Farmer Perception of Links between Grassland Diversity and Animal Health in Relation to Farm Structure

Abstract

Grasslands cover a substantial share of land area in the world and in Europe, where they are used to feed herbivores and provide a range of ecosystem services. Grasslands also help in animal health maintenance by hosting a diversity of plant species with antioxidant components. This animal health benefit has been under-researched. The aim of this study is to capture how farmers perceive links between grassland diversity and animal health, and to examine whether their perceptions are related to their farm and its structure. For that purpose, we conducted 103 surveys in three regions of France to collect farmers’ perceptions regarding animal health, grassland diversity, and the link between the two. We then used factorial analysis of mixed data to study the relationship between the farmers’ perceived links between grassland and animal health and their type of farm structure and management. For 61 farmers, there was a strong link between grassland diversity and animal health. However, we found no statistical relationship between the type of farm and the type of farmer-perceived link between grassland diversity and animal health, and the farmers who perceived a strong link employed a wide range of feeding systems. Further research is needed to deeply analyze farmers’ practices and perceptions of grassland–health links.