Paul Steinar Valle

Do the new organic producers differ from the “old guard”? Empirical results from Norwegian dairy farming

Conventional farmers converting to organics have contributed to most of the rapid expansion of organic farming in recent years. The new organic farmers may differ from their more established colleagues, which may have implications for the development of the organic farming sector and its distinctiveness vis-a`-vis conventional production and marketing practices. The aim of this study was to explore Norwegian organic dairy farmers’ personal and farm production characteristics, farming goals, conversion motives, and attitudes to organic farming, grouped by year of conversion (three groups). A postal survey was undertaken among organic dairy farmers (n = 161). The results show that the newcomers (converted in 2000 or later) were less educated than the early entrants (the so-called ‘old guard’) who converted in 1995 or earlier. The frequency of activities like vegetable growing and poultry farming among the old guard was high. The late-entry organic herds were fed with more concentrates and had a higher milk production intensity, showed a higher incidence of veterinary treatments and less frequent use of alternative medicine than the herds of the two earlier converting groups. For all groups of farmers, the highest ranked farming goals were sustainable and environment-friendly farming and the production of high-quality food. Late entrants more often mentioned goals related to profit and leisure time. On average, the most frequently mentioned motives for conversion were food quality and professional challenges. The old guard was more strongly motivated by food quality and soil fertility/pollution issues than the others, whereas financial reasons (organic payments included) were relatively more important among the newcomers. All groups held very favorable views about the environmental qualities of organic farming methods, albeit with different strengths of beliefs. Even though trends towards more pragmatic and business-oriented farming were found, the majority of the newcomers were fairly committed.

Stochastic modelling of direct costs of pancreas disease (PD) in Norwegian farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.).

An economic model for estimating the direct costs of disease in industrial aquaculture was developed to include the following areas: biological losses, extraordinary costs, costs of treatment, costs of prevention and insurance pay-out. Direct costs of a pancreas disease (PD) outbreak in Norwegian farmed Atlantic salmon were estimated in the model, using probability distributions for the biological losses and expenditures associated with the disease. The biological effects of PD on mortality, growth, feed conversion and carcass quality and their correlations, together with costs of prevention were established using elicited data from an expert panel, and combined with basal losses in a control model. Extraordinary costs and costs associated with treatment were collected through a questionnaire sent to staff managing disease outbreaks. Norwegian national statistics for 2007 were used for prices and production costs in the model. Direct costs associated with a PD-outbreak in a site stocked with 500,000 smolts (vs. a similar site without the disease) were estimated to NOK (Norwegian kroner) 14.4 million (5% and 95% percentile: 10.5 and 17.8) (NOK=euro0.12 or

Exploring non-invasive methods to assess pain in sheep

0.17 for 2007). Production was reduced to 70% (5% and 95% percentile: 57% and 81%) saleable biomass, and at an increased production cost of NOK 6.0 per kg (5% and 95% percentile: 3.5 and 8.7).

Risk and risk management in organic and conventional cash crop farming in Norway

The aim of this study was to determine whether changes in eye temperature, measured using infrared thermography (IRT), and heart rate variability (HRV) can detect moderate levels of pain in sheep. Six ewes received the following treatments: 1) noxious ischaemic stimulus by application of a forelimb tourniquet (S), 2) noxious ischaemic stimulus and flunixin meglumine (S+F), and 3) flunixin meglumine (F). Maximum eye temperature, HRV, mechanical nociceptive threshold, blood pressure and behaviour were recorded for up to 60 min, including 15 min of baseline, 30 min during intervention and 15 min post-intervention. There was a tendency towards a decrease in the heart rate variability parameters RMSSD (the root mean square of successive R-R intervals) and SDNN (the standard deviation of all interbeat intervals) in treatment S compared to treatment F, and a significant increase in the same parameters between test day 1 and 3. A reduction in eye temperature was detected for all treatments during intervention, but no difference was found between S and F and S+N and F during intervention. The eye temperature decreased more in test day 2 and 3 compared to test day 1 during intervention. A significant reduction for both lip licking and vocalisation was observed between test day 1 and 3, and forward facing ears was the ear posture most frequently recorded in test day 1. We suggest that HRV is a sensitive, non-invasive method to assess mild to moderate pain in sheep, whereas IRT is a less sensitive method.

