Herd health advisory services in organic dairy cattle farms

190 Pages·2016·6.62 MB·English

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Herd health advisory services
in organic dairy cattle farms

J.E. Duval

23rd of September 2016

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Table of contents

Preamble ............................................................................................................................................. 7
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. 9
Chapter 1: General introduction ........................................................................................................... 13
1.1 Context and stakes ...................................................................................................................... 15
1.2 Existing knowledge on herd health advisory services ................................................................. 20
1.3 Objectives, research strategy and outline of the thesis .............................................................. 28
1.3.1 Objectives ............................................................................................................................. 28
1.3.2 Research strategy ................................................................................................................. 29
1.3.3 Outline of the thesis ............................................................................................................. 31
References ......................................................................................................................................... 34
Chapter 2: Understanding veterinarians’ role in the animal health management strategies of dairy
farmers .................................................................................................................................................. 40
Preamble ....................................................................................................................................... 40
Chapter 2.1: Perceptions of French private veterinary practitioners’ of their role in organic dairy
farms and opportunities to improve their advisory services for organic dairy farmers ....................... 42
2.1.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 44
2.1.2 Material and methods .............................................................................................................. 45
2.1.3 Results ...................................................................................................................................... 49
2.1.4 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 61
2.1.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 64
References ......................................................................................................................................... 66
Chapter 2.2: French organic dairy farmers’ perceptions of private veterinary practitioners’ role in
their farms ............................................................................................................................................. 68
2.2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 70
2.2.2 Material and methods .............................................................................................................. 71
2.2.3 Results ...................................................................................................................................... 73
2.2.4 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 85
2.2.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 88
References ......................................................................................................................................... 91
Chapter 3: A participatory approach to design a Herd Health Management and Production program
for organic dairy farms .......................................................................................................................... 93
3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 95
3.2 Main steps in the conception of the HHPM program ................................................................. 96
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3.3 Outcomes and lessons learned from each step .......................................................................... 97
3.4 Discussion .................................................................................................................................. 103
References ....................................................................................................................................... 105
Chapter 4: A participatory approach to design monitoring indicators of production diseases in organic
dairy farms ........................................................................................................................................... 107
Chapter 5: Evaluation of the use and effectiveness of a dairy herd health management tool on
advisory services and herd health ....................................................................................................... 119
5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 121
5.2 Material and methods ............................................................................................................... 122
5.3 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 127
5.4 Discussion .................................................................................................................................. 140
5.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 144
References ....................................................................................................................................... 145
Annex 5.1: Templates for reporting of the farm visits by the advisors ........................................... 147
Annex 5.2: Questionnaires for the evaluation of users’ opinion on the HHPM and its functions .. 150
Chapter 6: General discussion and conclusion .................................................................................... 161
6.1 Major findings........................................................................................................................ 163
6.2 General approach’s strengths and weaknesses .................................................................... 164
6.3 Focusing on initiating advisory activities ............................................................................... 171
6.4 Organic solutions to health problems ................................................................................... 172
6.5 Research perspectives ........................................................................................................... 174
6.6 Perspectives for the field ....................................................................................................... 175
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 179
References ....................................................................................................................................... 181
Appendix I: List of publications ........................................................................................................... 183
Refereed scientific papers ........................................................................................................... 183
Conference papers and presentations in scientific conferences ................................................ 183
Other activities of dissemination of research results .................................................................. 184
Appendix II: Résumé de la these en français (abstract of the thesis in French) ................................. 185
Le conseil sanitaire en élevage bovin laitier agrobiologique .......................................................... 185

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Preamble

This thesis has been conducted in the research group ‘Biologie, Epidémiologie et Analyse de Risque
en santé animale’ (BioEpAR), Oniris-INRA, in Nantes, France. The supervison of this thesis was
ensured by Nathalie Bareille (main supervisor), Christine Fourichon and Aurélien Madouasse (co-
supervisors).
A research internship of 3 months was conducted in the research group Epidemiology and
management, department of Animal Science of the University of Aarhus, in Foulum. This internship
was supervised by Mette Vaarst.
This thesis received funding from the Région Pays de la Loire under grant agreement number
201309596 and by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological
development and demonstration under grant agreement number 311824 (IMPRO).
The work done during this thesis has been possible due to the close collaboration with organic dairy
farmers, veterinarians and other farm advisors, local organic farmer organizations and Chambers of
Agriculture.

We would like to sincerely thank all the partners that have made this thesis possible.

