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The study describes organic producers’ perceptions of organic livestock production, product commercialisation, use of contentious inputs such as allopathic antibiotics, antiparasitics and vitamins and bedding materials availability in Mediterranean (MED) and North/Western European (NWE) countries. A total of 426 MED (46.2%) and NWE (53.8%) responses were analysed revealing more difficulty finding information on alternatives to antiparasitics and antibiotics than on bedding materials. They identified ‘feeding/nutrition’, ‘animal health’ and ‘welfare’ as the most relevant topics in their farms. Whereas ruminants and monogastrics farmers in the NWE region also indicated ‘organic regulation’ as relevant, farmers rearing ruminant species in the MED region identified farm profitability and commercialisation. Farmers still mainly relied in conventional treatments but they often applied phytotherapy, although >61% of the participants did not treat their animals in the last year. If treated, most of them administered on average one course of antibiotic treatment per animal (>62%). In the MED region, the main sources of information on alternative treatments were veterinarians (>60%) and the Internet (>32%). In the NWE region, it was other farmers for producers including ruminant species (>63%) and veterinarians (>77%) for monogastric farmers. In the NWE region, direct commercialisation and through a cooperative and/or food industry were the most frequent channel used; while, in the MED region, they were the food industry and/or direct commercialisation. In conclusion, this survey provides novel cross-European insights into organic livestock producers' concerns. A particular value of the survey is that MED countries, which are often underrepresented, were well sampled.

The study describes organic producers' perceptions of organic livestock production, product commercialisation, use of contentious inputs such as allopathic antibiotics, antiparasitics and vitamins and bedding materials availability in Mediterranean (MED) and North/Western European (NWE) countries. A total of 426 MED (46.2%) and NWE (53.8%) responses were analysed revealing more difficulty finding information on alternatives to antiparasitics and antibiotics than on bedding materials. They identified 'feeding/nutrition', 'animal health' and 'welfare' as the most relevant topics in their farms. Whereas ruminants and monogastrics farmers in the NWE region also indicated 'organic regulation' as relevant, farmers rearing ruminant species in the MED region identified farm profitability and commercialisation. Farmers still mainly relied in conventional treatments but they often applied phytotherapy, although >61% of the participants did not treat their animals in the last year. If treated, most of them administered on average one course of antibiotic treatment per animal (>62%). In the MED region, the main sources of information on alternative treatments were veterinarians (>60%) and the Internet (>32%). In the NWE region, it was other farmers for producers including ruminant species (>63%) and veterinarians (>77%) for monogastric farmers. In the NWE region, direct commercialisation and through a cooperative and/or food industry were the most frequent channel used; while, in the MED region, they were the food industry and/or direct commercialisation. In conclusion, this survey provides novel cross-European insights into organic livestock producers' concerns. A particular value of the survey is that MED countries, which are often underrepresented, were well sampled. Veterinarians were the main source of information on alternative treatments The internet is gaining popularity to find information on alternative treatments Perceptions slightly differed between North/Western and Mediterranean countries Organic farmers still largely rely on conventional treatments Phytotherapy is gaining popularity among organic farmers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although input use in organic agriculture is strictly regulated, and significantly less contentious inputs are applied in organic than in conventional farming systems, copper, mineral oil, external nutrient input, anthelmintics, antibiotics and vitamins are still commonly used among organic farmers in the EU, partly due to the scarce availability of alternative products and the difficulty of implementing preventive strategies. Moreover, besides the direction set by the European Commission's organic regulation, only a handful of policy instruments exist at national levels to reduce the use of these contentious inputs. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the results of the RELACS EU-funded project about the current use of copper, mineral oils, external nutrient inputs, anthelmintics, antibiotics and vitamins in organic farming in the EU. The paper is based on six internal reports developed in RELACS which relied on international surveys, in-depth interviews, multiple case study methods, database-based calculations, secondary data sources, plus a survey independent from the reports to map existing policy instruments and voluntary initiatives in the EU aiming to reduce the use of the six input categories. As a result, the paper gives a comprehensive overview of the current consumption of the six contentious inputs within the organic sector, highlighting potential alternative strategies in the pipeline, available preventive measures and the willingness of farmers towards adopting these solutions. It also informs about specific policy instruments already in force, as well as about ongoing voluntary initiatives to reduce contentious inputs. Due to the current dependence of organic farming systems on the six categories of contentious inputs, any sudden phase-out or ban on their usage would do more harm than good to the organic sector. Therefore, gradual, data-driven reduction measures are needed, which require significant further investments in targeted research, and in policy support measures, with the active involvement of agricultural stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]