Bavarian animal welfare pilot farms - Labor input by comparison

Abstract

The aim of this working time study was to obtain basic data from all 34 monitored farms with different farm ac- tivities. Moreover, an overview of the labor management and working conditions in Bavarian livestock husband- ries was to be given to assess their national and interna- tional level. To collect labor input data, the farmers kept working diaries for 16 weeks over one or more periods (e.g. at least during one whole fattening period, or dis- tributed equally over the whole year), depending on their specialization. They were to enter all working procedures performed during this period. For seven farms the re- cording quality was evaluated as “unsatisfactory” or “in- sufficient”. Reliable data on labor input were obtained from the others. For the 12 dairy farms (18–99 cows) a labor input of 42 – 114 working hours (WH) per cow and year was ascertained. Milking, feeding, young cattle care and management required the greatest shares of working time in descending order. Only five farms do not exceed the available labor capacity. Three organic farms keeping 20–52 suckler cows had a labor input of 16–27 WH per cow and year. These are typical results for the herd sizes observed. In the piggeries the organic production method had a bearing on the labor input. Three organic farms keeping breeding sows needed 22–35 WH per sow and year, while four conventional farms had results between 10 and 14 WH per sow und year. Also in the pig fatten- ing activity the one organic farm tested differs substan- tially (3.7 WH per pig place and year) from the three conventional farms with 0.6–1.1 WH per pig place and year. In pig fattening production, the labor input is be- tween 4 and 98 % of the available work capacity. This was mostly influenced by the volume of production and the better utilization of the housing capacity after moving into a new building. Three farms with laying hens (500– 3,000 hen places) had a decreasing labor input per place und year with increasing herd size. Only 15–30 % of their available work capacity was used.