Farmers' attitudes toward animal welfare

1.Farmers recognize the emotional and natural living aspects of ani-mals as important but tend to prioritize productivity and biological functioning, especially health, when making practical decisions af-fecting farm animal welfare. 2.Many contextual factors shape farmers' attitudes to animal wel-fare, including production systems, herd size, culture, animal spe-cies, and demographic variables like nationality, age, and gender. Understanding how demographic, regional, cultural, and economic contexts influence farmers' knowledge, practices, and attitudes to animal welfare is essential for developing effective and locally rele-vant animal welfare policies and practices. 3.National legislations and certification programs are essential in driving positive changes in animal welfare practices. Farmers' atti-tudes toward these schemes impact their motivation to adopt them. Economic factors are a major driver of participation in welfare certi-fication programs. Programs that engage farmers in the audit process and are perceived as beneficial for both animals and farmers increase participation. Financial incentives, market demands and opportun-ities, and perceived economic benefits from improved welfare prac-tices further influence farmers' willingness to adopt these practices. 4.Farmers' attitudes toward animal welfare are negatively influenced by their perception that consumers do not sufficiently recognize their efforts or are unwilling to pay for higher welfare standards. This can undermine farmers' motivation to change practices to improve animal welfare. 5.There is growing recognition that farmers' occupational and mental wellbeing and job satisfaction are positively linked to farm animal welfare. Addressing these issues is important for improving animal welfare outcomes.