C.E. Milne
SAC, Animal Health Economics Group
Introduction
The UK Food Standards Agency and the House of Commons Agriculture Committee have both raised questions about the validity of some of the claims for organic food (such as whether organic food is better for you or more animal welfare friendly) (House of Commons, 2001; Krebs, 2003). Similar concerns regarding the health and welfare of organic livestock are being expressed by people closely involved in organic farming, including veterinarians (Lund and Algers, 2003). These commentators challenge organic producers, researchers and professional advisors to review carefully the production realities of organic farming and attributes that are used to promote its produce to consumers.
Animal health and welfare concerns, when expressed generally, relate to specific diseases: diseases where management actions will not achieve acceptable levels of control, and where there is a high dependency on the use of veterinary medicines, such as external (ecto) parasites of sheep and liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica). In these cases, there is a degree of incompatibility with the general principles of organic livestock production, which concentrate on 'naturalness' of the production system, and where the aim is to prevent disease by management actions specifically:
• appropriate breeds and strains of animals
• application of [appropriate] animal husbandry practices
• the use of high quality feeds, .. regular exercise and access to pasturage, [to] encourage the natural immunological defence of the animal
• ensuring appropriate [stocking] density. (DEFRA, 2003)
To demonstrate the dilemmas that can arise, two of the external parasites that affect sheep in the UK have been selected as examples: these are sheep scab and blowfly strike.
Sheep scab mite (Psoroptes communis ovis)
Scab infestations, initiate an allergic dermatitis that causes severe irritation and distress to affected sheep. This can lead to inappetance, which along with secondary infections, can cause mortality (Bates, 1999; Henderson, 1990). As an obligate parasite, scab mites can only be transmitted directly from sheep to sheep or via recently (within the previous 16 -17 days) contaminated fixtures, fittings or materials. These include fence-posts, haulage vehicles, shearing equipment and human clothing. High standards of biosecurity (including double fencing) can prevent infestations at least theoretically. However, this can be very expensive and there is one particular Achilles heel - replacement stock. The introduction of purchased ewes may be less commonplace in organic than conventional systems but rams often need to be purchased to prevent inbreeding. On the live animal in the early stages of an infestation, when mite numbers are small, it can be impossible to diagnose scab by physical examination. The scab mite is only 1
mm in length and clinical signs (skin damage) may not develop for 10 days or even months after the initial infestation (Bates, 1999). On an animal with even 2 cm of fleece it is the proverbial searching for a needle in a haystack.
Without considering any of the other potential transmission routes, here is an immediate dilemma for the organic sheep farmer. It is not possible to eliminate scab infestations by any management action and application of a veterinary medicine is essential - indeed a legal requirement in the UK, when outbreaks occur. Therefore, on purchase of a replacement sheep, should the organic farmer routinely use veterinary medicines to eliminate any scab infestation that might be present, or should it be released un-medicated into the flock28?
Routine use of veterinary medicines is permitted where there is a known risk - but with scab the risk is unknown and historically has been low due to statutory controls. Failure to exclude scab from a flock will result in a loss of animal health and welfare. This is implicit since clinical signs are a preliminary to diagnosis and treatment. Furthermore, the veterinary medicines used to eliminate infestations can be excreted in dung and kill invertebrates in the wider environment (Strong and Wall, 1994; Taylor, 1999). Compliance with the principle of not using veterinary medicines routinely carries a risk that animal health, welfare and environmental care is compromised. Alternatively applying veterinary medicines to all replacement sheep on arrival where the probability of infestation is low compromises the principle that allopathic veterinary medicines will not be used prophylactically.
Blowfly (Lucilia sericata)
Blowflies are non-obligate parasites and only the developmental stages from egg to mature larvae (maggot) are completed on host sheep (it is also non-host specific). The term 'strike' is used to denote the presence of feeding larvae on a host. This only occurs during the summer period and can cause serious animal welfare problems, as the larvae feed on the flesh of live sheep and heavy infestations can be fatal (Tellam and Bowles, 1997). Prevalence of strike is influenced by climatic conditions, with warm damp weather favouring outbreaks. An estimated 80% of flocks in the UK suffer from strike attacks. Unlike scab it is a very common disease, it is not contagious and only a proportion of a flock will be affected - without application of preventative veterinary medicines between 3% and 40% of sheep can be affected (French et al., 1992; Morris, 1997). Two main factors influence the probability of an attack; the susceptibility of the sheep and the prevalence of blowflies in the environment (Fenton et al., 1998). The main predisposing factor is the level of moisture in the fleece (Morris, 1997). Blowfly are particularly attracted to areas of decomposing matter, e.g. areas of soiled fleece or where there are bacterial infections such as footrot, wool rot or mycotic dermatitis (Radostits et al., 1997; Urquhart et al., 1996). Farmers can implement management actions to reduce the susceptibility of their sheep to attack such as effective worm control. However, climatic conditions that result in damp fleeces are out with their control, and attacks are still likely to occur.
