Ethics and Animal Welfare in Organic Animal Husbandry An interdisciplinary approach Vonne Lund Department of Animal Environment and Health Skara Doctoral thesis Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Skara 2002 Acta universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae Veterinaria 137 ISSN : 1401-6257 ISBN : 91-576-6394-7 © 2002 Vonne Lund Print: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences/ Repro Alnarp Abstract Lund, V. 2002. Ethics and animal welfare in organic animal husbandry – an interdisciplinary approach Doctor’s dissertation ISSN 1401-6257, ISBN 91-576-6394-7 Farm animals make important contributions to organic farming systems. This thesis deals with the values and aims of organic farming in relation to animal welfare concerns. The organic standards and other publications from the organic movement are analyzed to define basic values. These are related to ethical theory, and ecocentric ethics is suggested as an ethical position for organic farming. It is concluded that although the main concern is to develop sustainable and environmentally friendly farming systems, animal welfare is an important aim in organic farming. Two studies have been made of Swedish organic livestock farmers to examine their values and beliefs about animal husbandry and animal welfare. The first study comprised 15 qualitative in-depth interviews. The second study was a quantitative questionnaire study., where answers were analyzed using principal component analysis (exploratory factor analysis). Both studies showed that the ecocentric position can be identified among Swedish organic livestock farmers in their perception of animal welfare. An important finding is that the animal welfare concept is understood differently in organic farming from what is usual in conventional agriculture. It is interpreted in terms of natural living, which includes the possibility of performing a natural behavior, feeds adapted to the animal’s physiology and a natural environment. Thus, it is important for the organic farmers to be explicit and communicate their view of animal welfare to other groups. A literature study was performed to learn about the actual animal welfare situation in organic animal husbandry. Only 22 peer-reviewed articles were found. There were no indications in the literature that overall health is worse in organic than in conventional herds. A very careful conclusion was that animal health in organic farming is as good or perhaps better – with the important exception of parasitic diseases. The thesis also analyzes conflicting values and dilemmas in organic animal husbandry, e.g., between the ecocentric position and aspects of animal welfare. The questionnaire study revealed two groups with partially differing values: farmers who see organic farming as a life style and who believe environmental issues and natural living are important, and entrepreneurial farmers who consider making money and new challenges more important. An ethical contract is proposed as a tool to handle the dilemmas. It is concluded that it is important for organic farmers and for the organic movement to take animal health and welfare issues seriously. Key words: Ecocentric ethics, ethical contract, animal welfare, natural behavior, organic farming, organic livestock production, organic animal husbandry Author’s address: Vonne Lund, Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 234, SE-532 23 Skara, Sweden LIVET är förunderligt – är så starkt och mäktigt Livet är förunderligt – är så svagt och bräckligt Som en vårflod spränger alla dämningar Gör sig fri Som en blomdoft smyger tyst i skymningen Drar förbi ditt hus – så kan en människa aldrig fånga livet! (LIFE Is wondrous – so strong and powerful Life Is wondrous – so weak and fragile Like a spring flood smashing all restrains Breaking free Like a scent of flowers sneaking silently Past your house at dusk A human can never capture life!) To Sven and Tryggve Contents Appendix 6 Introduction 7 The relationship among ethics, animal welfare and interdisciplinarity 8 What is organic animal husbandry? 