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Many members of the public and important stakeholders operating at the upper end of the food chain, may be unfamiliar with how food is produced, including within modern animal production systems. The intensification of production is becoming increasingly common in modern farming. However, intensive systems are particularly susceptible to production diseases, with potentially negative consequences for farm animal welfare (FAW). Previous research has demonstrated that the public are concerned about FAW, yet there has been little research into attitudes towards production diseases, and their approval of interventions to reduce these. This research explores the public's attitudes towards, and preferences for, FAW interventions in five European countries (Finland, Germany, Poland, Spain and the UK). An online survey was conducted for broilers (n = 789), layers (n = 790) and pigs (n = 751). Data were analysed by means of Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA, exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The results suggest that the public have concerns regarding intensive production systems, in relation to FAW, naturalness and the use of antibiotics. The most preferred interventions were the most \"proactive\" interventions, namely improved housing and hygiene measures. The least preferred interventions were medicine-based, which raised humane animal care and food safety concerns amongst respondents. The results highlighted the influence of the identified concerns, perceived risks and benefits on attitudes and subsequent behavioural intention, and the importance of supply chain stakeholders addressing these concerns in the subsequent communications with the public.

Value chain analysis (VCA) calculated the financial effects on food chain actors of interventions to improve animal health and welfare in the intensive pig sector. Two interventions to reduce production diseases were studied. A generic chain diagram of linkages between stakeholders and value-added dimensions was designed. Data on structure and financial performance were collected for the sector. The production parameters and financial effects of the interventions were then described to illustrate impact on the supply chain. The effects of the interventions were also assessed at market level using economic welfare analysis. The sectors in Finland and the UK are small in farm numbers and few companies produced much of the output in a largely vertically-integrated structure. The most beneficial intervention in financial terms to farmers was improved hygiene in pig fattening (around +50% in gross margin). It was calculated to reduce the consumer price for pig meat by up to 5% when applied at large, whereas for improved management measures, it would reduce consumer price by less than 0.5%. However, the latter added value also through food quality attributes. We show that good hygiene and animal care can add value. However, evaluation of the financial and social viability of the interventions is needed to decide what interventions are adopted. The structure of supply chains influences which policy measures could be applied. Of the two interventions, improved pig hygiene had the largest potential to improve efficiency and reduce costs. The studied interventions can also provide new business opportunities to farms, slaughterhouses and food sector companies. More evidence is needed to support public policies and business decision-making in the sector. For this, evidence on consumer attitudes to production diseases is needed. Nevertheless, the study makes an important contribution by showing how improvements in health and welfare benefit the whole chain.

Background A strong consensus exists for a systematic approach to linguistic validation of patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) and discrete methods for assessing their psychometric properties. Despite the need for robust evidence of the appropriateness of measures, transition from linguistic to psychometric validation is poorly documented or evidenced. This paper demonstrates the importance of linking linguistic and psychometric testing through a purposeful stage which bridges the gap between translation and large-scale validation. Findings Evidence is drawn from a study to develop a Welsh language version of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and investigate its psychometric properties. The BDI-II was translated into Welsh then administered to Welsh-speaking university students (n = 115) and patients with depression (n = 37) concurrent with the English BDI-II, and alongside other established depression and quality of life measures. A Welsh version of the BDI-II was produced that, on administration, showed conceptual equivalence with the original measure; high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.90; 0.96); item homogeneity; adequate correlation with the English BDI-II (r = 0.96; 0.94) and additional measures; and a two-factor structure with one overriding dimension. Nevertheless, in the student sample, the Welsh version showed a significantly lower overall mean than the English ( p  = 0.002); and significant differences in six mean item scores. This prompted a review and refinement of the translated measure. Conclusions Exploring potential sources of bias in translated measures represents a critical step in the translation-validation process, which until now has been largely underutilised. This paper offers important findings that inform advanced methods of cross-cultural validation of PROMs.

Background An automated web-based assessment and monitoring system ( www.psynary.com ) has been developed to assist non-specialist clinicians in managing common mood and anxiety disorders. Psynary promotes the use of standardised outcome measures to assess symptom severity and optimise treatments with the aim of improving outcomes and enabling faster recovery. This paper analyses the results from two parallel studies in New Zealand and Japan (OptiMA-1 NZ and Japan) to assess the validity of the R8 Depression scale, one of the system’s core outcome measures. Methods Clinical samples were recruited from a public secondary care and a private psychiatry clinic. Participants completed the outcome measures for the study via the online Psynary system. The R8 Depression scale is a 30-item questionnaire which includes all symptom domains covered in the ICD-10 classification of depression. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was completed at the same time points as the R8 Depression, with a smaller sample also completing a paper-based Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS-SR16). Internal validity was quantified via Cronbach’s alpha and Guttman lower bounds method. External validation against the PHQ-9 and QIDS used the Pearson’s and Kendall’s correlation coefficients. Severity categories were set using a multivariate regression model. Results 270 patients participated in the study and completed a maximum of 1 baseline and 5 reviews within a 90-day period, giving a total of 1124 assessments with the PHQ-9 also being completed in 1053 of these assessments. R8 Depression normative data was also collected from 204 non-clinical volunteers with 187 of these also completing the PHQ9. Internal reliability scores were all higher than 0.9 (n = 1328). There was overall good external validity when comparing the R8 Depression to the PHQ-9, with a correlation of 0.91 for the combined normative and clinical samples (n = 1240). Conclusions The R8 Depression has been developed as a patient-rated outcome measure for depression for administration on an online system called “Psynary”. It has high internal and external validity against current widely used scales. Further work is underway to determine the sensitivity to change of the R8 Depression.

