Materials & Methodsvetextension.wsu.edu/.../2015/03/ADSA...posterBS1.pdf · TH202 Look Who’s...
Transcript of Materials & Methodsvetextension.wsu.edu/.../2015/03/ADSA...posterBS1.pdf · TH202 Look Who’s...
TH202 Look Who’s Talking When Setting Goals & Protocols for Calf Care
W. Sischo, D.A. Moore*, M. Davis M, K. Heaton, D. Kinder S. Kurtz, J. Vanegas, J. Siler, R. Pereira, L. Warnick
Dept. Veterinary Clinical Sciences and Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Washington State University, Pullman, WA
Dept. Clinical Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Dept. Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
*
*Corresponding Author
Dale A. Moore
Introduction
As the structure of the dairy industry changes so
does management. Owner-operator farms are
giving way to farms with complex management
structures to support labor and task specialization.
The important outcomes of these changes are: 1.
critical management decisions are made by middle
management and workers, 2. communication
between owners and workers is indirect and
mediated by middle management, and 3.
communication strategies used by Veterinary and
Extension service providers need to adapt to this
evolving dairy management model.
Objectives
Describe the actual and perceived
communication between management and
workers regarding goal setting for calf feeding
and health
Describe the actual and perceived
communication between management and
workers regarding daily tasks for calf feeding
and health.
Materials & Methods
Two types of farms recruited: > 500 milking cows
and < 163 milking cows, sample biased towards
larger farms. The goal was to include a minimum
of 32 large farms and 14 small farms. (Estimated
prevalence of specific communication practices
0.5, precision of 0.15 and 95% confidence)
Semi-structured Qualitative Research Interviews
of at least 3 to 5 people on each farm, e.g.
owner, calf manager, calf care personnel, and
herd veterinarian (as available) were conducted
in Spanish or English using organizational
communication flow charts and a survey of
attitudes and practices.
Materials & Methods
Dairy job definitions used in the flow chart:
Owner: Owns the dairy and has financial
responsibility for dairy operations.
Veterinarian: Licensed veterinarian who provides
veterinary medical consulting and/or veterinary
medical treatments and surgery on a regular basis.
Nutritionist: Provides advice on animal diets,
nutrition and feeding protocols and formulates
feeds for the dairy on a regular basis.
Herd Manager: Oversees dairy operations
including (but not limited to) personnel, purchasing
decisions, organization of animal and crop work,
and determining short and long term business
objectives.
Herdsman: Oversees animal care activities
(feeding, cleaning, treatments).
Calf Manager: Oversees all aspects of calf care.
Calf Feeder: Performs daily calf feeding tasks.
Calf Treater: Performs daily calf health tasks
including treatments.
Flow chart for communication (4 charts): Who talks?
Q2. Development of goals for feeding calves;
Q20. Daily routines related to feeding calves;
Q28. Developing the goals for calf health;
Q48. Communicating about the daily work related to monitoring
and treating disease.
Results
• 53 Farms enrolled from 5 states
• AZ, ID, NY, OR, WA
• number of preweaned calves on premise
was 6 to 1500 calves, median = 80.
• 55 owners
• 51 veterinarians
• 37 feeders
• 30 calf managers
• 18 herd managers
• 10 herdsmen
• 17 treaters
• 7 other roles (including shared ownership)
Position Female Male < 25 26-30 31-40 41-50 > 50 English Spanish Other English Spanish French Dutch Other
Owner 9 43 0 1 14 16 22 53 0 0 49 14 1 5 2
Veterinarian 3 46 0 1 12 12 23 48 0 1 46 16 1 0 6
Nutritionist 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Herd Manager 1 16 1 5 6 2 3 12 5 0 16 13 0 0 0
Herdsman 3 7 2 1 1 3 3 6 4 0 9 3 0 1 1
Calf Manager 5 25 5 7 7 6 5 10 19 1 21 27 0 0 0
Calf Feeder 2 34 13 12 7 3 1 8 28 0 22 29 0 0 0
Calf Treater 2 15 2 2 5 7 1 5 12 0 9 14 0 0 0
Total 25 187 23 29 52 50 58 143 68 2 173 116 2 6 9
Language Comforable Communicating InGender Age Language at Home
1. Proportion of Responses Regarding Who’s Talking When Setting Goals for Animal Health and
2. When Communicating Daily Animal Health Tasks From Four Persons’ Perspectives
Number of herds by calf-herd size category. Category 1: 0-49
calves; Category 2: 50-100 calves; Category 3: 101-300 calves;
Category 4: 301-1500 calves on premise.
Calf
HerdSize
Category
CALF
FEEDER
CALF
MANAGER
CALF
TREATER
HERD
MANAGER
HERDS
MAN
OWNER VETERIN
ARIAN
Total
1 7 3 2 3 3 17 14 49
2 6 4 1 4 2 14 13 46
3 13 14 2 5 5 14 12 68
4 11 9 12 6 0 10 12 62
TOTAL 37 30 17 18 10 55 51 225
Acknowledgements We want to thank the farms and veterinarians that participated in the
interviews and Dr. Pepi Leids, Dr. Melanie Hemenway, Dr. Scott Abbott,
Dr. Steve Smalley, Hector Gonzalez, Lisa Jones, Sonia Lopez-Lopez,
Dr. Di Short for advice and support. This project is supported by the
USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Proposal # 2010-
01412.
Conclusions
• Labor structure was variable by calf-herd size.
• Language abilities and preference are not uniform across different job categories.
• Communication on large farms is dependent on having bilingual middle management.
• Lines of communication when setting goals were perceived differently depending on job title.
• When setting calf health goals, owners and veterinarians saw most communication occurring between them. That communication was not perceived by calf managers or treaters. More than half of treaters reported communication between them and the calf manager when setting health goals.
• For communication of daily tasks for animal health, perception of “who’s talking” was more uniform from different perspectives.
• Not uniform agreement on farms with regards to knowledge of written protocols. When surveying farms for management practices, responses may vary depending on who is asked.
• This study shows the complexity of communication on dairies with layers of employees and that different perspectives on who’s talking about what exist.