RESEARCH ARTICLE


Potential Contradictions Connected to the Inclusion of Stable Schools in the Legislation for Danish Organic Dairy Farms



Vaarst M.1, *, Fisker I.2
1 Institute of Animal Science, Aarhus Univesity, P.O.Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
2 Organic Denmark, Silkeborgvej 260, DK-8220 Aabyhøj, Denmark


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Creative Commons License
© 2013 Vaarst and Fisker

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Institute of Animal Science, Aarhus Univesity, P.O.Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark; Tel: +45 22 90 13 44 Fax +45 89 99 15 25; E-mail: Mette.Vaarst@agrsci.dk


Abstract

This article aims to raise questions and discuss how a previous farmer-driven group approach (Stable Schools) works under a legislation framework as a part of an obligatory health advisory service for Danish organic dairy producers. The study takes its starting point in an on-line questionnaire evaluation (79 farmer respondents) conducted after one year (2011) with the Stable School approach as part of the legislation. This is followed by a discussion on the perspectives of ‘obligatory farmer groups’ supported by literature on experience from other institutionalized advisory approaches.

Respondents generally found the Stable Schools useful for many organic farmers, also after introduction to the legislation, given that farmers are motivated and the process is actively supported by a skilled facilitator. We raise the question of a potential mismatch between the legislative aims and the farmer group approach. Shifts between different advisory approaches at the farm level can potentially stimulate continuous on-farm development.

Keywords: Farmer learning, stable schools, obligatory animal health advisory service, organic livestock.