In order to improve sustainability in the production of animal-source foods, animal health and welfare require particular attention. The role of farmers and veterinarians in strengthening animal health is undergoing a paradigm shift, as prevention and the One Health approach move into the foreground.
Numerous factors play a vital role in improving animal health and welfare:
Genetics
Housing
Feed
Hygiene
Animal protection
Management
These aspects must be harmonised in order to enhance animal health effectively.
One Health
The World Health Organization (WHO) created One Health as an approach to designing and implementing programmes, policies, legislation and research in which multiple sectors communicate and work together. The approach is to play a key role in responding to public health threats at the human–animal–environment interface. Cooperation between veterinarians, agronomists, farmers, consultants, doctors and environmental scientists is therefore essential. Implementing the One Health approach in Switzerland would also benefit animal health.
Animal health projects
The Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) manages a range of funding programmes for innovative agricultural projects. Farmers have the opportunity to participate in innovative projects, for example in connection with reducing the use of antibiotics, on a voluntary basis.
The FOAG uses instruments to promote work in the field of animal health such as:
Resource projects
Projects under the Ordinance on Promoting Quality and Sustainability in the Agriculture and Food Sector (QSO)
Research projects
The following projects have received funding from the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG):
The project aims to sustainably improve the rearing and fattening of calves, an area of production that has a strong tradition and in which market regulation plays a significant role. Improving animal health is key to this, so producers have taken the initiative in establishing a calf health service. They hope to effect a paradigm shift in the sector, whereby comprehensive and systematic herd care using evidence-based prevention concepts will replace current practice in the treatment of sick animals (groups and individuals). Reducing producers’ economic losses due to acute or chronic illnesses and deaths among calves should significantly improve profitability in the sector, lead to higher animal welfare and reduce the use of antibiotics – which has an impact on the whole of society – in the rearing and fattening of calves and cattle by at least 50% within six years. The aim is to create a basis for calf and bull fattening in Switzerland that is animal-friendly and socially acceptable, and thus economically viable over the long term.
Healthy hooves are essential for animal welfare, but also for maintaining the productivity and thus the profitability of a farm. Hooves do not wear naturally when large numbers of animals are housed together: loads are higher and hoof diseases and lameness more prevalent. Hoof diseases are the third most common cause of dairy cow culling in Switzerland, behind fertility problems and udder diseases.The FOAG is funding the Gesunde Klauen (Healthy Hooves) resource project. The active phase of the project ran for six years from 2019 to 2024, and involved livestock farmers, hoof trimmers and veterinarians. The project aims to improve hoof care through the systematic collection of electronic data on hoof care and hoof health, and thus to reduce the use of antibiotics, increase the longevity of dairy cows and improve the profitability of the farm. This practice will make it possible to identify and treat hoof problems in a targeted manner, and the data collected will form the basis for the development of hoof-health breeding values. Animals that are less likely to suffer hoof problems can be selected for breeding on this basis.
Kometian has been operating since January 2012. More than a dozen veterinarians and animal health practitioners, all with recognised continuing education qualifications in complementary medicine, provide a 24-hour telephone hotline for livestock owners seeking advice. Since 2016, Kometian has received resource project funding, undergone further development and had the effectiveness of its advice scientifically evaluated.
Kometian’s complementary medicine advice service for farmers helps to reduce antibiotic use, making the organisation an important player in the Strategy on Antibiotic Resistance (StAR).
«Nutztiergesundheit Schweiz» is a Swiss livestock health organisation founded in 2020 by the national organisations of livestock owners, breeders and traders, in cooperation with veterinarians, the Vetsuisse Faculty and the Federation of Swiss Cantonal Veterinary Offices. The organisation aims to improve the health of livestock and the sustainability of animal production in Switzerland. It facilitates dialogue and coordination among stakeholders in order to make better use of synergies in pursuing strategic goals. It supports the authorities with preventive measures, collects, processes and disseminates information on animal health, creates discussion platforms for the various stakeholders involved in promoting animal health, and develops solutions for specific issues and the challenges posed by digitalisation – always in partnership with the stakeholders.
