You have reached the website of IMPRO, a FP7 EU project, dealing with the improvement of animal health in organic dairy farming. You can find more about the project, its objectives and approach, its partners, and its results on this website. IMPRO stands for

Impact matrix analysis and cost-benefit calculations to improve management practices regarding health status in organic dairy farming.

It started in October 2012 and lasted 4 years. It was carried out by a Consortium of 7 partners from 6 European countries, carefully selected to meet the needs of the project in terms of skills, competencies and understanding of the problem, each of them engaged in system oriented approaches to improve animal health at different levels of integration (animal, herd, farm, and region).

Abstract

Consumers are becoming increasingly sensitive about health and welfare problems in commercial livestock production systems. They expect their food to be produced with greater respect for the needs of farm animals. Organic farming is often directly associated with an enhanced level of animal health and welfare. However, animal health status in organic dairy farming does not in all respect meet consumers’ expectations. Improvements are crucial to support consumers’ confidence and their willingness to pay premium prices. These are urgently needed to cover the higher production costs. Previous herd health planning concepts have prepared the ground for further advancements. However, recommended measures are often implemented only to an unsatisfactory degree, differing widely between farms, and resulting in an improper animal health status.
The IMPRO project aims to substantially overcome weak points in current health management strategies on organic dairy farms and to increase the implementation of evidence based measures and to improve practice of health management. This will be achieved by a multidisciplinary and participatory approach to develop farm specific solutions regarding preventive measures and early treatment strategies.