Autonomous Farmers Use of Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicines in Pasture-Based Dairy Goat Systems

TL;DR

French dairy goat farmers in pasture-based systems use complementary and alternative veterinary medicines (CAVM) due to limited conventional options, with choices influenced by farm size, management, and education.

Contribution

This study reveals how dairy goat farmers autonomously adopt CAVM in pasture-based systems, influenced by farm characteristics and regulations.

Findings

Homeopathy, phytotherapy, and aromatherapy were widely used across nearly all surveyed farms.

Larger farms used CAVM less complexly, likely due to higher workloads.

Education level and farm type influenced the choice of specific CAVMs like phytotherapy and aromatherapy.

Abstract

Dairy goats in France are either reared indoors on large farms or on pasture-based systems in smaller farms. Information on the latter was gathered through semi-directive interviews with organic and conventional dairy goat farmers in centre-west France. Due to the limited number of medicines available for dairy goats during lactation, farmers have largely turned to complementary and alternative veterinary medicine (CAVM). Homeopathy, phytotherapy, and aromatherapy were used for various health problems in nine of the ten farms surveyed. Herd size and farm area were negatively associated with the complex use of CAVM, possibly due to the workload on larger farms. Some CAVMs were more common in relation to farm management: aromatherapy in organic farms and homeopathy in cheese farms. Farmers with a higher level of education were more likely to use phytotherapy. Farmers were autonomous in their choice of CAVM and did not rely on the advice of veterinarians.

Consumers expect ruminants to graze outdoors and flocks to be of a reasonable size. Dairy goats can be kept outdoors (natural) or indoors. There are few pasture-grazed-system goat farms. The farms we studied in the centre-west of France were either organic or conventional, and all used pastures and tended to meet consumer demand for naturalness. We obtained information through semi-directed interviews. Dairy goats are susceptible to gastrointestinal infections when using pastures and this was one of the main health problems mentioned by organic farmers. There are a very limited number of medicines available for lactating dairy goats and farmers can use complementary and alternative veterinary medicine (CAVM), where they are completely autonomous in their choice. The use of CAVM has also been driven by organic labels and protected designation of origin (PDO) regulations for goat cheese. Homeopathy, phytotherapy, and aromatherapy were used for various health problems on almost all the farms surveyed. Herd size and farm area were negatively associated with the complex use of CAVM, possibly due to the workload on larger farms. Some CAVMs were used more in relation to the management of farms: aromatherapy in organic farms and homeopathy in cheese-making farms. The farmers with higher levels of education were more likely to employ phytotherapy. The farmers were autonomous in the choice of CAVM and did not rely on the advice of veterinarians.

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