In 2017, a pilot project was launched in Ticino with the aim of reducing antibiotic use in dairy cows, improving milk quality and reducing operating costs by eradicating cases of mastitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus genotype B. This contagious mastitis pathogen affects the udder in particular and can be transmitted from cow to cow via milking equipment. The project took measures to eradicate the pathogen throughout the canton of Ticino and thus reach an infection rate of 0 on affected farms.
The measures were successful, leading to the eradication of Staphylococcus aureus genotype B in Ticino over a period of about two years.
Keeping individualised records on the use of antibiotics at pig-fattening farms allows livestock farmers to see where they stand in comparison to the overall average. This motivates farmers to invest in animal health and make less use of antibiotics.
Around 35% of pig farms already participate in the Schweine Plus health programme. Participation in the programme will be made mandatory in the Schweizer Fleisch quality management guidelines from 1 April 2021, at which time 95% participation is expected. Initial evaluations of over 300,000 treatments have shown that the use of critical antibiotics in pig farming has already been significantly reduced. The ETJ and the regular evaluations will be continuously developed while maintaining data protection.
Bereits machen rund 35 Prozent der Schweineproduktionsbetriebe im Plus-Programm mit. Auf den 1. April 2021 wird die Teilnahme am Schweine Plus-Gesundheitsprogramm verbindlich in die Richtlinien von QM-Schweizer Fleisch aufgenommen. Bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt soll eine Flächenabdeckung von 95 Prozent erreicht werden. Erste Auswertungen von über 300'000 Behandlungen zeigen, dass der Einsatz von kritischen Antibiotika in der Schweinehaltung bereits deutlich gesenkt werden konnte. Das EBJ und die periodischen Auswertungen werden – unter Wahrung des Datenschutzes – laufend weiterentwickelt.
The Federal Office for Agriculture views the project as ambitious and forward-looking, and supports it within the framework of the Ordinance on Promoting Quality and Sustainability in the Agriculture and Food Sector (QSO).
The Smart Animal Health research project collects and links existing data on farm animals in order to identify correlations between husbandry and health. This perspective allows measures to be taken when the need is identified. The data has been collected as part of official inspections as well as from private sources. These indicators help to recognise and promote good animal husbandry practices and the ability to determine the health of the livestock population. They can also help to reduce the number of inspections at farms with exemplary animal husbandry practices and to evaluate the effectiveness of measures taken to improve animal health and welfare.
The Canton of Fribourg’s ReLait project aims to reduce the use of antibiotics in milk production by focusing on prevention in udder, womb and calf health. Forty-eight farms took part in the first phase of the project, which ran from 2017 to 2020, with the majority opting to focus on udder health. The results from the first phase were promising.
Initial evaluations of the project show that the preventive measures are working; severe cases of acute disease have been prevented. Local antibiotic treatment was usually sufficient, and there was significantly less use of antibiotics that target the whole body.
The project also found that more is not necessarily better. Using multiple preventive measures did not necessarily lead to a greater reduction in the use of antibiotics. Selecting and implementing a prevention module in a targeted fashion was more effective. Working closely with farms to provide support was another important success factor, which should be taken into account in future activities.
An additional 89 farms were recruited to implement prevention measures for four years during the second phase of the project, which ran from 2020 to 2024. This data and that from the 48 farms in the first phase will help to identify the most effective prevention modules and further reduce the use of antibiotics in dairy farming.
The FOAG provides a reduced English-language version of its website that does not include all further information such as documents, legislation or links. These can be found on the pages in the three official languages (German, French and Italian).
The FOAG may, on request, grant financial assistance to public or private institutions for research projects that are in line with the federal government’s agronomic research goals and priorities.
