German Pig Farmers’ Attitudes Towards Farm Animal Welfare And Their Willingness To Participate In Animal Welfare Programs: An Empirical Study

Many consumers express strong demands for higher farm animal welfare standards – especially in conventional livestock husbandry systems. This applies primarily to products from pork production, as consumers have recognized a quality decrease in recent years. Although pig farmers are key stakeholders for the implementation of animal welfare programs (AWPs) there is little evidence of their attitudes towards farm animal welfare (FAW) and AWPs. Thus, the main objective of this investigation was to investigate pig farmers’ attitudes towards FAW and AWPs and to determine target groups for participation in AWPs. Therefore, an explorative factor analysis and a hierarchical cluster analysis were applied. Three farmer groups were identified which significantly differ regarding their attitudes towards FAW and their willingness to participate in AWPs. This paper represents a starting point for the design of tailor-made strategies to increase the market penetration of AWPs