in Italian small-scale mountain dairy farms - a case study |
| title_sort | first evaluation of the practicability of the classyfarm welfare assessment protocol in italian small scale mountain dairy farms a case study |
| topic | animal welfare biosecurity dairy recording system management |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2023.2259220 |
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