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Linket til højre henviser til rapporten i trykt format til downloadDokumentet over linket er selve leveringen til ministeriet med følgebrev.I denne rapport præsenteres resultaterne af et forskningsprojekt, som har haft til formål at generere ny viden om, hvad der motiverer ejere og ansatte i landbruget til at skabe forandringer og forbedringer i relation til dyrevelfærd. Rapporten viser, at motivation til forandring i høj grad beror på landmandens egen drivkraft og mod til at løbe en risiko. Motivationen afhænger dog også af, om man har en økonomisk soliditet, som gør risikoen mindre. Tilsvarende kan økonomisk støtte eller en mérpris for produktet ved at tilslutte sig et dyrevelfærdsmærke være afgørende for, om man tør gå i gang. Selve glæden ved at se dyr på en ny måde, hvor de i højere grad får opfyldt muligheden for at udleve deres adfærd, er også en drivkraft. Rapporten peger også på en uforholdsmæssig stor økonomisk risiko for de landmænd, som slutter sig til et mærke, der kræver investeringer. Herudover viser undersøgelsen, at der kan opstå en række dilemmaer omkring åbenhed og synlighed, når man som producent går nye veje.

Linket til højre henviser til DCA rapporten i trykt format til download. Dokumentet over linket er selve leveringen til ministeriet med følgebrev.

Linket til højre henviser til rapporten i trykt format til download.I dele af forskningen ved DCA - Nationalt Center for Fødevarer og Jordbrug, Aarhus Universitet, indgår det som et vigtigt element, at forskerne samarbejder med private landbrug. Mange forskere har løbende brug for et samarbejde med landbrug/landmænd for at udføre deres forskning, og det er vigtigt, at landmændene kan og vil deltage. Formålet med det projekt, som beskrives i denne rapport, har været at undersøge landmændenes erfaringer med at deltage i forskningsprojekter, herunder hvilke positive og negative oplevelser de måtte have haft, som kan have betydning for deres (og andres) fremtidige motivation for at åbne bedriften for nye forskningsprojekter. Ud fra denne viden håber vi at kunne give inspiration, råd og vejledning, som kan klæde andre forskere og landmænd bedre på i forhold til fremtidige fælles samarbejder omkring bedriftsbaserede forskningsprojekter mellem landbrug og universitet.

The welfare of farm animals depends on development in production systems, economic drivers and regulation but also human factors – such as farmers’ perceptions of animal welfare, management strategies, communication, knowledge and training. In this study I have examined the perception of animal welfare among farm workers employed at five different Danish farms (pig, dairy cattle and mink). The methodology employed ethnographic field studies during daily work at the farms and qualitative interviews with 23 farm workers, of which some are of Danish nationality and others from other countries.

Linket til højre er til rapporten i trykt format til download. Dokumentet er selve leveringen til ministeriet med følgebrev.Rapporten sætter fokus på, hvordan medarbejderne, de ansatte i dansk landbrug, forstår dyrevelfærd, og den forsøger at besvare følgende spørgsmål: • Hvilke elementer af dyrevelfærden synes medarbejderne er vigtige? • Hvorfra har medarbejderne deres viden om dyrevelfærd, og hvordan får de ny viden? • Hvilken rolle spiller relationerne til fx kolleger og ledelse for medarbejdernes interesse for dyrevelfærd? • Hvordan ser medarbejderne selv på betydningen af deres baggrund? Resultaterne viser blandt andet, at medarbejdernes forståelse af dyrevelfærd først og fremmest kombinerer dyrevelfærd meddelelse/produktion, men samtidig har medarbejderne også et klart ønske om at have tilstrækkelig tid og mulighed for at se det enkelte dyr og handle i forhold til dyrets behov. Undersøgelsen viser også, at medarbejdere oplever, at der er en sammenhæng mellem dårligt socialt miljø på en bedrift og dårlig dyrevelfærd, ligesom de ser sammenhænge mellem fraværende, negativ ledelse og dårlig dyrvelfærd.

