Farmscape for September 26, 2016

An Adjunct Professor with the University of Iowa says research is showing the behavioral heath and well being of our farmers will have a direct impact on the health and well being of the animals they care for and their productivity.
"Psychosocial Health and Agriculture" will be among the topics discussed as part of the International One Welfare Conference which runs today, tomorrow and Wednesday in Winnipeg.
Dr. Michael Rosmann, an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa and a clinical psychologist, says a study of dairy workers and managers and cattle feedlot workers and managers published in 2011 by Swedish psychologists found a direct correlation between the well being of the workers and the animals.

Clip-Dr. Michael Rosmann-University of Iowa:
It was found that the behavioral well being, or the more optimal the behavioral health of the workers and managers was the more likely the animals were to have optimal performance in the feedlot and in the dairies.
For example, it was noticed that workers and managers who reported behavioral health problems also worked with animals that higher rates of mastitis in the dairy operations and higher numbers of veterinarian calls for both cows and the cattle in the feedlot.
A further finding was that the more workers felt they were important in the operation of the dairy or the feedlot, the more likely they were to feel behaviorally happy themselves.

Dr. Rosmann says that's one of the first demonstrations that human behavior influences animal and agricultural production.
For more on the "International One Welfare Conference" visit onewelfareconference.ca.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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