Measuring dairy cow welfare with real-time sensor-based data and farm records: a concept study.

Welfare assessment of dairy cows by in-person farm visits provides only a snapshot of welfare and is time-consuming and costly. Possible solutions to reduce the need for in-person assessments would be to exploit sensor data and other routinely collected on-farm records. The aim of this study was to develop an algorithm to classify dairy cow welfare based on sensors (accelerometer and/or milk meter) and farm records (e.g. days in milk, lactation number). In total, 318 cows from six commercial farms located in Finland, Italy and Spain (two farms each) were enrolled for a pilot study lasting 135 days. During this time, cows were routinely scored using 14 animal-based measures of good feeding, health and housing based on the Welfare Quality® (WQ®) protocol. WQ® measures were evaluated daily or approximately every 45 days, using disease treatments from farm records and on-farm visits, respectively. WQ® measures were supplemented with daily temperature-humidity index to account for heat stress. The severity and duration of each welfare measure were evaluated, and the final welfare index was obtained by summing up the values for each cow on each pilot study day, and stratifying the result into three classes: good, moderate and poor welfare. For model building, a machine-learning (ML) algorithm based on gradient-boosted trees (XGBoost) was applied. Two model versions were tested: (1) a global model tested on unseen herd, and (2) a herd-specific model tested on unseen part of the data from the same herd. The version (1) served as an example on the model performance on a herd not previsited by the evaluator, while version (2) resembled a custom-made solution requiring in-person welfare evaluation for model training. Our results indicated that the global model had a low performance with average sensitivity and specificity of 0.44 and 0.68, respectively. For the herd-specific version, the model performance was higher reaching an average of 0.64 sensitivity and 0.80 specificity. The highest classification performance was obtained for cows in poor welfare, followed by cows in good and moderate welfare (balanced accuracy of 0.77, 0.71 and 0.68, respectively). Since the global model had low classification accuracy, the use of the developed model as a stand-alone system based solely on sensor data is infeasible, and a combination of in-person and sensor-based welfare evaluation would be preferable for a reliable welfare assessment. ML-based solutions, even with fair discriminative abilities, have the potential to enhance dairy welfare monitoring.

High biosecurity and welfare standards in fattening pig farms are associated with reduced antimicrobial use.

In order to reduce antimicrobial use in pig production, the consequences of insufficient biosecurity and welfare problems need to be known. This study aimed to investigate associations between the number of antimicrobial treatments per fattening pig, and biosecurity, indicators for animal welfare as well as the prevalence of lesions at slaughter. The data used in this study were extracted from the pig health and welfare classification system (Sikava), which gathers data on medicine usage, meat inspection, animal welfare and the condition of farm buildings from over 95% of pig production in Finland. The data were registered during years from 2011 to 2013. Upon antimicrobial prescription, information on the number of fattening pigs treated and the main reason for treatment was recorded. In addition, at least 4 times per year, pig farms registered in Sikava were visited by the farm veterinarian who assessed, among other things, biosecurity and indicators for animal welfare (air quality, condition of facilities, cleanliness, enrichment and stocking density). Finally, data from slaughterhouse inspections were collected (number of carcasses with joint infection, abscesses, lung lesions, pleurisy and liver lesions). For analysis, these datasets were aggregated at the farm level to a quarter of a year. During the studied period, the mean number of antimicrobial treatments per fattening pig per 3 months was equal to 0.09. The main reasons for antimicrobial treatments were musculoskeletal diseases, tail biting and respiratory disorders (42, 33 and 12% of diagnoses, respectively). The meat inspection scoring indicated that as much as 14.7% of all pigs had pleurisy, 5.3% liver lesions and 4.1% abscesses. A standard zero-inflated negative binomial model was used to identify factors associated with the number of antimicrobial treatments per pig. The count of antimicrobial treatments per pig increased with the size of a farm. Regardless of prevalence of lesions, farms with poor drinking equipment, insufficient enrichment and a combination of poor condition of pens and high stocking density were associated with an increased number of antimicrobial treatments for musculoskeletal diseases per pig. Problems with stocking density and enrichment were associated with the number of antimicrobial treatments for tail biting, although these results depended on prevalence of joint infections. Problems with air quality and the combination of poor cleanliness and poor condition of facilities were associated with increased number of antimicrobial treatments due to respiratory diseases. This study suggests that by improving biosecurity and welfare at pig farms, antimicrobial use can be reduced.

The economic impact of a new animal disease: same effects in developed and developing countries?

