Cargando…

A Perspective on the Use of Sexed Semen to Reduce the Number of Surplus Male Dairy Calves in Ireland: A Pilot Study

The production of surplus male offspring illustrates a socioethical concern in the dairy industry. In this article, we highlight the animal health and welfare implications of production outputs for surplus dairy calves, namely veal production, dairy calf to beef production, and euthanasia. Moreover,...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Balzani, Agnese, Aparacida Vaz do Amaral, Cintia, Hanlon, Alison
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7917064/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33659286
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.623128
_version_ 1783657618371248128
author Balzani, Agnese
Aparacida Vaz do Amaral, Cintia
Hanlon, Alison
author_facet Balzani, Agnese
Aparacida Vaz do Amaral, Cintia
Hanlon, Alison
author_sort Balzani, Agnese
collection PubMed
description The production of surplus male offspring illustrates a socioethical concern in the dairy industry. In this article, we highlight the animal health and welfare implications of production outputs for surplus dairy calves, namely veal production, dairy calf to beef production, and euthanasia. Moreover, we present a pilot study focus on exploring the perception of key industry actors within the dairy industry in Ireland regarding the use of sexed semen as a mitigation strategy to reduce the production of surplus male dairy calves. A pilot survey was completed by farmers (n = 6), veterinarians (n = 17), and dairy farm advisors (n = 11). All the veterinarians, 80% of the farmers, and 62% of the advisors believed that the use of sexed semen had a positive influence on herd welfare. All participants identified the same barriers to the implementation of sexed semen: lower conception rate, lower availability, and higher cost. The reviewed literature highlights the importance of tailored communication to support knowledge exchange between stakeholders and key industry actors such as dairy farmers, their veterinarians, and advisors. Research to understand stakeholders' perception is pivotal to address socioethical concerns such as the surplus male dairy calves.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7917064
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-79170642021-03-02 A Perspective on the Use of Sexed Semen to Reduce the Number of Surplus Male Dairy Calves in Ireland: A Pilot Study Balzani, Agnese Aparacida Vaz do Amaral, Cintia Hanlon, Alison Front Vet Sci Veterinary Science The production of surplus male offspring illustrates a socioethical concern in the dairy industry. In this article, we highlight the animal health and welfare implications of production outputs for surplus dairy calves, namely veal production, dairy calf to beef production, and euthanasia. Moreover, we present a pilot study focus on exploring the perception of key industry actors within the dairy industry in Ireland regarding the use of sexed semen as a mitigation strategy to reduce the production of surplus male dairy calves. A pilot survey was completed by farmers (n = 6), veterinarians (n = 17), and dairy farm advisors (n = 11). All the veterinarians, 80% of the farmers, and 62% of the advisors believed that the use of sexed semen had a positive influence on herd welfare. All participants identified the same barriers to the implementation of sexed semen: lower conception rate, lower availability, and higher cost. The reviewed literature highlights the importance of tailored communication to support knowledge exchange between stakeholders and key industry actors such as dairy farmers, their veterinarians, and advisors. Research to understand stakeholders' perception is pivotal to address socioethical concerns such as the surplus male dairy calves. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-02-15 /pmc/articles/PMC7917064/ /pubmed/33659286 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.623128 Text en Copyright © 2021 Balzani, Aparacida Vaz do Amaral and Hanlon. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Veterinary Science
Balzani, Agnese
Aparacida Vaz do Amaral, Cintia
Hanlon, Alison
A Perspective on the Use of Sexed Semen to Reduce the Number of Surplus Male Dairy Calves in Ireland: A Pilot Study
title A Perspective on the Use of Sexed Semen to Reduce the Number of Surplus Male Dairy Calves in Ireland: A Pilot Study
title_full A Perspective on the Use of Sexed Semen to Reduce the Number of Surplus Male Dairy Calves in Ireland: A Pilot Study
title_fullStr A Perspective on the Use of Sexed Semen to Reduce the Number of Surplus Male Dairy Calves in Ireland: A Pilot Study
title_full_unstemmed A Perspective on the Use of Sexed Semen to Reduce the Number of Surplus Male Dairy Calves in Ireland: A Pilot Study
title_short A Perspective on the Use of Sexed Semen to Reduce the Number of Surplus Male Dairy Calves in Ireland: A Pilot Study
title_sort perspective on the use of sexed semen to reduce the number of surplus male dairy calves in ireland: a pilot study
topic Veterinary Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7917064/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33659286
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.623128
work_keys_str_mv AT balzaniagnese aperspectiveontheuseofsexedsementoreducethenumberofsurplusmaledairycalvesinirelandapilotstudy
AT aparacidavazdoamaralcintia aperspectiveontheuseofsexedsementoreducethenumberofsurplusmaledairycalvesinirelandapilotstudy
AT hanlonalison aperspectiveontheuseofsexedsementoreducethenumberofsurplusmaledairycalvesinirelandapilotstudy
AT balzaniagnese perspectiveontheuseofsexedsementoreducethenumberofsurplusmaledairycalvesinirelandapilotstudy
AT aparacidavazdoamaralcintia perspectiveontheuseofsexedsementoreducethenumberofsurplusmaledairycalvesinirelandapilotstudy
AT hanlonalison perspectiveontheuseofsexedsementoreducethenumberofsurplusmaledairycalvesinirelandapilotstudy