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In this study, we aimed to assess health related traits of first lactating cows that were kept in farms, mostly organic or low-input, with or without silage feeding of heifers in Austria (AT; 392 farms, 10,736 Fleckvieh), France (FR; 20 farms, 2,360 Holstein and Montbéliarde), Germany (DE; 34 farms, 1,566 Brown Swiss and Fleckvieh) and Slovenia (SI; 18 farms, 1269 Brown Swiss, Fleckvieh, Holstein and crosses). Cows calved between 2010 and 2019. Data originated from routine performance recording and on-site data collection. As data structure differed, analyses were performed within country. Traits analysed using the logistic regression methodology were the percentage of elevated cell counts (>100,000 cells/ml; SCC100P) during the cow’s 305-day standard lactation, fat-protein-ratio (FPR), defined as binary trait whether it was or was not >1.4 or 1.4 during the first 120 days in milk was higher, while no significant differences between feeding regimes were found in FR and SI. However, FPR

Understanding farmers' attitudes towards traits is critical for developing appropriate breeding goals for dairy production. In response to a research gap in regards to the influence of farmers' knowledge of breeding tools, this study aimed to determine the effect of farmers' knowledge on their attitudes towards the use of breeding tools and traits in typical family-owned farms in Slovenia. An online questionnaire was sent to dairy farmers affiliated with Slovenian breeding associations, and 256 dairy farmers responded. The analysis was conducted in three steps. First, the basic response patterns according to the farmers' knowledge level were determined using latent class analysis. Second, farmers' attitudes towards breeding tools were assessed by 15 statements using principal component analysis. Finally, we were interested in the relationship between farmers' attitudes and knowledge about selection. The results showed that farmers had more knowledge about the benefits of genomic selection, followed by general knowledge about breeding values and the definition of genomic selection, and they had the least knowledge about the reference population. Farmers with more knowledge were statistically significantly more likely than farmers with less knowledge to have higher education, be younger, have a larger herd size, have higher milk production per cow, have the intent to increase herd size and milk quantity, and use genomically tested bulls. No significant relationship was found between belonging to a specific knowledge class and the main breed in the herd, the farmer's gender, production system, or farming in less-favoured areas. The results also show that farmers basically agree that they need written recorded performance data about a bull/cow to know exactly how good the animal is, that the genetic merit (breeding value) of bulls/cows adds to the performance of their progeny, that it is very important to maintain the breed characteristics of bulls/cows, that cooperation in being able to compare animals with other farmers is essential for improving herd performance, and that the possibilities of selecting dairy cows with genomic selection and monogenetic traits must be fully exploited, indicating a positive attitude towards genomic selection. The level of knowledge was shown to influence attitudes towards various aspects of breeding. It was found that the higher the level of knowledge, the more positive the attitude towards genetic and genomic selection, and the more negative the attitude towards traditional selection.

To understand consumers’ acceptance and preference in relation to Nutrition and Health Claims (NHCs) on food products and the reasons for their (non)acceptance in an Eastern European country with a weak tradition in NHC, and an enormous increase in the number of foods with NHCs in recent years, this study aimed to fill a research gap by applying a multi-methodological approach combining a survey and conjoint analysis (n = 204) and a focus group (n = 45). The survey demonstrated that Slovenian consumers in general are moderately doubtful of NHCs. Conjoint analysis showed that when Slovenians choose their breakfast cereals, NHCs are more important than whether visual images are present. Visual images convince only the youngest consumers. The study revealed the importance of social perception and trust in the social system for accepting foods with NHCs/ images. Consumers who did not trust the political and economic system also did not accept foods with NHCs/ images.

In the establishment and maintenance of a housing system for cattle by farmers, their perception of housing systems plays an important role in their decision to choose the environmentally sustainable housing system. The aim of this study was to determine farmers’ attitudes towards their role, environmental sustainability, and perceived government support, to determine whether the role of cattle farmers influences their perceptions of different cattle housing systems, and to create a typology of cattle farmers based on these attitudes. The paper was based on online surveys (n = 306) and five focus groups with Slovenian cattle farmers (n = 42). Results show that the majority of participants placed a higher value on production than on the environment, but had adopted animal and environmentally friendly housing systems to achieve higher production and profits and to receive full direct payments. Four groups of cattle farmers based on the attitudes towards their role, environmental sustainability, and perceived governmental support were identified: Productivists, Traditionalists, Abandoners, and Environmentalists. Most respondents belonged to the Productivist group, who believed that environmental measures have a negative impact on agricultural development. A characteristic of the smaller Traditionalist group is that these farmers claimed to have an obligation to preserve or improve the environment for future generations. For Environmentalists, environmentally friendly agriculture is most important. The smallest group identified consists of farmers who indicated their role as a farmer was not important because they were likely to give up farming. Systematically planned communication aimed at different groups of farmers is needed to promote acceptance of changes in housing systems for cattle that reduce the greenhouse effect.