28 A quarantine period could and many would say should be observed. This may not be sufficient to ensure all scab infested sheep are diagnosed
prior to introduction to flock animals for two reasons: the lag phase before development of clinical signs can be long and replacement stock are normally traded in the summer/autumn for production reasons. Practicable quarantine periods may therefore be too short to ensure diagnosis.
The dilemma again is whether to routinely use allopathic veterinary medicines as a preventative measure or to wait and eliminate infestations from affected animals (by which time, animal health and welfare will have been compromised). Many organic farmers will choose, in light of the high probability of attack to apply preventative veterinary medicines - the same action as will be taken by many conventional farmers. For this disease organic practices would then be the same as those operated on many conventional farms.
In these two disease examples it can be seen that there are decision problems for organic farmers seeking to sustain29 the health and welfare of their sheep and as noted by others (Hovi et al., 2003), there are conflicts that need to be resolved. The problems could from this point be discussed purely on an animal health basis, but doing so would lead away from our starting point – the divergence between production realities and consumer perceptions.
Attributes of organic foods and consumer perceptions
Intrinsic and extrinsic30 attributes are combined in many food products but extrinsic or 'credence qualities', are invisible to the consumer and characteristics particularly of 'quality' products (Grunert, 2002), such as organic foods. Looking at promotional information, a small number of broad extrinsic attributes are most commonly used to describe organic produce such as 'environmentally and animal welfare friendly', 'high quality' and, in recent years, 'free of genetically modified products'.
Two examples31 of promotional information that consumers might access demonstrate this:
"Organic farming delivers the highest quality, best-tasting food, produced without artificial chemicals or genetic modification, and with respect for animal welfare and the environment, while helping to maintain the landscape and rural communities"
HRH the Prince of Wales, Soil Association patron quoted on the Soil Association web site (Soil Association, 2003).
And
'Top reasons to buy organic • Fewer artificial chemicals • There are no GM ingredients • Animals are well cared for:
All organically reared animals are free-range, which means they are able to roam outside for most of their lives. This lifestyle encourages a natural rate of growth, because the animals are not routinely fed growth-promoting drugs, such as antibiotics. In fact, many ailments of organic livestock are successfully treated by alternative medicines like homeopathic remedies. For example, the character and responses of some cows are analysed and their treatment is chosen accordingly.'
(Tesco, 2002)
29 Sustain is taken to mean ‘continue’ or ‘keep alive’
30 Intrinsic attributes are ones 'that cannot be changed or manipulated experimentally without at the same time modifying the physical
characteristics of the product itself. Extrinsic attributes are those 'that are related to the product, but do not form part of the physical product'. See (Olson and Jacoby, 1972) cited by (Alonso et al., 2002)
In these examples it can be seen that there are some inconsistencies: are artificial chemicals not used or are they just used less often? The statement that all organic livestock are free-range might also be open to some questions by those more knowledgeable about farming systems. Describing the organic process by a small number of attributes thus can be seen to be difficult.
The perception that consumers have of organic food attributes, unsurprisingly, is similar to that found in promotional information as shown in table 1 and these same attributes are also important factor in consumer purchasing behaviour as demonstrated in Table 2.
Table 1: Perception of ‘organic food’ (Source: MORI – Soil Association, 1999)
Attribute % respondents
No chemicals/additives/pesticides 59
Natural 47 Healthy 41
Good for the environment 35
Table 2: Reasons for purchasing organic foodstuffs (Source MORI – Soil Association, 1999)
Reason % respondents
It's healthy 53
Better tasting 43
Environmentally friendly 28
Animal welfare friendly 24
Other consumer studies concur that health and food safety is the most important reason for purchase of organic foods, and that the welfare of farmed animals causes concern to consumers (Harper and Makatouni, 2002; Mintel, 2001). It would seem then that promotional information has successfully communicated its message to consumers – but it confirms the presence of some divergences that remain between consumer perceptions and production realities, such as that chemicals/additives/pesticides are not used in organic systems.
This divergence - or information asymmetry, is a factor that compounds uncertainty about the future price premiums for organic foods. For consumers could, in light of new information on production realities, become disillusioned with 'organic' resulting in a fall in demand. Alternatively, aspects of production (such as the eradication of scab from the UK organic sheep flock) could be changed to match consumer expectations, potentially increasing production costs and reducing the number of farmers willing to supply organic produce. These effects can be demonstrated more clearly by considering the supply and demand relationship and market evidence.