In this study, we sought to explain why dairy farmers give importance to various use and non-use values of animal welfare. In particular, we examined how the farmers could be segmented according to the relative importance they give to various use and non-use values in animal welfare and whether this segmentation could be explained by farmers’ personal values and personality traits. Based on a latent class analysis using best-worst scaling data on 123 Swedish dairy farmers, three segments of farmers were found: animalcentred, human-centred and business-orientated. These groups were related to measures of farmers’ personal values and personality traits in a point-biserial correlation and a hierarchal multinomial logistic regression analysis. The results suggest that the segmentation is related to personal values, but not to personality traits. This finding is important from a policy perspective, because the existence of different segments of farmers who are motivated by different values in animal welfare indicates a need to approach different farmers in different ways if policy is to succeed in improving animal welfare. It also indicates a possibility to influence the segments to improve animal welfare by measures that are sensitive to value dynamics of the farmers.

This study explored how farmers’ motivation in terms of use values and/or non-use values to work with farm animal welfare are associated with the economic outcome for the farm. Use values in farm animal welfare refer to economic value derived from productivity and profitability considerations. Non-use values in farm animal welfare refer to economic value derived from good animal welfare, irrespective of the use the farmer derives from the animal, currently or in the future. The analysis was based on detailed information about the income statements of a sample of Swedish dairy farmers, obtained from the Swedish Farm Economic Survey, complemented with survey information about their perceived use and non-use values in farm animal welfare. The findings suggest that farm economic outcome is significantly associated with motivation in terms of use values, but not so much with motivation in terms of non-use values. This is interesting from a policy point of view, because it indicates that farmers with different approaches to farm animal welfare may experience different economic outcomes for their farms. Findings can, for instance, be used to strengthen farmers’ engagement in various private quality assurance standards, which generally focus on values of non-use type, by pointing to that realisation of such values will not impair the economic outcome of the farms. Moreover, findings also suggest that farmers’ economic incentives for engagement in such standards may need to be further strengthened in order to become more attractive, as findings point to that a focus on non-use values generally is not associated with more favourable economic outcomes.