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Acknowledgements

In their book ‘Inter Views’ Steinar Kvale and Svend Brinkmann use two metaphors for interviewers,
namely miners and travellers. To quote Kvale and Brinkmann on travellers: ‘the interview-traveller is
on a journey to a distant country that leads to a tale to be told upon returning home. The interview-
traveller wanders through the landscape and enters into conversations with the people he or she
encounters. The traveller explores the many domains of the country, as unknown terrain or with
maps, roaming freely around the territory. The interview-traveller, in line with the original Latin
meaning of conversation as ‘wandering together with’, walks along with the local inhabitants, asking
questions and encouraging them to tell their own stories of their lived world. The potentialities of
meanings in the original stories are differentiated and unfolded through the traveller’s
interpretations of the narratives he or she brings back to home audiences. The journey may not only
lead to new knowledge; the traveller might change as well. The journey might instigate a process of
reflection that leads the traveller to new ways of self-understanding, as well as uncovering previously
taken for granted values and customs in the traveller’s home country’.
As far as I am concerned this whole thesis, and not only the interviews, were a journey to unknown
countries, during which I had the privileged to enter new worlds, meet people, collect and share
stories. I have definitely not remained untouched by these experiences. Moreover, this journey
would not have been possible without the help and support of many.
The first turn has been my stay in the pathobiology department in Utrecht, thank you again Fons for
encouraging me to go on in the direction of research. I am sorry to disappoint you; I did not stick to
microbiology, even though I do agree it is a great world of wonders.
Than Nathalie and Christine, thank you for ‘taken me in’ 4 years ago, after a relatively short Skype-
interview; me, sitting in my student apartment in Utrecht, trying to answer in my best possible
French the questions of two persons who I could not even see. And I guess, you wondering why this
girl had done all these weird internships during her study instead of having followed clinical
internships like most people. You gave me and many other people the opportunity to start
somewhere and some time to figure out what we like to do, that is important.
I was most fortunate with my team of supervisors. It is impossible to describe precisely what I have
learned from all of you, but it has been a steep learning curve.
Nathalie, your reaction to my positive answer to indeed accept this thesis was of such an enthusiasm
that it gave me enough confidence until the end of the thesis that everything would work out. Thank
you for being always there, available and full of enlightening ideas. You are quite a surprising person
and a very good caring teacher. I hope one day we can work again together.
Christine, I appreciate very much the fact that you aim for us to end this thesis as independent young
researchers. However, the idea of not having your bright mind (and that of Nathalie and Aurélien)
around in the future scares the hell out of me. You seem to be able to see through what I saw as
some kind of fuzziness and lift up the great ideas out of results, general discussions or workshops. I
know that I have learned a lot from you, thank you.
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Last but not least, Aurélien, you have no idea how much a relieve it was when I heard that you would
be co-supervisor. It was nice and you created an environment of trust to learn together. I appreciate
the fact that you accepted this strange thesis almost without statistics. I really think you should learn
the craft of interviewing, with your natural curiosity for the human being and mind you will be
hooked immediately. You R really the best and I hope that we can remain friends for a long long
time.
Dear Mette, I will also count you in with the supervisors. You have been teaching me so many things
about interviewing, but the memory of your kindness and your drive to promote change is what stays
with me the most. Thank you for welcoming me, and so my others, into your world, and sharing
some of your precious time with us. You will be always welcome into my home and I hope we will
keep meeting each other. Please, forward also my thanks to the research group in Foulum, for the
nice time I had amongst them.
These 4 years working at BioEpAR passed really quickly and it was easy to settle in. I have to thank
everybody there for that, the coffee break, the advice and help when needed. A special word for the
people that are always there to support us, Jean-Yves, Michel, Juliette, Evelyne et Sylvie, merci for
making our lives easier.
Part of the IMPRO-team are also Manon, Benjamin and Timothée with whom we shared for example
some ‘matrix’ frustrations, but I hope that overall it has been a valuable experience for you too. You
have been a great help, thank you!
Bhagat and Pranav, my dear English-speaking friends. I missed you a lot during this final year, but I
know that your new journeys have been good for you. Thank you for your friendship, cooking lessons
and bringing your touch of exoticness to us in Nantes. See you soon, in India?
Eric, Aurélie and Nadine, I really enjoyed sharing the office with you. Thanks for all the needed coffee
breaks, pep talks and friendship. Nadine, thank you for watching over us and making everybody feel
at home. I hope we all stay in touch. The same accounts for all the other PhD-students, post-docs or
other ‘young’ colleagues: Racem (keep calm and it will all work out), Juan, Thomas, Erwann, Axelle,
Guillaume, Simon, Maud, Pierre, Hélène, Mohamed, Sandie, Alix, Arnault, Luyuan...
Some people have been with me for a long time and our adventures are definitely not over, although
we do not see each other as much as we would like to. Thank you for your support, regular updates
from the Netherlands and your visits here in France. Partner in crime number 1, Heleen…I don’t have
to explain, you know everything. But I also think of Miriam, Roosmarijn, Marie-José, Joosje, Willeke,
Stein, thank you for being there.
After my work family and my extended family, I will certainly not forget my ‘real’ family. My parents
often wander what I do and especially why, but I can count on your endless and unconditional
support and I need it. You might not realize it, but you were essential in making this thesis happen
too. As opa says; ‘meten is weten’ (‘to measure is to know’), well this thesis is also for you opa, I am
pretty certain that my interest in research comes from you. The family from Amsterdam, thank you
for your love for camping in back yards in France with ice-cream machine. It is nice to have you
around. And you know, Akke was right about me ending up in France again. But I also thank all the
other uncles aunts, cousins counts, far away or nearer by for their support.
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