[Comparative economic analysis of the new concept for veal calf fattening «outdoor veal calf» and the conventional IP-SUISSE label]

INTRODUCTION

The evaluation of new animal husbandry concepts includes, beyond the exploration of chosen parameters, that the question is addressed whether economic benefits for producers and ethical benefits for society result of the new system when compared to traditional systems. In a previous study, a novel management and housing concept for veal production («outdoor veal calf», OVC) was tested from October 2016 to July 2018. The OVC concept was associated with distinctly lower antimicrobial use while average daily weight gain was similar and calf welfare better; furthermore mortality was lower compared to conventional label fattening. The aim of the present study was to compare economics between the OVC concept on intervention farms (IF) and the IP-SUISSE label concept on control farms (CF) by calculating contribution margins (CM). The CM indicates the difference between the performance of a production branch (e. g. slaughter return) and the allocable costs for this production branch (e. g. feed costs). In the present study, two different approaches were used for CM calculation to analyze the available data in detail. No substantial differences in CM between the OVC concept and the IP-SUISSE concept were found in either approach. However, the specific CM varied between the approaches as different calculation criteria for quantities and prices were applied (approach «real» with accurate costs and returns from the OVC study and approach «standardized» with costs and returns based on the CM catalogue). The CM varied slightly for the CM per man-hour (IF «real»: 6.96 CHF/man-hour, «standardized»: 4.49 CHF/man-hour; CF: 7.90 CHF/man-hour and 8.08 CHF/man-hour, respectively) and considerably for the CM per fattening space and year (IF «real»: -380.36 CHF, «standardized»: -559.50 CHF; CF: -244.70 CHF and -318.80 CHF, -respectively). Producing veal with the OVC concept -allowed for achieving comparable CM/man-hour as in conventional label production. Thus, the farmers' economic interests should be warranted when implementing the OVC concept.