Animal disease outbreaks generate a range of economic and non-economic impacts. While a significant number of research studies have estimated the effects of various diseases in a variety of contexts, examining the differential impacts and implications associated with the introduction of a novel disease into a developing country, as opposed to a developed one, is a rich area for further research. In this paper, the authors highlight some of the key dimensions and implications associated with the impacts of new diseases, how they differ in different contexts, and their implications for public policy.

La survenue de foyers de maladies animales entraîne des effets divers, de nature économique et non économique. Si l'estimation de l'impact de nombreuses maladies dans différents contextes a fait l'objet de très nombreuses études, l'évaluation différentielle de l'impact de l'introduction d'une maladie nouvelle dans un pays en développement et de ses conséquences, par opposition à ce qu'ils seraient dans un pays développé, constitue un domaine de recherche au riche potentiel largement inexploré. Les auteurs mettent en avant les dimensions et conséquences majeures de l'impact des maladies nouvelles et en soulignent les spécificités selon les contextes ainsi que leurs conséquences en termes de politiques publiques.

Los brotes de enfermedades animales traen consigo una serie de consecuencias de orden económico y no económico. Si bien ha habido numerosas investigaciones destinadas a evaluar los efectos de varias enfermedades en distintos contextos, el estudio del impacto y las repercusiones diferenciales que se siguen de la introducción de una nueva enfermedad en un país en desarrollo, por oposición a un país desarrollado, constituye un prometedor ámbito de investigación para el futuro. Los autores destacan algunas de las principales dimensiones y repercusiones ligadas a las consecuencias de nuevas enfermedades y examinan cómo difieren en función del contexto y cómo repercuten en las políticas públicas.

Why are most EU pigs tail docked? Economic and ethical analysis of four pig housing and management scenarios in the light of EU legislation and animal welfare outcomes.

To limit tail biting incidence, most pig producers in Europe tail dock their piglets. This is despite EU Council Directive 2008/120/EC banning routine tail docking and allowing it only as a last resort. The paper aims to understand what it takes to fulfil the intentions of the Directive by examining economic results of four management and housing scenarios, and by discussing their consequences for animal welfare in the light of legal and ethical considerations. The four scenarios compared are: 'Standard Docked', a conventional housing scenario with tail docking meeting the recommendations for Danish production (0.7 m2/pig); 'Standard Undocked', which is the same as 'Standard Docked' but with no tail docking, 'Efficient Undocked' and 'Enhanced Undocked', which have increased solid floor area (0.9 and 1.0 m2/pig, respectively) provision of loose manipulable materials (100 and 200 g/straw per pig per day) and no tail docking. A decision tree model based on data from Danish and Finnish pig production suggests that Standard Docked provides the highest economic gross margin with the least tail biting. Given our assumptions, Enhanced Undocked is the least economic, although Efficient Undocked is better economically and both result in a lower incidence of tail biting than Standard Undocked but higher than Standard Docked. For a pig, being bitten is worse for welfare (repeated pain, risk of infections) than being docked, but to compare welfare consequences at a farm level means considering the number of affected pigs. Because of the high levels of biting in Standard Undocked, it has on average inferior welfare to Standard Docked, whereas the comparison of Standard Docked and Enhanced (or Efficient) Undocked is more difficult. In Enhanced (or Efficient) Undocked, more pigs than in Standard Docked suffer from being tail bitten, whereas all the pigs avoid the acute pain of docking endured by the pigs in Standard Docked. We illustrate and discuss this ethical balance using numbers derived from the above-mentioned data. We discuss our results in the light of the EU Directive and its adoption and enforcement by Member States. Widespread use of tail docking seems to be accepted, mainly because the alternative steps that producers are required to take before resorting to it are not specified in detail. By tail docking, producers are acting in their own best interests. We suggest that for the practice of tail docking to be terminated in a way that benefits animal welfare, changes in the way pigs are housed and managed may first be required.

The economic and environmental value of genetic improvements in fattening pigs: An integrated dynamic model approach.

