Welfare assessment in pasture-based and confined dairy farms in São Paulo State, Brazil: a descriptive multi-case study identifying health and hygiene constraints

Abstract

Multidimensional on-farm assessment can identify welfare constraints that are not evident from production records alone, but protocols developed for housed cattle require careful interpretation when applied to pasture-based herds. This cross-sectional, descriptive multi-case study characterized dairy-cow welfare profiles in six purposively selected farms located in three milk-producing regions of São Paulo State, Brazil: three pasture-based and three continuously confined farms, with one of each management context per region. Confined farms were assessed using the dairy-cow module of the 2009 Welfare Quality ® Assessment Protocol for Cattle, whereas pasture-based farms were evaluated with the adaptation proposed. Results were summarized descriptively at farm level; no inferential comparison between production systems was attempted. Four farms were classified as Enhanced and two as Acceptable; none was classified as Excellent. Good Health was consistently the lowest-scoring principle, ranging from 30 to 35 in pasture-based farms and from 22 to 25 in confined farms. Moderate and severe locomotion impairment ranged from 14.0-28.0% and 0.0-8.0%, respectively, among the three pasture-based cases and from 30.0-41.0% and 18.0-24.0% among the three confined cases; these numerical ranges are descriptive only and were not subjected to inferential comparison. At least one serious cleanliness problem occurred on every farm, and severe integument alterations ranged from 25.0-57.0% among the three pasture-based cases and from 41.0-65.0% among the three confined cases. Water cleanliness or availability, insufficient shade on two pasture-based farms, and hot-iron disbudding without anesthesia or analgesia were additional concerns. Appropriate Behavior scores ranged from 38 to 67 among the pasture-based cases and from 11 to 31 among the confined cases, but these values are not directly comparable because the implemented assessment procedures differed, including the pasture-access criterion. These historical case profiles show that an Enhanced overall classification can coexist with substantial health and hygiene constraints. Farm-specific monitoring, lameness prevention, improved hygiene and water management, pain mitigation, and worker education should be prioritized, while direct system comparisons require common measures and larger representative samples.