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Animal welfare and production efficiency in German pork production

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  • Uehleke, Reinhard
  • Seifert, Stefan
  • Hüttel, Silke

Abstract

Triggered by growing societal demand, various labels and program target at improving animal welfare in intense livestock farming. Based on the assumption of a trade-off between farms’ economic performance and animal welfare, these program typically compensate farmers for potential losses from adjusted husbandry conditions such as additional space. Yet the complexity of animal welfare challenges its unique measurement and consequently the evaluation of such measures, casting doubt on the effectiveness of these program. Therefore, we first target at improving the understanding of the relation between animal health, as a core dimension of animal welfare, and farm performance from an empirical perspective, and second to evaluate the German program “Initiative Tierwohl” (ITW). We rely on bookkeeping data for 483 pig fattening farms including detailed animal health indicators collected at the abattoir. To test for the potential trade-off, we use relative farm performance measures identified from non-parametric data envelopment analysis. Our results do not support a trade-off between animal health and farm performance, but rather indicate the possibility for high productivity at comparatively high levels of animal health. Further, we find participants to perform slightly better in both dimensions, supporting the label’s claim of improved animal welfare.
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  • Uehleke, Reinhard & Seifert, Stefan & Hüttel, Silke, 2020. "Animal welfare and production efficiency in German pork production," 60th Annual Conference, Halle/ Saale, Germany, September 23-25, 2020 305600, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:gewi20:305600
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.305600
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Harvey, David & Hubbard, Carmen, 2013. "Reconsidering the political economy of farm animal welfare: An anatomy of market failure," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 105-114.
    2. Arne Henningsen & Tomasz Gerard Czekaj & Björn Forkman & Mogens Lund & Aske Schou Nielsen, 2018. "The Relationship between Animal Welfare and Economic Performance at Farm Level: A Quantitative Study of Danish Pig Producers," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(1), pages 142-162, February.
    3. Gocsik, Éva & Brooshooft, Suzanne D. & de Jong, Ingrid C. & Saatkamp, Helmut W., 2016. "Cost-efficiency of animal welfare in broiler production systems: A pilot study using the Welfare Quality® assessment protocol," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 55-69.
    4. Schulte, Hinrich D. & Armbrecht, Linda & Bürger, Rasmus & Gauly, Matthias & Musshoff, Oliver & Hüttel, Silke, 2018. "Let the cows graze: An empirical investigation on the trade-off between efficiency and farm animal welfare in milk production," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 375-385.
    5. Reinhard Uehleke & Silke Hüttel, 2019. "The free-rider deficit in the demand for farm animal welfare-labelled meat," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 46(2), pages 291-318.
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    Cited by:

    1. Thiermann, Insa & Schröer, Daniel & Latacz-Lohmann, Uwe, 2023. "Are German farmers ready for a ‘warm restructuring’ of the pig sector?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).

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    Keywords

    Livestock Production/Industries; Agricultural and Food Policy;

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