Time to first calving and calving interval in bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVDV) sero-converted dairy herds in Norway.

This study presents empirical insight into organic and conventional cash crop farmers’ perceptions of risk and risk management strategies, and identifies socio-economic variables linked to these perceptions. The data originate from a questionnaire survey of farmers in Norway. The results indicate that organic farmers perceived themselves to be less risk averse than conventional farmers. For both groups, crop prices and yield variability were the two top rated sources of risk, followed by institutional risks. The two groups evaluated risk management strategies quite similarly; favoured strategies were good liquidity and to prevent and reduce crop diseases and pests. The farmers’ evaluation of sources of risk and choice of risk strategies depended on various socio-economic variables. The importance of institutional risks implies that policy makers should be cautious about changing policy capriciously and they should consider strategic policy initiatives that give farmers more long-term reliability.

Incidence trend and risk factors for campylobacter infections in humans in Norway

Dairy herds in Møre and Romsdal County, Norway (regarded as initially free from the bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVDV) infection) were studied retrospectively from 1992 to 1996. The herd reproductive performance (time to first calving, calving interval, and number of breeding services) was investigated for a potential effect of BVDV sero-conversion. The herd culling pattern--possibly affecting the above measurements--was included for investigation. Two different statistical models were used: the generalised estimating equation (GEE) method and multilevel modelling using Gibbs sampling. Though slightly different estimates resulted, both models agreed on an effect of BVDV in the second year after sero-conversion on the herd average time to first calving by--on an average-- 14-16 days. In subsets of case herds testing positive for BVDV antibodies among young stock, the impact on time to first calving tended to be more pronounced by an additional increase of 18 days. No effect on the number of breeding services for heifers or cows was observed (indicating a need to search for other determinants than reduced conception risk). There appeared to be no effect of BVDV on the herd average calving interval. There was a tendency for a higher risk for reporting animals lost/died in sero-converted herds, which we believe might be related to the occurrence of mucosal disease.

A Bayesian approach to estimating the performance of a bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVDV) antibody ELISA bulk-tank milk test.

BackgroundThe objectives of the study were to evaluate whether the increase in incidence of campylobacteriosis observed in humans in Norway from 1995 to 2001 was statistically significant and whether different biologically plausible risk factors were associated with the incidence of campylobacteriosis in the different counties in Norway.MethodsTo model the incidence of domestically acquired campylobacteriosis from 1995 to 2001, a population average random effect poisson model was applied (the trend model). To case data and assumed risk-factor/protective data such as sale of chicken, receiving treated drinking water, density of dogs and grazing animals, occupation of people in the municipalities and climatic factors from 2000 and 2001, an equivalent model accounting for geographical clustering was applied (the ecological model).ResultsThe increase in incidence of campylobacteriosis in humans in Norway from 1995 to 2001 was statistically significant from 1998. Treated water was a protective factor against Campylobacter infections in humans with an IRR of 0.78 per percentage increase in people supplied. The two-level modelling technique showed no evidence of clustering of campylobacteriosis in any particular county. Aggregation of data on municipality level makes interpretation of the results at the individual level difficult.ConclusionThe increase in incidence of Campylobacter infections in humans from 1995 to 2001 was statistically significant from 1998. Treated water was a protective factor against Campylobacter infections in humans with an IRR of 0.78 per percentage increase in people supplied. Campylobacter infections did not appear to be clustered in any particular county in Norway.

The Norwegian Healthier Goats program—Modeling lactation curves using a multilevel cubic spline regression model

We investigated the operational performance (sensitivity and specificity) of a bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVDV) antibody ELISA bulk-tank milk test for predicting the herd BVDV antibody status in young stock (as a relatively precise indicator of active BVDV infection). The study was based on results from the annual screenings under the Norwegian bovine virus diarrhoea (BVD) control and eradication program, lasting from 1993 to 1997. Empirical information from these annual screenings was the basis for prior assumptions about the true prevalence of young-stock-positive herds. Assumptions about prior distributions for sensitivity and specificity were based on the literature. Improved posterior test performance estimates were achieved applying a Bayesian approach using Gibbs sampling simulation. The simulations were run separately for each year, and yielded median values for sensitivity of 87% at the cut-off used in the BVD program. The posterior distributions were wide indicating much uncertainty in these estimates. The specificity estimates ranged from 79 to 92% and had narrower posterior estimates. The estimates differed by year. When running the same simulation procedures at a lower cut-off --after altering the sensitivity and specificity priors--the median sensitivity estimates increased to about 95%; the median specificity ranged from 71 to 83%. Due to low prevalence, the Bayesian method lacked power to assess the test sensitivity. A technically simpler descriptive graphing procedure (based on empirical information) provided equally useful insight into the bulk-tank milk test performance.

