Abstract

Much effort has been put on the development and promotion of organic dairy products, but little attention has been paid to the foundation of the production, i.e. the animal material. The process of developing sustainable breeding strategies, in agreement with the goals for organic production, should involve identification of traits especially important in organic production. The aim of this study is to identify organic and conventional producers' preferences regarding traits important in dairy production. A web based questionnaire has been developed and answered by 468 dairy farm-ers in Sweden (26 % organic producers). The results show that organic producers rank traits relat-ed to resistance to diseases higher than conventional producers, while milk production, lactation curve, temperament and claw and leg health were ranked higher by conventional farmers. This in-dicates a need for breeding goals adjusted to satisfy farmers with different type of production.

Keywords

breeding; animal material; farmers' attitudes; cattle; disease resistance

Published in

Landbauforschung Völkenrode. Sonderheft
2012, volume: 362, number: 362, pages: 343-346
Book title: Tackling the Future Challenges of Organic Animal Husbandry
ISBN: 978-3-86576-094-4
Publisher: Landbauforschung

Conference

2nd IFOAM/ISOFAR International Conference on Organic Animal Husbandry, Tackling the Future Challenges of Organic Animal Husbandry

Authors' information