Action of and interactions between authorities and livestock farmers - in relation to animal welfareThe many requirements related to animal welfare - generated by a combination of national and EU animal welfare legislation - are a part of daily life when running a livestock farm in Denmark and in the EU. Since 2004, the number of unannounced inspections of farm animal welfare made by the authorities in Denmark has gone up. In cases of noncompliance with the legislation, farmers today face not only the risk of being fined but also having their EU-subsidies reduced. With this growing concern for farm animal welfare in Denmark, the conflicts between farmers and authorities have increased. At the same time it is quite clear from these debates that what one group of people understands by the term ‘animal welfare’ can differ greatly from the opinions of other groups, or from one person to another. The overall aim of this thesis is to provide new insight into different aspects of the interaction between farmers and authorities in relation to animal welfare. I have examined the dilemmas, conflicts and paradoxes that have developed as part of the implementation of animal welfare in relation to animals, farmers and employees at the farms and authorities. By using an ethnographic approach and anthropological perspectives I have studied how animal welfare is constituted and communicated and how it shapes the lives of humans and animals. As its starting point, the thesis provides a description of the conflicts in the area of animal welfare and a description of the development of industrialised livestock farming. I also explore how agriculture and animals are seen in anthropology, and how the science of animal welfare – and with this the legislation – has developed. Furthermore, I describe how farmers understand animal welfare in daily practice and I explore if animal welfare, from an anthropological perspective, can be understood as a social technology. The methods used in the following four papers have been:1.Ethnographic fieldwork, following inspectors on unannounced inspections of animal welfare.2.Following this fieldwork semi-structured interviews were performed with inspectors and farmers from 12 selected inspections. 3.Fieldwork by working at four different farms, two pig farms and two farms with dairy cattle for one month at each site.4.Following this fieldwork semi-structured interviews were performed with the people I met at the farms. 5.Semi-structured interviews with a group of farmers being charged for neglect of farm animals.The papers of this thesis address the following four issues:Paper 1 The experience of animal welfare inspections as perceived by Danish livestock farmers: A qualitative research approachThe aim of the paper was to investigate and understand how a group of farmers experienced unannounced animal welfare inspections as a part of their daily life on the farm. Using an ethnographic approach, the meeting between the farmers and inspectors was observed at 22 farms. Twelve farmers were afterwards selected for interviews. The results are presented as three main themes: 1) Inspection seen as necessary, 2) the inspection process seen as unfair, and 3) farmer’s explanations of a negative evaluation. A main finding is that farmers simultaneously perceive animal welfare inspections as necessary and as potentially unfair. Within the process of inspection, farmers ask for objectivity but also for room for interpretation. In the discussion we have used an anthropological approach based on the concept of the audit society, where inspection can be seen by the farmers as creating both a feeling of certainty but also of uncertainty. We discuss whether the challenges faced in this area are caused by tension created by the fact that the interaction between farmers and inspectors takes place in different languages of communication: The language of animal welfare legislation (here named as belonging to the domain of production) which is supposed to be known by the farmers, but the farmers in this investigation (with their language about animal welfare belonging to the private domain) express their experience as uncertainty, never knowing if they are able to get things right. We also discuss if it is possible to create space for farmers to reflect in a more open way on their own views of the welfare of their animals. Paper 2 To inspect, to motivate – or to do both? A dilemma for on-farm inspection of animal welfareThe aim of the paper was to investigate and discuss how the points of view or strategies of the inspectors affected the outcome of animal welfare inspections on farms. Using an ethnographic approach, the meeting between the farmers and inspectors was observed at 22 farms. 11 inspectors were selected for interviews. The results are divided into two major themes: Themes of agreement among the inspectors and themes of disagreement among the inspectors. Together, they described the underlying dilemma among the inspectors and in the inspection process. The first theme focused on the preventive aspect, and the second theme focused on compliance and on avoiding engaging in discussion with the farmers about the reasons for the regulation. We have presented an analysis based on an anthropological approach illustrating a central dilemma in the work of the inspectors related to how inspectors can be seen as “street-level-bureaucrats” being policy-makers on different levels, and we discuss how the point of views or strategies of the inspectors may affect the outcome of animal welfare inspections. We argue that this study can initiate a necessary and more open discussion of the inspectors’ dilemma: On the one side focusing on compliance, and on the other side having a wish to focus on more preventive aspects and on motivation.Paper 3Farmers under pressure - Analysis of the social conditions of cases of animal neglectIn this paper we aimed to shed new light on the stories behind cases where Danish farmers have been charged with neglect of livestock and discuss how these findings can contribute to prevent future cases from occurring. The analysis is based on statistical analyses of register data from Statistics Denmark and on qualitative interviews with farmers involved in court cases of neglect of livestock. The quantitative part of our analysis shows that while the average farmer has a low risk of ending up with animal neglect problems a small number of farmers face severe financial difficulties, divorce and psychiatric problems, all of which are events associated with an increased risk of being convicted of neglect of farm animals. Analysing the farmers’ narratives, they do not present one main narrative but what we call ‘narratives of disruption’ - pressure from events connected to problems with finance, technology and the family, but also the pressure coming from the increasing numbers of inspections by the authorities. We stress in our discussion that neither a quantitative emphasis on risk groups nor a qualitative approach stressing the narratives, can produce one single explanation for the neglect of livestock. Although livestock neglect is a multi-causal phenomenon, we argue that it is possible to formulate initiatives for preventing future cases. Paper 4Hybrids and profits: Circuits of Animals, Technology and Humans in Danish industrialised farmingThe aim of the paper is to explore a central paradox in industrialised farming. On one hand the separation of culture and nature that insists on a radical difference between the realm of animal and human. On the other hand a practical, but often denied, mixing of these realms continually occurs. Using examples from fieldwork at four farms, we argue that the creation of hybrids can be seen as absolutely necessary if one has to deal with the paradoxes that permeate industrialized animal farming in practice.. Firstly, we follow how animals are turned into numbers, diagnoses, and regulations in the pursuit of both profit and animal welfare. Secondly, we show how farmers turn themselves into animals and technology and how technology is transformed into substitutes for humans in the pursuit of cost-efficient production. The paper suggests that the insights of anthropological approaches to human-animal relations shed new light on the complexities of modern hyper-technological, ethically ambivalent and debt-ridden farming.In the final discussion of the thesis the complexity and ambiguity that is associated with the term animal welfare are discussed as an overall paradox in relation to the life of farm animals in Denmark. The paradoxes seen in the four papers are discussed and I argue that dealing with paradoxes by increasing knowledge might be one possible way to overcome the tensions. However, since the farmers in my data do not ask for knowledge about animal welfare in the broader term, one could focus on what they do actually ask for: a request for more information about the legislation of animal welfare, as new times mean that farmers have to adjust to new ways of working ( e.g. management in relation to the legislation and control that is part of farm life today). Furthermore, I discuss if a different way of carrying out animal welfare inspections would be possible in the future not only focusing on compliance but also on e.g. motivation, perhaps by developing more responsive inspection processes paying attention to the differences among farmers. However, this raises dilemmas in relation to a control-system with a main focus on compliance and this might only make sense if the inspectors are given the time and skills to communicate with the farmers in a way that provides room for responsiveness.A future perspective could be to look into how animal welfare is linked to the management of the farms. I also find it relevant to conduct more research on the area of monitoring animal welfare by technologies and to include a social science focus here. Besides, it is important to discuss how animal welfare is integrated in the education of future farmers at the agricultural colleges in Denmark. Also, the possibility of developing inspections of animal welfare with a focus on responsiveness ought to be included in future research. Finally, I suggest that ethnographic fieldwork is a suitable method for studying production on modern industrialised farms, with the inter-entanglement of animals, humans and technology constituting as a fertile field for contemporary anthropology.

