Motivations for Swiss veal farmers to adopt calf health management strategies that enable reduction in antibiotic use

Summary

Context: Excess dairy calves in Switzerland are commonly shifted at a young age to specialised fattening farms for veal or beef production and are exposed to pathogens against which they may have insufficient immunity. Excessive administration of antibiotics to these calves contributes to the development of bacterial resistance, which is detrimental for human and animal health. Intervention strategies are needed to motivate farmers to adopt alternative methods for maintaining calf health.
Aims: This study was aimed at identifying individual and systemic enablers and barriers driving farmer behaviour in terms of calf health management and antibiotic use.
Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with veal, beef and/or dairy farmers who breed and take care of future fattening calves in the first weeks of life. Data were analysed according to key constructs.
Key results: Measures to enhance calf health included keeping calves on birth farms until they have developed sufficient active immunity, providing sufficient milk, drenching with colostrum, and hygiene-focused stable management practices. Dairy farmers perceived excess dairy breed calves to be a financial liability, so are reluctant to commit resources to maintaining their health. Systemic barriers to reducing antibiotic use in specialised, large-scale veal-fattening systems, including increased mortality, high costs of veterinary treatment, and low profit margins causing farmers to seek economies of scale, mean that there is little potential for significantly reducing antibiotic use within the existing system. Furthermore, unwillingness to seek herd management advice hinders the application of alternative practices for maintaining calf health with reduced antibiotic use in veal production.
Conclusions: The main barriers to antibiotic reduction in veal production are systemic; therefore, strategies to reduce antibiotic use should aim for a system that encourages farmers to prioritise calf health, such as implementing political and economic drivers to discourage specialisation and intensification. Such drivers could include measures to reduce the costs of veterinary services or to increase income; for example, subsidies could increase the profit potential of calves and motivate farmers to prioritise calf health.
Implications: A production system in which calves are managed to maintain their health with minimal antibiotic use would provide societal benefits of slowing the development of antimicrobial resistance while fulfilling farmers’ moral responsibility for the wellbeing of calves as sentient beings.