9 The development of organic farming 11 Aims 20 Materials and methods 21 Results 23 Paper I 23 Paper II 24 Paper III 24 Paper IV 25 Paper V 26 General discussion 27 Methodological considerations 27 Papers I and II 29 Paper III 30 Paper IV 31 Paper V 31 Synthesis of papers I-V 32 Is animal welfare a concern for organic farming – or should it be? 33 The animal welfare concept in organic farming 40 Animal welfare in practice 45 Organic farmers' attitudes to ethics and animal welfare – a Swedish example 51 A proposal of an ethical approach to the organic dilemma 53 Conclusions 55 Svensk sammanfattning 57 References 59 Acknowledgements 70 Appendix This thesis is based on the following papers, which will be referred to in the text by their Roman numerals: I. Lund, V. & Röcklinsberg, H. 2001. Outlining a concept of animal welfare for organic farming systems. Journal of agricultural and environmental ethics 14, 391-424. II. Lund, V., Anthony, R. & Röcklinsberg, H. The ethical contract as a tool in organic animal husbandry. Accepted for publication in Journal of agricultural and environmental ethics after revision. III. Lund, V. & Algers, B. Research on animal health and welfare in organic farming – a literature review. Accepted for publication in Livestock production science. IV. Lund, V., Hemlin, S. & Lockeretz, W. 2002. Organic livestock production as viewed by Swedish farmers and organic initiators. Agriculture and human values 19(3), 255-268. V. Lund, V., Hemlin, S. & White, J. Ethics and natural behavior - Swedish organic farmers’ view on animal issues. Submitted to Journal of agricultural and environmental ethics. Papers I, II and IV are published with kind permission of Kluwer Academic Publishers. Paper III is published with kind permission of Elsevier Science B.V. Introduction Organic farming has developed from a sub-cultural protest movement in the 1970’s to a more or less established part of contemporary farming (Christensen 1998). The movement has added color and flavor to the agricultural debate, to the extent that it has reached far beyond the usual scenes for agrotechnical disputes. In several countries it has engaged many sectors of society, including trade and commerce, politicians, and, in particular, the consumers. It is probably no overstatement that the organic movement is one of the successful alternative movements from the days of radical protests, at least measured in commercial terms. In 2000, the world market for organic food products netted an estimated US$17.5 billion in retail sales and it is likely that there will be a further increase in organic agricultural production in the near future (International Trade Centre, 2002). One striking feature about this debate is the many and strong opinions that have been raised. While the consumers have been consistently positive (although this is not always reflected in the sales records of organic products [Magnusson et al., 2001; Te Velde et al., 2002]), representatives from conventional agriculture have been remarkably critical – even now, when organic farming is turning profitable. The question may be asked: Are agricultural people really so slow in adopting new trends, is it just reactionary stubbornness, or do they, empowered by knowledge and experience, realize the “real truth” about organic farming? Or are there other explanations to the different attitudes among organic farmers, consumers, and the agriculturalists? Although most of the debate has been focusing on technical issues, one might suspect that the big differences among the antagonists lie in basic values and beliefs. That is, it may be a question of ethics. It has been suggested that organic farming represents a paradigm shift in agriculture, that is, a new world view, and in this case a new way of understanding farming. A discussion between two competing paradigms is never quite satisfactory, as theories are incommensurable (‘having no common standard of comparison’ [Macquarie, 1981; in Wynen, 1998]) and proponents of each camp base their arguments on different assumptions and priorities (Wynen, 1998). Animal welfare is one of the debated issues. While veterinarians often consider welfare to be unacceptable in organic systems, consumers are delighted to see pictures of happy outdoor pigs, and calves suckling their mothers on a green pasture. This thesis is looking behind the clichés, trying to scrutinize values and beliefs in organic farming that are relevant to animal welfare, both in theory and practice. It has also studied the actual welfare situation in organic animal husbandry. As a conclusion, it is suggesting ways in which to deal with some problems and dilemmas connected to animal welfare in organic farming. The outlook in the thesis is Scandinavian, with special emphasis on Sweden. This is an interesting example since organic farming, including livestock production, has transcended the pioneer stage and to a considerable extent become part of the agricultural establishment. 7 The relationship among ethics, animal welfare and interdisciplinarity Practical ethics is the study of specific moral problems, and moral theory is the attempt to answer all the specific moral questions raised in practical ethics (McNaughton, 1988). The moral problems traditionally studied in ethics are always about humans: how we morally should relate to each other and, sometimes, to society. Already in 1789 the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham asked why animals not should be included