Views of dairy farmers, agricultural advisors, and lay citizens on the ideal dairy farm

摘要

The aim of this qualitative study was to explorethe shared and divergent views among Brazilian dairyfarmers, agricultural advisors, and lay citizens on whatcharacteristics they viewed were most important on anideal dairy farm. Responses from 107 dairy farmers, 170agricultural advisors (including veterinarians), and 280lay citizens were subjected to thematic analyses. Fivethemes were identified: milk quality, animal welfare,economics, society, and the environment. Although all3 groups made reference to each of the 5 themes, theyemphasized different characteristics. The lay citizensplaced the most emphasis on milk quality. In contrast,both the farmers and the advisors highlighted economicsas the most important characteristic of an idealdairy farm. When considering only animal welfare, wenoted differences in the use of the constructs of animalwelfare: farmers and advisors referred mostly to aspectsrelated to biological functioning, whereas lay citizensemphasized affective states and naturalness. All 3stakeholder groups referred to the use of pasture asbeing an important component of an ideal dairy farmbut again differed in their reasons; citizens referred topasture in the context of naturalness, whereas the other2 stakeholder groups almost always referred to pastureusing economic terms. Technology was highlighted byall 3 groups as an important characteristic of an idealdairy farm but differences were noted in their justificationfor this view. For example, lay citizens viewedtechnology as a tool to improve milk quality, whereasfarmers and advisors both referred to technology as animportant vehicle to improve quality of life for thoseworking in the industry. Lay citizens raised severalconcerns associated with the overuse of antibiotics andother chemicals, but farmers and advisors rarely mentionedthese types of concerns. The latter 2 stakeholdersplaced considerable emphasis on the quality of lifeof dairy farmers and workers, an issue rarely discussedby lay citizens. Overall, our findings highlight severaldisconnects between the expectations of the lay citizens,and farmers and their advisors. We suggest that dairyfarmers and agricultural advisors should both reflect onthe desires of the lay public in what they view to be anideal dairy farm, as this may help bridge some of thecurrent disconnects.