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The authors thank the experts and institutions that participated in the study and provided contacts with farmers in the case study areas: Florida Goat Breeders National Association (ACRIFLOR, C0rdoba, Spain) , Agrifood Research and Quality Centre of the Pedroches Valley (CICAP, C0rdoba, Spain) , Livestock Coopera- tive of the Pedroches Valley (COVAP, C0rdoba, Spain) , and Manchega Sheep Breeders Association (AGRAMA, Albacete, Spain) . The authors extend their gratitude to the farmers who participated in the study and agreed to be surveyed by the research team. We thank Julie Geay (National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Food and Environment [AgroSup Dijon] , Dijon, France) for the preparation of the map included in Figure 1. This research was financed by grant no. RTA2015-00035 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Madrid, Spain). The authors have not stated any conflicts of interest.

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Are farmers motivated to select for heat tolerance? Linking attitudinal factors, perceived climate change impacts, and social trust to farmers' breeding desires

Publicated to:Journal Of Dairy Science. 107 (4): 2156-2174 - 2024-04-01 107(4), DOI: 10.3168/jds.2023-23722

Authors: Martin-Collado, D; Diaz, C; Ramon, M; Iglesias, A; Milan, M J; Sanchez-Rodriguez, M; Carabano, M J

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Abstract

This study provides an understanding of dairy farmers' willingness to include heat tolerance in breeding goals and the modulating effect of sociopsychological factors and farm profile. A survey instrument including a choice experiment was designed to specifically address the trade-off between heat tolerance and milk production level. A total of 122 farmers across cattle, goat, and sheep farms were surveyed face-to-face. The results of the experiment show that most farmers perceive that heat stress and climate change are increasingly important problems, and that farming communities should invest more in generating knowledge and resources on mitigation strategies. However, we found limited initial support for selection for heat tolerance. This attitude changed when farmers were presented with objective information on the benefits and limitations of the different breeding choices, after which most farmers supported selection for heat tolerance, but only if doing so would compromise milk production gains to a small extent. Our results show that farmers' selection choices are driven by the interactions between heat stress risk perception, attitudes toward breeding tools, social trust, the species reared, and farm production level. In general, farmers willing to support selection of heat -tolerant animals are those with positive attitudes toward genetic values and genomic information and a strong perception of climate change and heat stress impacts on farms. On the contrary, negative support for selection for heat tolerance is found among farmers with high milk production levels; high trust in farming magazines, livestock farmers' associations, and veterinarians; and low trust in environmental and animalist groups.

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