Profitability of animal welfare
Increasing numbers of people are concerned about the conditions of farm animal husbandry systems and of the whole meat industry as well as of the welfare of farm animals in Germany. The willingness to pay for animal welfare-friendly products is increasing, while until now there is only one market...
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| Formato: | Second cycle, A2E |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2021
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/16612/ |
| Sumario: | Increasing numbers of people are concerned about the conditions of farm animal
husbandry systems and of the whole meat industry as well as of the welfare of
farm animals in Germany. The willingness to pay for animal welfare-friendly
products is increasing, while until now there is only one market-based farm
animal welfare (FAW) label in Germany, the “Initiative Tierwohl” (ITW). This
initiative is the first cross-sectoral alliance of the agricultural industry, the meat
industry and the food retailing. The purpose of this on farm-study was to gain
insights into the concept of animal welfare and to analyze the economic effects
on a farm with fattening pigs participating in the ITW. Further, the farmer´s
evaluation about current challenges in the fattening pig sector as well as his
motivation for implementing higher FAW standards were examined. Five
methods were applied: a literature review, a qualitative interview, a business
segment accounting, an extra-cost accounting and a risk analysis. The results
of the literature review showed the need for a uniform definition of FAW, unified
measuring tools for FAW and the necessity using participatory approaches
developing generalities. In this study four different scenarios were examined: the
ITW program phase from 2018 to 2020, the program phase of the ITW from 2021
to 2023, the planned German state label and a control scenario. The analysis
regarding the extra costs per pig of the FAW programs demonstrated that the
opportunity costs keeping lower amounts of pigs, caused by the space
requirements of 10 % and 20 % more space, form the highest cost position. The
payed renumerations of 5,10 €/pig and 5,28 €/pig in the ITW-scenarios are
enough to cover all incidental extra costs. The planned German label has to face
high singular investment costs and a presumed renumeration of 6,00 €/pig
would not be enough to cover the extra costs. Participating in the ITW leads to
reduced fluctuations of the contribution margin of about 11 %, also called
hedging effectiveness. Analyzing economic effects of FAW programs on farms
represents an instructive approach to reflect the design of such a program.
Further research is needed to analyze which factors determine the profitability
of FAW programs the most. Risk-reducing effects of higher FAW standards have
to be examined more in detail, for instance including potential positive synergies
between FAW and animal health. Considering farmers´ individual risk attitudes
will give more concrete recommendations for action in the end. |
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