Mitigating environmental phosphorus loading (EPL) from dairy farms reduces water pollution and improves the sustainability of production. Studies generally simulate EPL from dairy farms using a representative farm type from existing databases. However, housed and pasture-based dairy farming systems might contribute to eutrophication differently and have a varied feasibility of implementing mitigation. This study is the first that quantified EPL from dairy farms using data for FARMSCOPER collected from farmers and comparing EPL and identifying a least-cost suite of mitigation methods. Structural characteristics of 27 dairy farms in Great Britain (GB) were collected. Annual EPL from each farm was simulated in FARMSCOPER under three scenarios. Mean EPL of the production systems was compared to investigate any relationship between EPL and average 305 day adjusted milk yield of cows on each farm. A least-cost suite of mitigation methods was optimised for two model farms to represent either a housed or pasture-based system. Across both systems, ‘current’ implementation of mitigation methods was simulated to have reduced EPL from 0.63 to 0.56 kg P/ha (11%). The ‘current’ EPL positively correlated with milk production on a kg and kg/ha basis ( P ≤  0.001 and P =  0.033, respectively). Farms operating a housed system had a mean ‘current’ EPL that was 59% greater than the pasture-based system though not significant ( P =  0.316). This was partly due to a small sample size and because FARMSCOPER’s estimates exclude variations in farm practices (i.e., feeding). EPL was reduced by ~ 50% and ~ 60% without incurring annual financial losses by implementing existing mitigation methods for pasture-based and housed systems, respectively. This study highlights the importance of mitigating EPL from GB dairy farming, especially considering the increasing number of higher yielding herds and housed production systems. Furthermore, emphasis should be on increasing implementation of system-specific mitigating methods; efforts to include more recent and specific farm data to improve the FARMSCOPER tool will benefit this.

Historians credit the interwar period with the demise of the great agricultural estates but many survived, reduced in area and refocussed on new priorities. Three estates lying in close proximity in north Hampshire and south Berkshire had very divergent interests, but there were similarities, and significant differences, in the manner in which they survived the interwar period. One invested in a programme of renewal of houses and farm buildings, and another adopted a more commercial approach to managing its diverse interests and the third retrenched, cutting investment but maintaining the status quo as an agricultural and shooting estate. All three survived, relatively intact and financially stable, and remain in operation today. An examination of estate financial performance before and after the Great War provides the context to the strategies pursued by the owners and their Land Agents, and their place in the broader rural landscape of the 1920s and 1930s.

This study applied stochastic metafrontier whilst correcting for non-exposure and selection bias to assess the adoption of improved rice varieties on output and technical efficiency of Ghanaian households. Varietal awareness was estimated to account for non-exposure bias and adoption using treatment effect. The exposure and adoption rates of improved rice varieties were 82.5% and 67.2%. Adoption was influenced by rice projects, agricultural extension, higher yield motive, and irrigated production. Application of herbicides, fertilizer, seed, labour and farm size raised rice output amongst adopters. The difference in metafrontier technical efficiency of adopters (42.7%) and non-adopters (44.5%) was statistically insignificant, albeit adopters had higher metatechnology ratio (0.909) compared with non-adopters (0.785). Therefore, adopters applied the best production technology than non-adopters. Weeding twice with herbicides, managing plot water levels and agricultural extension raised the technical efficiency amongst adopters. This study recommends cultivation of improved rice varieties whilst improving technical efficiency. Key words: Adoption, Ghana, Non-exposure bias, Rice, Stochastic Metafrontier. Jel Codes: D24, 033, Q12, Q16

PurposeFarm businesses in England are under pressure to intensify production sustainably while managing costs and meeting market demands. Commodity prices and support from Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments are important determinants of profitability. With the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union (EU), revised policy will see farming more exposed to fluctuating commodity prices and financial support from Government more focused on encouraging environmental land management. The research reported here, investigated whether business management practices of farmers influences financial performance, and how policy could be tailored to better meet the needs of farm businesses.Design/methodology/approachRegression models were estimated for 862 Cereals, Dairy and Livestock farms in England using official data for 2011–2012, in order to assess whether different farm characteristics, business management practices (identified from a systematic review of 102 studies), knowledge acquisition indicators and manager experience had an effect on four different financial performance ratios. The financial performance of the top 25% of the sample was also compared to the bottom 25% in terms of use of business management practices.FindingsThe results show that business planning and benchmarking had a positive, statistically significant, effect on financial performance, as do business size and knowledge acquisition, albeit to a lesser extent.Originality/valueThe research reported here is the most extensive examination, to date, of the impact of management practices on the financial performance of farms. Thus, it sends strong policy recommendations.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is at an impasse. While it is said that existing policies are not tenable, all recent reform plans have been condemned as unacceptable. However, a “bond scheme”, as part of reform that pays more attention to society’s aspirations for the environment and rural development, offers a way forward. This book demystifies the bond scheme proposal and explores concerns expressed by farmers and policy makers. Written by economists, a political scientist and a practising politician, it offers rare insights into EU farm policy.