Assessing Farm Animal Welfare interest in farmers for giving up tie-stall system in Northern Italy

Introduction Farm Animal Welfare (FAW) is a topic of major interest in assessing the quality of agricultural productions, as consumers’ environmental and ethical concerns require agricultural systems to match the goal to increase productivity together with taking care of natural and animal resources (Balzani & Hanlon, 2020; Irico et al., 2018). Housing system is therefore perceived by stakeholders as a major factor in influencing FAW. Despite the growing public demand for FAW-friendly productions, the Italian dairy sector still witnesses a presence of tie-stall systems, where cattle are tethered at the neck in individual stalls for most of the year. This system is known to increase the level of stress and the prevalence of some diseases (Popescu et al., 2014; Tarantola et al., 2016).The negative opinion of EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) on tie-stall systems could influence a transition towards free housing. Although studies show farmers’ awareness on the positive effects of the free housing on farm profitability (Ahmed et al., 2021; Buddle et al., 2021), the real chance of implementing best management practices intended to improve FAW is influenced by a broad range of variables. This work aims to assess which factors can influence the adoption of free housing systems in Italian dairy farming, by using a survey approach applied to farmers using tie-stalls. Methodology Data collection took place from April to July 2023 with 87 completed surveys out of a total of 98 North Italian farmers adopting tie-stall systems. Telephone interviews were conducted by expert interviewers. Building on studies that show how individual attitude towards AW is influenced by personal beliefs and moral norms as well as by societal values (Cembalo et al., 2016), the factors tested in this survey include Socio-demographic variables, such as age, gender, education and farmer’s experience in livestock, Farm-related variables, describing the farm size, management and business dimension, and Opinion variables, related to the respondent’s opinion on AW and comparison between tie-stall and free housing systems. To assess farmers’ intention to implement free housing system, we choose to set the statement “I won’t implement free housing system until it is mandatory” as dependent variable. A correlation analysis was performed to assess the existence of a high correlation among the variables. A correlation higher than 0.6 was taken as a threshold to consider those variables in a further analysis. Finally, a negative binomial regression analysis was implemented. Starting with the control variables, the other variables were added to evaluate the effect of each one on the regression by using a stepwise approach, in order to consider the best fitting model. Results and conclusions Among Socio-demographic variables, results show the significance of the respondents’ gender, as females appear to be more inclined in adopting the loose housing system. Findings reveal that age and experience are negatively related to the intention of adopting the free housing. Moreover, farmers with a high milk production would not choose to adopt the free housing system, as well as those that work fulltime in their farm, while farmers with a larger agricultural surface are more inclined to switch to the new system, probably because they do not face space constraints. In relation to Opinion variables, respondents who perceive that free housing would improve the general cattle welfare are more likely to adopt this system. However, as most farmers agree on regarding the provision of financial subsidies as an essential condition for a successful implementation of this system, the prospect of facing too high upfront costs restrains farmers from adopting free housing. The insights provided by this study could be a helpful tool to address the increasingly perceived issue of improving AW in the Italian dairy sector, by guiding policymakers towards the implementation of proper policies able to meet farmers’ requirements to adopt welfare-friendly housing systems.