The selection of animals for improved performance affects the profitability of pig fattening and has environmental consequences. The goal of this paper was to examine how changes in genetic and market parameters impact the biophysical (feeding patterns, timing of slaughter, nitrogen excretion) and economic (return per pig space unit) results describing pig fattening in a Finnish farm. The analysis can be viewed as focusing on terminal line breeding goals. An integrated model using recursive stochastic dynamic programming and a biological pig growth model was used to estimate biophysical results and economic values. Combining these models allowed us to provide more accurate estimates for the value of genetic improvement and, thus, provide better feedback to animal breeding programs than the traditional approach, which is based on fixed management patterns. Besides the benchmark scenario, the results were simulated for 5 other scenarios. In each scenario, genotype was improved regarding daily growth potential, carcass lean meat content, or the parameters of the Gompertz growth curve (maturing rate [], adult weight of protein [α], and adult weight of lipid mass []). The change in each parameter was equal to approximately 1 SD genetic improvement (ceteris paribus). Increasing , , daily growth potential, or carcass lean meat content increased the return on pig space unit by €12.60, €7.60, €4.10, or €2.90 per year, respectively, whereas an increase in decreased the return by €3.10. The genetic improvement in and resulted in the highest decrease in nitrogen excretion calculated in total or per kilogram of carcass gain but only under the optimal feeding pattern. Simulated changes in the Gompertz growth function parameters imply greater changes in ADG and lean meat content than changes in scenarios focusing on improving ADG and lean meat content directly. The economic value of genetic improvements as well as the quantity of nitrogen excreted during the fattening period largely depends on feeding. Improved genotypes can require changes in pig management pattern. Estimating the influence of the genotype on the nitrogen excretion without considering changes in the management pattern can result in flawed conclusions. To improve overall economic performance and to decrease the environmental footprint of fattening pig production, the pig producer can adjust the herd management pattern according to the pigs' genetics.

Injurious tail biting in pigs: how can it be controlled in existing systems without tail docking?

Tail biting is a serious animal welfare and economic problem in pig production. Tail docking, which reduces but does not eliminate tail biting, remains widespread. However, in the EU tail docking may not be used routinely, and some 'alternative' forms of pig production and certain countries do not allow tail docking at all. Against this background, using a novel approach focusing on research where tail injuries were quantified, we review the measures that can be used to control tail biting in pigs without tail docking. Using this strict criterion, there was good evidence that manipulable substrates and feeder space affect damaging tail biting. Only epidemiological evidence was available for effects of temperature and season, and the effect of stocking density was unclear. Studies suggest that group size has little effect, and the effects of nutrition, disease and breed require further investigation. The review identifies a number of knowledge gaps and promising avenues for future research into prevention and mitigation. We illustrate the diversity of hypotheses concerning how different proposed risk factors might increase tail biting through their effect on each other or on the proposed underlying processes of tail biting. A quantitative comparison of the efficacy of different methods of provision of manipulable materials, and a review of current practices in countries and assurance schemes where tail docking is banned, both suggest that daily provision of small quantities of destructible, manipulable natural materials can be of considerable benefit. Further comparative research is needed into materials, such as ropes, which are compatible with slatted floors. Also, materials which double as fuel for anaerobic digesters could be utilised. As well as optimising housing and management to reduce risk, it is important to detect and treat tail biting as soon as it occurs. Early warning signs before the first bloody tails appear, such as pigs holding their tails tucked under, could in future be automatically detected using precision livestock farming methods enabling earlier reaction and prevention of tail damage. However, there is a lack of scientific studies on how best to respond to outbreaks: the effectiveness of, for example, removing biters and/or bitten pigs, increasing enrichment, or applying substances to tails should be investigated. Finally, some breeding companies are exploring options for reducing the genetic propensity to tail bite. If these various approaches to reduce tail biting are implemented we propose that the need for tail docking will be reduced.

Simulated financial losses of classical swine fever epidemics in the Finnish pig production sector.

Rapid structural change and concentration of pig production in regions with most intensive production has raised concerns about whether the risk of large-scale disease losses has increased in Finland. This paper examines the pig industry's losses due to classical swine fever (CSF) epidemics. The work is based on economic and epidemiological models providing insights to the consequences of epidemics to infected and uninfected farms, government and meat processing. The economic analysis was carried out by use of a sector model, which simulated the recovery of pig production, starting from the recognition of the disease in the country and ending at a steady-state market equilibrium about 12 years later. The model explicitly took into account profit-maximising behaviour of producers and the effects of decrease in export demand. Epidemiological evidence suggests that under the current spatially diversified structure of Finnish pig farming and related industries, the probability of a severe disease epidemic counting dozens of infected farms is small. Even for epidemics considered large in Finland (5-33 infected farms) combined with a major reduction in export demand, the median loss was simulated to be only euro19.2 million. The majority of these losses were due to loss of exports corresponding almost 20% of pig meat production in Finland. While the current structure of pig farming in Finland incurs higher production costs than the most intensive structures in Europe, it also seems to decrease the probability of 'catastrophic' economic losses. The results suggest that the response of export markets and the number of uninfected farms affected by preventive measures are critical to the magnitude of losses, as they can amplify losses even if only few farms become infected.