When the inspector drives into the farmyard and asks to see the animal barns to inspect the welfare of the animals, a tense situation may arise because inspections transcend limits and are complex and difficult for many farmers to relate to. A new research project is examining the interaction between authorities and farmers.

Når kontrollanten kører ind på gårdspladsen og beder om at se staldene for at kontrollere dyrevelfærden, er der risiko for en anspændt situation, for kontrol er grænseoverskridende, kompleks og svær for mange landmænd at forholde sig til. Et nyt forskningsprojekt undersøger samspillet mellem myndigheder og landmænd.

En gruppe borgere har været på besøg hos økologiske og konventionelle svineproducenter for at give forskerne et billede af, hvordan de oplever branchen Udgivelsesdato: 8. oktober 2010

Inger Anneberg vil undersøge, hvordan landmændene oplever samarbejdet med myndighederne om dyrevelfærd og den stigende grad af kontrol.På Aarhus Universitet er der igangsat et stort 4-årig forskningsprojekt* om dyrevelfærd. Projektet, der ledes af Jan Tind Sørensen, har flere ph.d. studerende tilknyttet. En af dem er journalist og master i sundhedsantropologi, Inger Anneberg. Hun fokuserer på, hvordan man kan bibringe landmændene en øget forståelse for dyrevelfærd og på, hvordan myndighederne kan forstå landmændene, når det går galt. Hendes masterafhandling på antropologistudiet handlede om landmænd i krise.- I mit feltarbejde mødte jeg landmænd med forskellige problemer med dyrevelfærd, økonomi eller med familiære problemer. Og jeg oplevede, at landmændene omgås en forfærdelig masse rådgivere, dyrlæger planteavlskonsulenter og foderstofkonsulenter. Alle mulige folk, der kommer og går på en landbrugsejendom. Så jeg synes, det var relevant at udforske, hvilken rolle alle disse rådgivere spiller, hvordan man snakker sammen, og hvordan landmanden selv opfatter det at få kontrol med hensyn til dyrevelfærd. Udgivelsesdato: 1. april 2010