Farmer welfare and animal welfare- Exploring the relationship between farmer's occupational well-being and stress, farm expansion and animal welfare

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore whether and how dairy farmer's occupational well-being and stress are associated with animal welfare and farm expansion. A web-administered questionnaire was used to collect 914 dairy farmer's opinions on their quality of life, working situation and mental health. Factor analysis was used to describe farmer's occupational well-being and stress, and farmers who expand their farming operations. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to explore the association of the occupational well-being and stress with animal welfare. Animal welfare was measured by an animal welfare indicator, based on variables listed in the international standard that was available in the Norwegian Animal Recording System. The findings show that high farmer occupational well-being and a low level of stress have a direct positive association with the animal welfare indicator. Contrary, low occupational well-being and high level of stress is negatively associated with the animal welfare indicator. Finally, farmer's degree of loneliness and optimism, satisfaction with income and determination to continue production, is associated with animal welfare indirectly through farm expansion. In this study farm expansion was positively associated with the animal welfare indicator.

Keywords: Animal welfare; Animal welfare indicator; Dairy farming; Occupational well-being.