PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES OF ACTORS INVOLVED IN THE MILK PRODUCTION CHAIN RELATED TO PROLONGED COW-CALF CONTACT

• Grant number: 24/02841-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: June 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry
• Principal Investigator: Matheus Deniz
• Grantee: Hingryd Aparecida Olmo Ferreira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Integrating the expectations of the general public with the reality of dairy farms is a complex and long process. To assist in the sustainable evolution of livestock farming, we have professionals who work directly with rural producers and therefore play a fundamental role in promoting change. Through assistance to producers, it is possible to disseminate practices that require knowledge of ecosystems, cultures, local markets and animal welfare. Society in general wants production systems that provides opportunities for animals to express their natural behavior, such as prolonged cow-calf contact. The practices adopted on dairy farms may vary in terms of animal housing, management practices and duration of cow-calf contact. Therefore, technical knowledge is necessary to adapt the system according to the needs and objectives of each producer. Therefore, the objective of this study is (1) to review the scientific literature on public opinion regarding different management practices adopted on dairy farms; (2) understand the attitudes and knowledge of technicians involved in the dairy industry about the different systems of cow-calf contact and their impacts on animal production. For this, we will use a mixed model, in which the project will be divided into two studies to achieve our objectives. In the study (1) a systematic review will be carried out with the aim of providing a critical and systematic evaluation of the scientific literature regarding the proposed topic; and in study (2) an online questionnaire containing closed and open questions will be disseminated among rural technicians. Professionals across Brazil will be invited to participate in this research. The link to access the online questionnaire will be sent to email lists of different public and private organizations and published on social networks (e.g.: Instagram, Facebook, X and LinkedIn). The questionnaire will be divided into four sections with questions related to animal welfare, calf raising, description of properties receiving technical assistance and profile of participants. The potential of this research is to contribute to the construction of sustainable animal production systems from an economic, ethical and social point of view. Through knowledge of the perceptions and attitudes of technicians involved in the dairy industry about practices that require breaking paradigms and major changes in current systems, it is possible to determine methods to better prepare current and future professionals for the constant evolution of the dairy sector.