Back to Basics – Development of a national guide for smallholder livestock producers

Summary

​Commercial livestock producers have access to considerable resources and are regulated to ensure compliance with the appropriate legislation and standards. By comparison there is a relative dearth of information available that is specific to smallholders, whose motivations for keeping livestock are varied and often do not align with those of commercial livestock producers.
The objective of this project was to develop a simple and clear glovebox style guide to animal welfare (on-farm and during transport) standards and guidelines applicable for small producers and hobby farmers.
A review of current relevant information including literature, guidelines and existing glovebox guides was completed to identify the type of information that was currently available to smallholders, particularly in relation to the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines. In addition, the outcomes of previous relevant studies undertaken by the research team were considered in the context of communication networks and information sources (Hayes et al., 2017, Hernández-Jover et al., 2014). Based on the information obtained through these activities a draft glovebox guide was developed. This document was sent to ten stakeholders, identified as having an interest in the research area, for review. Further refinement of the document followed, based on feedback received. The final phase in the process was for the guide to be piloted with smallholders. Nine smallholders were sent the draft document and asked to provide feedback on five main areas, considered to be acceptability factors, during a telephone interview. These factors were;Relevance of contentCompleteness of contentClarityUsefulnessPresentation - language, pictures, format, access
This feedback was evaluated and incorporated into the next version of the document where appropriate. The level of information obtained as a result of the consultation process allowed for the development of a comprehensive end product.  
Providing clear information to smallholders keeping livestock on their obligations with regards to standards, guidelines and legislation is a valuable undertaking and one that is hoped, will increase awareness of the responsibilities associated with livestock ownership.