Other #40722

Summary

Improving animal welfare an forms is currently a major issue, in responseto expectations of citizens and consumers. In organic farming, reflections are continuing on how to change livestock production practices to allow animals to express their natural behaviour most fully. Calf rearing in dairy systems is a focus of attention. At the moment, separating calves from their mothers remains the most common practice, but new techniques that favour the marternal bond are appearing. Understanding these practices better to identify conditions under which they can be adopted by more farmers was the goal of a survey conducted in spring 2018 of organic dairy farmers who rear calves with adult cows. This work has been made under the GrazyDaiSy project, funded by the European Union program Core organic.