Walkway floors have a significant effect on cattle locomotion and claw health, as well as on animal behaviour and general cattle house hygiene; and affected both animals’ welfare and dairy farmers’ profit. There are several qualities floors should fulfil, which contemporary walkway floors do not completely do. From an animal point of view, the most favourable of present passageway floorings in ...

Farmers are at risk for work-related eye injuries, some of which can be very serious. This study describes the farm activities that were related to eye injury in a group of 36 Iowa farmers in the Agricultural Health Study who sustained 40 farmwork-related eye injuries requiring medical advice or treatment. Farm activities of grinding or cutting metal accounted for 11 (27.5%) of the eye injuries...

the next most important and are found mainly in Asia, particularly in the wetter, more humid areas. Donkeys, camels, horses, mules, yaks, llamas, and even sheep and goats are also used for work in a variety of different operations from transport and cultivation to harvest operations and water lifting. Animal power probably makes its greatest contribution in agriculture although animal use for t...

Animal health and welfare planning is considered an important tool for herd management; however, its effectiveness is less well known. The aim of this study was to conduct animal health and welfare planning on 34 Austrian dairy farms and to evaluate changes in health and welfare after 1 yr. After an initial assessment using the Welfare Quality protocol (Welfare Quality Consortium, Lelystad, the...

The agriculture workplace has long been known to be associated with respiratory disease. Respiratory disease is among the main chronic health conditions affecting farmers (Brackbill et al, 1994). Those who are at potential risk include farmers and farm families, agricultural workers, abattoir workers, greenhouse and nursery workers, veterinarians, and grain elevator workers. While the massive e...

The potential conflicts between animal welfare and efficient farming can often be resolved or at least reduced by showing the financial benefits that improving animal welfare can bring to both society and individual farmers. These benefits include increased profits through: (i) reduced mortality; (ii) improved health; (iii) improved product quality; (iv) improved disease resistance and reduced ...

Food safety is now universally recognised as a public health priority. It requires a global approach, from production to consumption. This article addresses the first stage of the food chain and the steps farmers can take to optimise the food safety control of products of animal origin. This inevitably means controlling the health status of the animals from which food products are derived. The ...