1. INTRODUCTION

Information provided in this section has been extracted from the “Study of the CAP measures and instruments promoting animal welfare and reduction of antimicrobials use”.

Environmental, climate and social-related farming practices are any protection, commitment or investment actions undertaken by a farmer or a land manager with the aim to improve the environmental and social conditions of farming, and to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Farming practices related to animal welfare and antimicrobials use can be divided into different thematic groups:

  • feed and water practices
  • housing conditions and designs
  • practices enhancing the natural behaviour
  • practices influencing the health of animals
  • practices enhancing animal welfare when killing on-site
  • systemic approaches and pools of practices relate to combination of practices, inducing synergies between farming practices.

The full list of individual practices included under one thematic group can be found in the matrix tables in the respective sub-sections. For each individual practice within these thematic groups, the study assesses the impact of the farming practice on antimicrobials use, and on animal welfare using the Five Freedoms framework:

  • Freedom from hunger and thirst
  • Freedom from discomfort
  • Freedom from pain, injury and disease
  • Freedom to express normal behaviour
  • Freedom from fear and distress

On this portal, you can find a very short summary of the key information provided in the study about impacts. Would you need more detailed information, each sub-section on this portal refers the relevant sections of the final report and literature review where you can find longer explanations.

In addition to sub-sections on impacts, there is also a sub-section reporting targeted information about the implementation in the period 2014-2019 of CAP tools and measures related to animal welfare and antimicrobials use, with a focus on rural development Measure 14.


2. ABOUT the STUDY and METHODOLOGY

The “Study of the CAP measures and instruments promoting animal welfare and reduction of antimicrobials use” was commissioned by DG-AGRI to an external party, Agrosynergie. The study examines the effects of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) measures and instruments on animal welfare and the reduction of antimicrobial use. It identifies farming practices, their impacts on these two components, and how such practices were effectively supported by the CAP, then assessing how the CAP impacted animal welfare and antimicrobial use.

The analysis covered the period following the implementation of the 2013 CAP reform, from 1 January 2014 onwards, in all Member States (including the United-Kingdom). The study covers the following animal husbandry production systems: dairy cattle, beef-cattle breeding and fattening, veal, pig breeding and fattening, dairy sheep/goats, meat sheep/goats, laying hens, poultry meat and rabbits.

In particular, the sub-sections about thematic groups of farming practices are based on the analysis carried out on the main herd management practices and housing designs enhancing animal welfare and reducing antimicrobial use. The source of information used include:

  • Documentary research, literature reviews. The literature review was carried out to provide up-to-date knowledge on animal welfare and antimicrobial use
  • Interviews at EU level. Interviews were carried out at EU level, with key organisations working on the topics of animal welfare and/or antimicrobial use and/or the CAP (DG AGRI, DG SANTE, a veterinarians organisation, a farmers organisation, a NGO)
  • Case studies. Case studies were carried out in 11 relevant Member States/regions covering the variety of contexts across the EU.

It should be noted that the review methodology in this study is different in many ways to the one used by the JRC for the section “IMPACTS of FARMING PRACTICES on ENVIRONMENT and CLIMATE”. In short, the JRC study’s methodology involves a systematic review of meta-analyses published in the scientific literature, while the review in the animal welfare study integrates information from various kind of sources: key reports and publications on animal welfare (e.g. EFSA publications), systematic literature search on Google Scholar, PhD thesis, reports of research institutes, and conference proceedings.

The sub-section on “Implementation in the period 2014-2020” relates to: a) the drivers behind the Member States’ implementation choices regarding the CAP instruments and measures directly or indirectly related to animal welfare and on reducing antimicrobial use; and, b) the extent to which the CAP instruments and measures addressing the implementation of herd management practices and housing design have contributed to achieving the CAP objective of viable food production.


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