Synergies and trade-offs between animal welfare and technical, economic and environmental performance in suckling cattle

Context and challenges

The work of farmers is increasingly demanding in that they must ensure the economic viability of their activity and produce food for people while respecting society’s expectations in terms of farming conditions (animal welfare and environmental impact). The overall performance of livestock farming is often broken down into separate aspects (Clay, 2020), and the interactions between them (synergies and trade-offs) poorly understood (Le Goff, 2014). Animal welfare is traditionally studied by experts in animal science (Curtis, 2007; Sandøe, 2010; Miele et al. 2013). Very few studies have been done on animal welfare in production economics (McInerney, 2004; Lawrence, 2009; Lusk et Norwood, 2011; Henningsen et al., 2018), and the need to close that gap is undeniable. Decisions taken by farmers regarding livestock buildings, the quality of feed, animal health management, etc. reflect how important animal welfare is to them, but also how much value they place on maximising profits. Production economics can help to understand economic incentives to encourage farmers to adopt strategies e.g. to improve animal welfare. A better understanding of the relationships between the economy, the environment and animal welfare can help farmers and decision-makers to together define the best strategies for achieving high performance on multiple fronts and implementing animal farming legislation.

Objectives

This thesis aims to explore avenues for designing livestock farming systems that respect the welfare of animals and the environment while ensuring the economic viability of farms. Suckling cattle will be used as a study model. How groups of farming practices affect performance on several fronts (animal welfare, technical, economic and environmental) on farms will be analysed, and the determining factors of interactions (synergies or trade-offs) between these components explored.
Three sub-questions will be addressed:

1. What factors determine synergies and trade-offs between technical, economic and environmental performance and the welfare of animals on a farm?
2. What type of model should be used to combine indicators and analyse the determining factors of different performances on a farm?
3. What are the costs and benefits of a system that respects animal welfare and the environment?

Beyond the analysis of suckling cattle systems, the thesis should ultimately contribute to methodology to deal with the interactions between different types of performances.

Species concerned

Partnerships

Joint research unit Herbivores INRAE-VetAgro Sup, INRAE PHASE/ECOSOCIO divisions: the supervisors and co-supervisors are experts in animal welfare (I Veissier, Caraibe team), breeding systems (P. Veysset, Comète team) and production economics (JJ Minviel, Comète team)