Impact matrix analysis and cost-benefit calculations to improve management practices regarding health status in organic dairy farming

The organic dairy sector has developed rapidly. Premium prices reflect the consumer expectation that animal health is better in organic than in conventional systems. An interdisciplinary EU-project (IMPRO) aimed to assess the current state and investigate options to reduce the prevalence of production diseases (PDs). Results of on-farm assessments in four different European countries (DE, FR, SE, ES) revealed that PDs varied a lot between organic farms and did not generally differ from levels reported in conventional dairy farms. It is concluded that the enhanced minimum standards approach in organic agriculture has failed to promote a reduction in PDs. Generalised recommendations for health measures are often both ineffective and inefficient as they do not always suit the specific farm situation. They result in hindering farmers’ readiness to invest in costly health measures. Farmers often do not know which measure they should prioritize in order to combat particular problems and which investments could provide an appropriate return on capital.

Within IMPRO, a farm centric and equifinal approach has been developed, based on the principle that the same end state (low level of PDs) can be achieved via different paths. The new approach to provide ways of reducing selected PDs (mastitis, metabolic and fertility disorders, and lameness) is based, inter alia, on an impact matrix as a participatory concept (involving farmer, veterinarian and advisor) for diagnostic work. The feedback from the project was encouraging and provided positive incentives for further development of a farm level diagnostic approach. Competition would be an effective motivator if reduced levels of PDs made an impact on farmers' market returns.

Additionally, a pilot project was conducted to deal with the question whether the use of homeopathy and phytotherapy holds potential to replace the use of antibiotics in treating bacterial infectious diseases keeping negative side effects to a minimum. Literature reviews revealed that cure rates after treatment with either antibiotics, alternative treatments or a placebo varied greatly between the studies. None of the scientific studies with alternative products have been re-produced. Thus, the use of homeopathic or phytotherapeutic products cannot claim to have a reliable and repeatable effect and a prognostic validity. Evaluations on organic dairy farms in Germany, France and Spain revealed that each farmer had developed his/her own treatment strategy; regardless of the principles of homeopathy. This contradicts with the principle that remedies are means to an end. Effectiveness of treatments in farm practice is highly context-dependent. It requires a lege-artis procedure, including follow-up checks, documentation of the recovery progress, and the involvement of highly skilled people. Otherwise, alternative treatments are at risk to increase health and welfare problems due to lack of therapeutic success and thus extended suffering of diseased animals. Deciding which level of therapeutic success and what prevalence of PDs is acceptable should not be left to each farmer to decide for themselves. These values are essential to the common good and should be set using external reference values.

The large PD variation amongst organic dairy farms goes against consumers’ expectations and conflicts with the ethos of a brand label reflecting greater homogeneity. The EC should particularly focus on farms with below-average performance. Farmers who produce products at lower production costs yet risk higher prevalence of PDs are favoured above farmers who invest money, time and effort without obtaining premium prices for higher quality. Thus, unfair competition is an important impediment to any possible improvements.

To reduce and prevent unfair competition, regular monitoring of health data is required. In IMPRO, tools have been constructed that are suited to support this demand. Minimum standards should be supplemented by target values with respect to the prevalence of PDs. Processors, manufacturers and retailers should encourage farmers to place greater emphasis on tackling PDs by offering bonuses when a low prevalence of PDs has been achieved and penalties when a high one is present, in order to bring the milk payment system more in line with the premium value expected from organic dairy products.

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