Vol.:(0123456789) Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics (2019) 32:335–354 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-019-09777-0 1 3 ARTICLES “That’s the Way We’ve Always Done It”: A Social Practice Analysis of Farm Animal Welfare in Alberta Emilie M. Bassi 1  · Ellen Goddard 1  · John R. Parkins 1 Accepted: 17 May 2019 / Published online: 28 May 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract Although beef and dairy production in Alberta, Canada, enjoys strong public sup- port, there are enduring public concerns, including farm animal welfare. Evolving codes of practice and animal care councils prescribe changes and improvements to many areas of farm management, and may be seen by farmers as an appropri- ate response to public animal welfare concerns. However, codes of practice do not address every animal welfare concern, and new concerns can arise over time. Draw- ing on social practice theory and in-depth feld research with 36 cattle and dairy farmers, this paper explores the materials, competencies, and meanings of four ani- mal husbandry practices: branding, dehorning, weaning, and on-farm handling and moving. Findings show that branding and dehorning are evolving slowly with atten- tion to pain management, but remain frmly rooted in ranching tradition and commu- nities of practice. Weaning and animal handling practices are evolving more quickly with attention to changing materials, attitudes, and values that are more prevalent within producer communities. Keywords Animal welfare · Animal husbandry · Farm animals · Beef · Dairy · Social practices Introduction Alberta is the largest beef cattle-producing province in Canada (Statistics Can- ada 2017). Canada’s beef industry is characterized by the development of large- scale feeding operations and slaughtering facilities with signifcant ownership by known agribusiness giants including JBS and Cargill (Stull and Broadway 2013). Similarly, the dairy industry is a large part of the Canadian (and Albertan) agri- food economy. In 2017, Alberta ranked third among Canadian provinces in dairy * John R. Parkins jparkins@ualberta.ca 1 Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology, University of Alberta, 515 General Services Building, Edmonton, AB T6G2H1, Canada