Developing ‘Smart’ Dairy Farming Responsive to Farmers and Consumer-Citizens: A Review
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Department of Agrifood Business and Spatial Analysis, Rural Economy and Development Programme (REDP), Teagasc Ashtown Food Research Centre, D15 KN3K Dublin, Ireland
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Department of Agrifood Business and Spatial Analysis, REDP, Teagasc, Áras uí Mhaoilíosa, Athenry, Co., H65 R718 Galway, Ireland
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Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc, Moorepark, Fermoy Co., P61 C997 Cork, Ireland
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Animals 2022, 12(3), 360; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12030360
Submission received: 1 January 2022
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Revised: 26 January 2022
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Accepted: 28 January 2022
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Published: 2 February 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Responsiveness of the Dairy Cattle Sector to Societal Challenges)
Simple Summary
Dairy production has evolved over many generations to be an important source of high-quality nutrition for a significant proportion of the global population. However, it needs to evolve further to ensure it contributes to sustainable diets. Technological innovation can be a key enabler. It is also the case however that innovation brings about significant change, and can introduce unexpected, unintended and undesirable consequences, which are experienced differently by different actors on the ground. Thus, a major challenge is turning good science and technology into positive and innovative outcomes for society in an equitable way. Drawing on concepts from Responsible Research and Innovation (anticipation, inclusion, reflexivity and responsiveness) and Food Systems thinking, the authors reviewed the academic literature to consider the perspectives of different actors relating to technologies on dairy farms. It considers ‘smart’ on-farm technologies at three key stages of the dairy production cycle—breeding, feeding and milking—through the lens of two actor groups. It considers the farmers who may(not) adopt such innovations and the consumer-citizens who will(not) purchase/accept the resultant on-farm practices and foods. It highlights some differences between and within these actor groups, but also identifies commonalities, including tensions, faced by both groups. Dairy production in the future, thus, is not only challenged with embracing advanced technologies, the process by which such technologies are designed and selected must also be ‘smart’.
Abstract
Innovation has resulted in more dairy products being produced with less inputs than ever before. It has also affected how animals are raised, the structure of the sector and the nature of products produced. Not all impacts have been positive. As disruptive technologies—such as precision farming and robotics—herald significant change, it is timely to reflect on the perspectives of different actors on innovations within the sector. Drawing on a review of academic literature, this paper considers farmers’ and consumer-citizens’ perspectives; as expected, their diverse knowledge, interests and values surface a range of perspectives. To provide focus to the study, it examines technologies across three stages of the dairy production cycle: breeding, feeding and milking. It finds that consumer-citizen and farmer perspectives have been examined by researchers in several countries, using a variety of methods, across a range of technologies. It finds both areas of agreement and tension within and between consumer-citizen and producer cohorts. While differences in knowledge account for some variation, differences in values are also significant. The extent to which efforts can and should be put into addressing differences is raised as a point for reflection.
Keywords:
responsible research and innovation; RRI; consumer; citizen; farmer; attitude; dairy; food system; innovation
