A Q study: exploring the purpose of transdisciplinary dairy advisory services in Denmark

Abstract Background Structural changes in dairy farming increase farm complexity, thereby inducing a need to combine herd health management, technological solutions, legislation, and human relations among farmers, farm workers, and advisors. This complex situation may require ‘transdisciplinary advi...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Wendy Holm, Dorte Bay Lastein
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	BMC 2021
Materias:	Advisory network Advisor style Farmer demands Farmer style Knowledge-exchange Q methodology Veterinary medicine SF600-1100
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/289f876c3c6d4572a75fb784dcfd9d33
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:289f876c3c6d4572a75fb784dcfd9d33
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:289f876c3c6d4572a75fb784dcfd9d332021-11-21T12:32:05ZA Q study: exploring the purpose of transdisciplinary dairy advisory services in Denmark10.1186/s13028-021-00610-11751-0147https://doaj.org/article/289f876c3c6d4572a75fb784dcfd9d332021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s13028-021-00610-1https://doaj.org/toc/1751-0147Abstract Background Structural changes in dairy farming increase farm complexity, thereby inducing a need to combine herd health management, technological solutions, legislation, and human relations among farmers, farm workers, and advisors. This complex situation may require ‘transdisciplinary advisory service’, i.e., a highly integrated network of both non-academic and different academic disciplines. While working in these networks, advisors need to offer specialized knowledge from their own field, interact in a dynamic relationship between different types of professions and facilitate complex processes. The objectives of this study were: (1) to identify and describe different advisor and farmer styles based on their reasons to engage in transdisciplinary advisory services at farm-level, (2) to identify any possible conflicting perspectives between advisors and farmers’ demand, and (3) to discuss these styles and conflicts in the context and future of advisory services for dairy herd health and production management. Results Using Q methodology, we explored the purpose of transdisciplinary advisory service on dairy farms. The results were derived from correlations between 40 statements for 25 advisors and 33 statements for nine farmers. We identified three similar styles among advisors and farmers, characterized as: (1) the teamwork and knowledge-focused style, (2) the production and economy-focused style, and (3) the economy and strategy-focused style. These styles included reflections on financial aspects, production, knowledge-exchange and the teamwork process itself. In addition, different emphasis on animal welfare, farm strategy and follow-up procedures between the styles became evident. Conclusions This Q-study suggests three comparable styles between advisors and farmers. The main differences between the styles related to the teamwork process and purpose, follow-up process, financial aspects, farm strategy, and operational production objectives. Therefore, styles and expectations should be explored and discussed to create a mutual understanding within a farmer-advisor(s)-team, and to clarify the farmer’s needs and demands, and how the advisors can best meet these expectations. This study illustrates the importance of exploring different advisor and farmer styles to get a mutual understanding of the purpose of the transdisciplinary collaboration.Wendy HolmDorte Bay LasteinBMCarticleAdvisory networkAdvisor styleFarmer demandsFarmer styleKnowledge-exchangeQ methodologyVeterinary medicineSF600-1100ENActa Veterinaria Scandinavica, Vol 63, Iss 1, Pp 1-17 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Advisory network Advisor style Farmer demands Farmer style Knowledge-exchange Q methodology Veterinary medicine SF600-1100
spellingShingle	Advisory network Advisor style Farmer demands Farmer style Knowledge-exchange Q methodology Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Wendy Holm Dorte Bay Lastein A Q study: exploring the purpose of transdisciplinary dairy advisory services in Denmark
description	Abstract Background Structural changes in dairy farming increase farm complexity, thereby inducing a need to combine herd health management, technological solutions, legislation, and human relations among farmers, farm workers, and advisors. This complex situation may require ‘transdisciplinary advisory service’, i.e., a highly integrated network of both non-academic and different academic disciplines. While working in these networks, advisors need to offer specialized knowledge from their own field, interact in a dynamic relationship between different types of professions and facilitate complex processes. The objectives of this study were: (1) to identify and describe different advisor and farmer styles based on their reasons to engage in transdisciplinary advisory services at farm-level, (2) to identify any possible conflicting perspectives between advisors and farmers’ demand, and (3) to discuss these styles and conflicts in the context and future of advisory services for dairy herd health and production management. Results Using Q methodology, we explored the purpose of transdisciplinary advisory service on dairy farms. The results were derived from correlations between 40 statements for 25 advisors and 33 statements for nine farmers. We identified three similar styles among advisors and farmers, characterized as: (1) the teamwork and knowledge-focused style, (2) the production and economy-focused style, and (3) the economy and strategy-focused style. These styles included reflections on financial aspects, production, knowledge-exchange and the teamwork process itself. In addition, different emphasis on animal welfare, farm strategy and follow-up procedures between the styles became evident. Conclusions This Q-study suggests three comparable styles between advisors and farmers. The main differences between the styles related to the teamwork process and purpose, follow-up process, financial aspects, farm strategy, and operational production objectives. Therefore, styles and expectations should be explored and discussed to create a mutual understanding within a farmer-advisor(s)-team, and to clarify the farmer’s needs and demands, and how the advisors can best meet these expectations. This study illustrates the importance of exploring different advisor and farmer styles to get a mutual understanding of the purpose of the transdisciplinary collaboration.
format	article
author	Wendy Holm Dorte Bay Lastein
author_facet	Wendy Holm Dorte Bay Lastein
author_sort	Wendy Holm
title	A Q study: exploring the purpose of transdisciplinary dairy advisory services in Denmark
title_short	A Q study: exploring the purpose of transdisciplinary dairy advisory services in Denmark
title_full	A Q study: exploring the purpose of transdisciplinary dairy advisory services in Denmark
title_fullStr	A Q study: exploring the purpose of transdisciplinary dairy advisory services in Denmark
title_full_unstemmed	A Q study: exploring the purpose of transdisciplinary dairy advisory services in Denmark
title_sort	q study: exploring the purpose of transdisciplinary dairy advisory services in denmark
publisher	BMC
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/289f876c3c6d4572a75fb784dcfd9d33
work_keys_str_mv	AT wendyholm aqstudyexploringthepurposeoftransdisciplinarydairyadvisoryservicesindenmark AT dortebaylastein aqstudyexploringthepurposeoftransdisciplinarydairyadvisoryservicesindenmark AT wendyholm qstudyexploringthepurposeoftransdisciplinarydairyadvisoryservicesindenmark AT dortebaylastein qstudyexploringthepurposeoftransdisciplinarydairyadvisoryservicesindenmark
_version_	1718418932401963008

A Q study: exploring the purpose of transdisciplinary dairy advisory services in Denmark

Ejemplares similares