Public and farmer perceptions of dairy cattle welfare in the United States.

This research used surveys of the public and dairy farmers in the United States to assess perceptions and attitudes related to dairy cattle welfare. Sixty-three percent of public respondents indicated that they were concerned about dairy cattle welfare. Most public respondents agreed that animal welfare was more important than low milk prices but that the average American did not necessarily agree. Most public respondents had not viewed media stories related to dairy cattle welfare. Respondents who had viewed these stories did so on television or Internet. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was viewed as the most accurate source of information related to dairy cattle welfare, followed by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the American Veterinary Medicine Association (AVMA). Both public and dairy farmer respondents viewed farmers as having the most influence on dairy cattle welfare. However, there was a general pattern of public respondents indicating that groups including USDA, HSUS, and AVMA had a relatively larger influence on dairy cattle welfare than did farmer respondents. In contrast, dairy farmers indicated that individual actors-farmers, veterinarians, consumers-had more influence than the public indicated. When asked about production practices, most public respondents indicated that they would vote for a ban on antibiotic use outside of disease treatment or for the mandated use of pain control in castration. However, a minority indicated they would vote to ban the use of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) or to pay a premium for milk produced without rbST. With respect to explaining public support for the production practice bans and limits, respondents were more likely to vote for the restrictions if they were older, female, had higher income, or had viewed animal welfare stories in the media.

BEEF SPECIES SYMPOSIUM: Economic considerations related to U.S. beef herd expansion.

Significant attention perpetually surrounds possible changes in breeding herd inventories in the U.S. beef cattle industry. This article outlines economic considerations of U.S. herd expansion. Factors restricting expansion include land availability, increasing production efficiency, operator demographics, capital requirements, and commodity price volatility. Several offsetting factors support herd expansion including unprecedented cow-calf returns, ongoing global beef demand growth, and timing within the current cattle cycle. In addition to these industry-wide factors, several important variations in individual ranch considerations are outlined. The authors' expectations on future herd dynamics are provided, highlighting broader implications for individual operations, industry leaders, and the entire beef-cattle supply chain. The substantial economic impact and importance of the cow-calf sector warrants broader appreciation of these economic factors impacting herd expansion. The future size of the U.S. cattle industry is determined by the individual decisions of over 70,000 cattle owners, making this issue worthy of review by all industry stakeholders.