Developing a typology for local cattle breed farmers in Europe

Understanding farmers' perceptions of local breeds and local breed farming is crucial for the successful development and implementation of animal genetic resource (AnGr) conservation policies and programmes. In this study based on survey data collected from six European countries, a typology of local breed farmers was designed and profiles for each of the farmer types were developed. Three main farmer types were constructed: production-oriented, product and serviceoriented and hobby-oriented farmers. In addition, seven subtypes were characterized under the main types: sustainable, opportunists, multi-users, brand-makers, traditionalists, pragmatists and newcomers. The typology reveals the high level of diversity of local cattle breed farmers in Europe, which presents an opportunity for the in situ conservation of animal genetic resources, but also a challenge for policy to meet the differing requirements of the farmers