Towards a Better Use of Antimicrobials on Farms: Insights from a Participatory Approach in the French Pig and Poultry Sectors

Supporting Measures to Improve Biosecurity within Italian Poultry Production

This paper describes the selection and validation of supporting measures (SMs) aimed at enhancing biosecurity compliance within Italian poultry farms. A tailored methodology, based on a stakeholders' survey involving farmers and advisors, included a virtual farm tour, group discussion, and farmer coaching. Virtual farm tours and group discussions were delivered during two meetings targeting meat and egg production stakeholders, separately. Coaching was validated in 26 pilot farms (PFs) by assessing farmers' attitudes towards change (i.e., ADKAR®) and farms' biosecurity score (i.e., Biocheck.UgentTM) before and after a minimum six-month period. A total of 20 out of 26 farmers agreed to implement at least one action plan (AP). Full implementation of the agreed APs was observed in ten farms, while others only partially implemented (n = 7) or did not implement (n = 3) the improvement. Most APs focused on enhancing house hygiene locks (n = 7), followed by bacterial auto-control after cleaning and disinfection (n = 4). Scoring tools indicated minimal or no variations in farmers' attitudes towards change and farm biosecurity. Virtual farm tours and group discussions were found to be effective in fostering interaction and facilitating the exchange of experiences and knowledge among farmers and stakeholders of poultry production. Coaching indicated that farmers might prefer implementing minor changes possibly influenced by time and cost constraints associated with structural interventions. These limitations could have also impacted the scores of the farmer/farm. The findings of this study provide a foundation for further application of SMs to improve biosecurity in Italian poultry farms.

Informational resources used by farmers with ruminants and monogastrics for animal health monitoring: importance of sensory indicators

Managers of health in livestock systems are asked to shift from a curative approach to a more preventive approach. This change requires sociological and technical reconfiguration and raises the issue of how changes are implemented by farmers and their technical support ecosystem (advisors, trainers, veterinarians). Here, we report work conducted in western France by an Agricultural European Innovation Partnership Operational Group bringing together animal scientists and sociologists to advance knowledge on animal health in a range of livestock sectors, i.e. dairy cattle, beef cattle, small ruminants (sheep, goats), poultry and pigs. In this study, our aim was to answer this question: what are the Informational Resources (I.R.) that farmers use to promote animal health of their herds? First, we used a survey to characterize 129 I.R. used by advisors, then, we used statistical analysis to classify these I.R. into six clusters. Second, we organized eight focus-group sessions that involved a total of 50 farmers from across all livestock sectors to find out how they mobilize the I.R. and what they see as important for animal health monitoring practice. Finally, we performed individual interviews with 42 farmers to expand the data captured in the collective focus groups. Results showed that farmers and advisors have a broad and diverse range of I.R. to help monitor animal health. We identified six clusters of I.R.: regulatory tools, periodic reports, tools for farmer-led monitoring, tools and indicators for national reference datasets, slaughterhouse and laboratory indicators, and training delivered to farmers. During focus group, livestock farmers identified some of their I.R. within these clusters but they also cited other daily routines that help them monitor animal health that were not cited by advisors. We found that farmers mainly use sensory indicators (typically smell, sight, touch) in their daily practice whereas advisors mainly use relatively sophisticated retrospective monitoring tools. Farmers also cited the importance of indicators that can rapidly objectify any change in animal condition, behavior, or health. This work finds a split in the distribution of animal health management roles, with farmers implementing daily checks whereas advisors run periodic health surveillance, thus revealing differentiated roles and needs between farmers and their advisors.