The differential valuation of farm animal welfare benefits Ariane Kehlbacher, R.M. Bennett, K.G. Balcombe University of Reading, UK Funding provided by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK

Background Public concern about farm animal welfare Consumers Society What are the benefits of farm animal welfare improvements? 1) different species 2) value different levels of animal welfare improvement 3) consumer benefits and benefits to society

Aim To value improvements in the welfare of different farm animal species, with particular consideration of consumer benefits and benefits to society in general.

Welfare score Welfare Quality  Index Welfare Quality  Index combines on-farm welfare assessment with a product label classifies farms into four welfare classes

Welfare score in this study beef cattle, pigs, broiler chicken Welfare Quality® IndexWelfare score Welfare class Welfare class Welfare class Welfare class 00-40

Choice experiment - meat AttributeLevels Beef40, 50, 60, 70, 90 Pork40, 50, 60, 70, 90 Chicken40, 50, 60, 70, 90 Increase in monthly meat expenditure (£) 0, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24 consumer benefits

Choice card – meat 6 choice sets Which attributes did you consider?

Choice experiment – welfare legislation AttributeLevels Beef cattle welfare40, 50, 60, 70, 90 Pig welfare40, 50, 60, 70, 90 Broiler chicken welfare40, 50, 60, 70, 90 Increase in annual tax (£)0, 70, 110, 150, 190, 240 consumer benefits + social animal welfare benefits

Choice card – welfare legislation 6 choice sets 6 choice sets Which attributes did you consider? Which attributes did you consider?

Data collection 5 questionnaire versions phon / -phone (n = 301) stratified according to SEG and age response rate 12%

Model Specification Indirect utility function Utility function random parameters

Results (n=282) (n=291)

WTP estimates  Meat  Welfare legislation AttributeIncrease in annual meat expenditure for a 10 pt welfare increase (£) Beef60.00 Pork42.00 Chicken50.40 AttributeIncrease in annual tax for a 10 pt welfare increase (£) Beef cattle welfare26.20 Pig welfare19.20 Chicken welfare17.80

Discussion WTP legislation < WTP meat Possible reasons PV bias “I object to paying more tax”, 25% strongly agree, 15% agree lost option value consumers’ freedom of choice = public good  WTP legislation = consumption benefits + social animal welfare benefits - freedom of choice  WTP meat = consumption benefits Interpretation of the valuation scenario  did not consider consumer benefits

Conclusion welfare score is a useful concept in the valuation of farm animal welfare improving beef cattle welfare yields the largest benefits benefits to consumers exceed benefits to society in general policy makers should consider the introduction of a welfare labelling scheme before introducing any further legislation