Modified ‘Stable Schools’ as a Consulting Tool for Organic Dairy Herds
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Modified ‘Stable Schools’ as a Consulting Tool for Organic Dairy Herds. / Hansmann, Verena; Volling, Otto; Krömker, Volker.
In: Organic Farming, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2020, p. 13-23.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Modified ‘Stable Schools’ as a Consulting Tool for Organic Dairy Herds
AU - Hansmann, Verena
AU - Volling, Otto
AU - Krömker, Volker
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - The aim of this study was to examine the opinions of farmers on a consulting project, which was established for organic dairy farms in Northern Germany involving different animal health experts who participated in the meetings. Furthermore, the properties of measures that are of decisive importance for implementation on the farms were identified to improve consultancy services for dairy farming. Once a year, the farmers met on a host-farm in one of three groups consisting of five to nine farms, a facilitator and an expert. At each meeting, a host-farm was visited and the analysed data of all participating farms of the previous year were presented to the group members. Each farmer had the possibility to report on success stories and issues concerning his herd. During discussions, the farmers first proposed mutual farm-specific measures for improving herd health and animal welfare. Afterwards, the expert named possible interventions and commented on the given measures of the farmers. All measures were noted by the facilitator. At the end of each meeting, each farmer could choose which of the given measures he wanted to implement. Open group-interviews as well as anonymous questionnaires for the farmers were used at the meetings in winter 2016/2017 to evaluate their perception of this consulting project and to determine which properties of measures were important for implementation on the farms. Based on the results of this study, the participating farmers were very positive towards this kind of consulting project. They favoured the participation of an expert during the meetings and the analysis of farm specific data. Farmers mostly chose measures for implementation proposed by farmers and approved by the expert, followed by those proposed by the expert only. Measures were chosen when they were practical in the implementation, effective, efficient and took a low additional workload for implementation.
AB - The aim of this study was to examine the opinions of farmers on a consulting project, which was established for organic dairy farms in Northern Germany involving different animal health experts who participated in the meetings. Furthermore, the properties of measures that are of decisive importance for implementation on the farms were identified to improve consultancy services for dairy farming. Once a year, the farmers met on a host-farm in one of three groups consisting of five to nine farms, a facilitator and an expert. At each meeting, a host-farm was visited and the analysed data of all participating farms of the previous year were presented to the group members. Each farmer had the possibility to report on success stories and issues concerning his herd. During discussions, the farmers first proposed mutual farm-specific measures for improving herd health and animal welfare. Afterwards, the expert named possible interventions and commented on the given measures of the farmers. All measures were noted by the facilitator. At the end of each meeting, each farmer could choose which of the given measures he wanted to implement. Open group-interviews as well as anonymous questionnaires for the farmers were used at the meetings in winter 2016/2017 to evaluate their perception of this consulting project and to determine which properties of measures were important for implementation on the farms. Based on the results of this study, the participating farmers were very positive towards this kind of consulting project. They favoured the participation of an expert during the meetings and the analysis of farm specific data. Farmers mostly chose measures for implementation proposed by farmers and approved by the expert, followed by those proposed by the expert only. Measures were chosen when they were practical in the implementation, effective, efficient and took a low additional workload for implementation.
KW - Consulting
KW - Dairy farming
KW - Experts
KW - Fellow farmers
KW - Herd health
KW - Improvement
KW - Learning-groups
KW - Organic farming
KW - Welfare
U2 - 10.12924/of2020.06010013
DO - 10.12924/of2020.06010013
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85085141742
VL - 6
SP - 13
EP - 23
JO - Organic Farming
JF - Organic Farming
SN - 1464-1224
IS - 1
ER -
ID: 240532156