FARM Program PDF

10/22/24 The Dairy Industry’s Commitment to Animal Care The following slides contain information and pictures from the Dairy Cattle Welfare Council’s Webinar Series and the National FARM program’s seminar titled: “The National Dairy FARM Animal Care Program-Version 4.0 Updates a...

10/22/24 The Dairy Industry’s Commitment to Animal Care The following slides contain information and pictures from the Dairy Cattle Welfare Council’s Webinar Series and the National FARM program’s seminar titled: “The National Dairy FARM Animal Care Program-Version 4.0 Updates and Initiatives” presented on April 1st, 2020, and from the Cornell Cooperative Extension North Country Regional Ag Team. 1 2 The National F.A.R.M. Program Farmers Assuring Responsible Management Goal: Ensure consumers that milk and other products from our dairy farms is the result of responsible dairy farm practices that are being carried out by all dairy farms in the U.S. Emily Yeiser Stepp Manages National Dairy F.A.R.M. Program Emily Yeiser Stepp, Executive Director, National Dairy FARM Program 3 4 Riverview LLP 5 6 1  10/22/24 7 8 Who participates in FARM Animal Care? Producers Milk Dairy Marketers Customers and and Brands Cooperatives 9 10 New version comes out every Best Management Practices 3 years. Currently, in Version 5: July 1st, 2024 – June 30th, 2027 164-page document 11 12 2  10/22/24 Who steers dairy animal care standards? Several governance committees: 1. FARM’s Farmer Advisory Council 2. Animal Care Taskforce 3. NMPF Animal Health & Wellbeing Committee 4. NMPF Board of Directors Comprised of: 85 individual farmers Veterinarians Cooperative and processor staff Animal scientists 13 14 15 16 2nd Party Evaluations Only qualified individuals who have completed the annual FARM certification training are qualified to conduction evaluations. Typically, second-party evaluators are co- op/processor staff, veterinarians or independent consultants. 2nd Party Evaluation – On-Farm Pre-Interview: Do upon arrival with farm manager(s) ~52 questions Protocol/Paperwork Review and Verification 17 18 3  10/22/24 5.0 2nd Party Evaluations Animal and Facility Observations 19 20 5.0 5.0 21 22 5.0 5.0 23 24 4  10/22/24 5.0 5.0 25 26 5.0 2nd Party Evaluations Animal and Facility Observations 27 28 2nd Party Evaluations Closing Interview Follow-up/Action Plans Immediate Action Plan (IAP) – 48 hours Mandatory Corrective Action Plan (MCAP) – meet in 9 months Continuous Improvement (CIP) – 3 years or less 29 30 5  10/22/24 31 32 2023 in Review 33 34 “Points to ponder by the reflection tank…” If you had to list the top 3 animal welfare issues currently facing the dairy industry, what would they be? 35 36 6  10/22/24 Top welfare issues in Dairy Lameness Lameness & downer cows Dehorning/disbudding calves – providing pain management Public perception of industry practices Calf/dam separation 37 38 Downer Cows It is illegal to sell non-ambulatory cows for human food consumption Non-ambulatory A cow that cannot stand due to injury or disease Why? Safeguard against Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) entering into the human food supply 39 40 Should dairy farms be mandated to provide pain relief while Dehorning/Disbudding disbudding/dehorning and while castrating calves? Painful management procedure FARM Program (Mandatory Corrective Action Plan) Must be resolved in 9 months 22% 10% 37% 26% Neutral 38% Yes 69% 41 42 7  10/22/24 Cow-calf separation within the first few Should dairy calves be separated from their dam within the first few hours after birth? hours after birth? Most polarizing topic in survey Demographic Data Survey – Week 1 Most difficult public relations issue that awaits the dairy industry in coming years What did participants say: Veterinarians: 100% yes 15% 13% Dairy producers: 70% yes or neutral Students and teachers: 85% yes or neutral Animal advocates: 95% no Non-dairy participants: 75% no 75% Opponents contended that the practice is emotionally stressful, compromises cow/calf health and is unnatural Decision based on emotion Supporters: emotional distress is minimized before bonds develop, promotes calf/cow health, and the industry is limited in its ability to accommodate cow/calf pairs Decision based on science/data 43 44 Tail Docking Does tail docking reduce the SCC in cows? 45 46 47 48 8  10/22/24 Questions? 49 50 9