Aggression, Salivary Cortisol, and Measures of Immune Competence in Goats Housed at Two Different Space Allowances

In 2001, the Norwegian Goat Health Service initiated the Healthier Goats program (HG), with the aim of eradicating caprine arthritis encephalitis, caseous lymphadenitis, and Johnes disease (caprine paratuberculosis) in Norwegian goat herds. The aim of the present study was to explore how control and eradication of the above-mentioned diseases by enrolling in HG affected milk yield by comparison with herds not enrolled in HG. Lactation curves were modeled using a multilevel cubic spline regression model where farm, goat, and lactation were included as random effect parameters. The data material contained 135,446 registrations of daily milk yield from 28,829 lactations in 43 herds. The multilevel cubic spline regression model was applied to 4 categories of data: enrolled early, control early, enrolled late, and control late. For enrolled herds, the early and late notations refer to the situation before and after enrolling in HG; for nonenrolled herds (controls), they refer to development over time, independent of HG. Total milk yield increased in the enrolled herds after eradication: the total milk yields in the fourth lactation were 634.2 and 873.3 kg in enrolled early and enrolled late herds, respectively, and 613.2 and 701.4 kg in the control early and control late herds, respectively. Day of peak yield differed between enrolled and control herds. The day of peak yield came on d 6 of lactation for the control early category for parities 2, 3, and 4, indicating an inability of the goats to further increase their milk yield from the initial level. For enrolled herds, on the other hand, peak yield came between d 49 and 56, indicating a gradual increase in milk yield after kidding. Our results indicate that enrollment in the HG disease eradication program improved the milk yield of dairy goats considerably, and that the multilevel cubic spline regression was a suitable model for exploring effects of disease control and eradication on milk yield.

Comparing risk perceptions and risk management in organic and conventional dairy farming: empirical results from Norway

S OF THE PROCEEDINGS 147 Preliminary analysis shows a tendency for more butting (p < .10), significantly more other aggressive behaviors (p < .05), and a tendency for more defensive behaviors (p < .10) in the small pens in the 1st week. However, space allowance had no significant effects on these variables in the 2nd week. Space allowance did not have an effect on the immune response to the paratuberculosis vaccine. Five of the goats aborted as a result of a toxoplasmosis outbreak during the trial. Twenty-eight animals were toxoplasmosis seropositive in the 5th week. The impact of social stress on the toxoplasmosis outbreak could not be determined yet. The study showed the complexity of using epidemiological approaches to answer nonhuman animal welfare questions in a small, controlled trial. Ongoing data analysis measuring glucocorticoid concentration and social status of individual goats will shed further light on the hypothesis. Considerations for Inconsistent Effects of Inadequate Environments John Deen, Leena Anil, and Sukumarannair Anil Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul The usual basic assumptions of data analysis in most nonhuman animal science and medicine studies involve normality of measures, an equality of likelihood and scale of effects across animals, and the propriety of using classical parametric analyses. These assumptions are used as they fit the training in statistics that most students have received and they also require the least number of animals to perform a study. Many negative factors are not random in their effect upon swine populations and in fact create skewed distributions that reflect an inordinate level of detriment upon subpopulations within studies. This results in skewed distributions that, if ignored, results in underestimations of animals who are severely affected by the intervention. Moreover, particularly if growth is the major measure, mortality is correlated with severely affected animals and yet is rarely analyzed. Multifactorial and nonparametric techniques are much more appropriate for many of these analyses. These techniques have been developed in more detail Leena Anil is now with the Department of Poultry Science, University of Georgia, Athens. Correspondence should be sent to John Deen, Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, 385 Animal Science/Veterinary Medicine, 1988 Fitch Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55108. Email: deenx003@umn.edu