Basic bovine behavior is a crucial parameter influencing cattle domestication. In addition, behavior has an impact on cattle productivity, welfare and adaptation. The aim of the present study was to infer quantitative genetic and genomic mechanisms contributing to natural dual-purpose cow behavior in grazing systems. In this regard, we genotyped five dual-purpose breeds for a dense SNP marker panel from four different European countries. All cows from the across-country study were equipped with the same electronic recording devices. In this regard, we analyzed 97,049 longitudinal sensor behavior observations from 319 local dual-purpose cows for rumination, feeding, basic activity, high active, not active and ear temperature. According to the specific sensor behaviors and following a welfare protocol, we computed two different welfare indices. For genomic breed characterizations and multi-breed genome-wide association studies, sensor traits and test-day production records were merged with 35,826 SNP markers per cow. For the estimation of variance components, we used the pedigree relationship matrix and a combined similarity matrix that simultaneously included both pedigree and genotypes. Heritabilities for feeding, high active and not active were in a moderate range from 0.16 to 0.20. Estimates were very similar from both relationship matrix-modeling approaches and had quite small standard errors. Heritabilities for the remaining sensor traits (feeding, basic activity, ear temperature) and welfare indices were lower than 0.09. Five significant SNPs on chromosomes 11, 17, 27 and 29 were associated with rumination, and two different SNPs significantly influenced the sensor traits "not active" (chromosome 13) and "feeding" (chromosome 23). Gene annotation analyses inferred 22 potential candidate genes with a false discovery rate lower than 20%, mostly associated with rumination (13 genes) and feeding (8 genes). Mendelian randomization based on genomic variants (i.e., the instrumental variables) was used to infer causal inference between an exposure and an outcome. Significant regression coefficients among behavior traits indicate that all specific behavioral mechanisms contribute to similar physiological processes. The regression coefficients of rumination and feeding on milk yield were 0.10 kg/% and 0.12 kg/%, respectively, indicating their positive influence on dual-purpose cow productivity. Genomically, an improved welfare behavior of grazing cattle, i.e., a higher score for welfare indices, was significantly associated with increased fat and protein percentages.

The development paths chosen by farmers and the critical success factors involved can be better understood when the business context in which these farmers operate is known. Also, interaction in the chain contributes to the strength of the chain. This raises questions such as do chain parties cooperate and is there a certain consensus concerning the future strategic route? This article provides a unique analysis of how stakeholders envisage the future of dairy farming in a period of radical policy change and what barriers they foresee to their objectives. The questionnaire used examined perceptions on development strategies, availability of resources, opportunities & threats (O&T), farmer skills and future expectations. In 2015 and early 2016, a total of 161 completed questionnaires were collected from stakeholders (leading persons in the dairy chain) in the Netherlands, Slovenia, Lithuania and Poland. Data were analysed by PCA, ANOVA, cluster and stepwise regression methods. Eight strategic clusters of stakeholders were found. Farm expansion and specialisation was the most expected development strategy (57% of stakeholders). Almost one fourth of the stakeholders took a wait and see approach, of which 15% looked for opportunities to activate at a particular moment in time, while 8% were generally pessimistic about the future. Diversification in combination with organic farming was chosen by 5% of the stakeholders, 10% of stakeholders focused on cooperation, service and high tech, and another 5% placed their trust in skills, subsidies and labour. The opinions of stakeholders were highly affected by the country of origin, while only minor variations in opinions were observed between different categories of stakeholders. Polish stakeholders showed the most specialised view on the dairy chain, but they scored relatively low on cooperation. Development towards diversification and organic agriculture received higher scores in Slovenia and Lithuania compared to the Netherlands and especially to Poland. Netherlands’ stakeholders were the most positive about the future e.g. they foresee expansion and market opportunities. It was shown that strategies, resources and O&T each directly affect future expectations, which was in agreement with the hypothetical model used.