The Silence of the Barns

Understanding the social and cultural importance of farm animals

Chuck Rib

Brisket Plate

Short

Loin

Flank

Bottom

Sirloin Roun

d

Identity Family

Community

Shank

Shank

to farmers

Farming Identity

Co-production of:

Family

Occupational identity

Community identity

Farmed environment

Self Past

Fam

ily

Peers

Lan

d

Norms

Prid

e

Futu

re

The first sixty cows that I put to Friesian Holstein, I had three heifer cows, so I shot fifty-seven calves in a matter of two months. I tell you, it hurts. When you was brought up to rear everything that’s born and you’ve fought to make it live and now you lift the back leg and you see it’s a bull cow and you say “well, it’s gotta be shot”. What’s the point?

(Reed, Lobley, Winter & Chandler 2002:41)

From Dwyer & Mills 2015

“My Dad doesn’t like to leave these 2 m margins. It’s just a generation thing. When my Dad was brought up if they

couldn’t get into the corner the ploughman used to get out and turn it over with a spade. …It goes completely against

how they were brought up”.

“The world needs food and this here 2 metre margin amounts to a lot of land in a big field and that could be producing food that the country needs, well the world needs. … We seem to be more interested in

wildlife than we are people.”

Capacity

Willingness

EngagementDesired change

Farmer Engagement with change

After Dwyer & Mills 2015

Achieving change

Identity verification

Advice in groups

Postive social norms

Efficacy of actions

Trusted advisors & co-production of knowledge

Positive societal feedback for changes

Matt Reed

mreed@glos.ac.uk

@ReedMtweet

www.ccri.ac.uk - Reports and slideshare