SEO Tetsuya Associate Professor

My DreamThe spread of Animal Welfare

ThemeAnimal Welfare assessment system

Field

Animal Welfare, Animal Behaviour, Animal Husbandry

Keyword

Animal well-being, Cow Comfort, Cattle, Cow, Pig, Swine

Instructable research topic for doctoral thesis

  • 家畜の行動を応用した飼育管理
  • アニマルウェルフェアの評価

Message

家畜は好きですか。かわいいと思いませんか。一緒にアニマルウェルフェアや家畜の行動の研究をしませんか。

Academic degree PhD
Self introduction

I love milk and cattle!

Room addressGeneral Research Building 1
Room numberS3102-2
Mail address seo atmark obihiro.ac.jp

Belongs

Research Department/Department of Life and Food Sciences/Division of Animal Production/Section of Animal Husbandry

Introduction

The staff of my lab researches animal welfare (AW) and the behavior of livestock. “Non-homogenized Milk from Specially Certified Producers” is a brand of milk that has been produced since 2014 by Yotsuba Milk Products Co., Ltd. using raw milk from only five dairy farmers in the Churui district of Makubetsu-cho, Hokkaido. It's milk from cows fed with non-GMO feed and made using unhomogenized sterilization, in which the milk is sterilized at 72°C for 15 seconds. The product is certified by the Japan Grassland Agriculture and Forage Seed Association. Due to its low production volume, it can be bought only through group purchasing systems in urban areas. There is an agreement that the product cannot be sold unless it meets the AW standard that our laboratory established based on domestic and overseas data and field surveys. Twice a year we check that the products meet the standards.

Furthermore, I and the undergraduate and graduate students, who are trained to make examinations necessary for awarding the AW qualification, serve as judges of the AW standard for the Japan Farm Animal Welfare Association.

Once or twice a year we visit dairy farmers who wish to obtain the certification in order to determine whether the farmers meet the AW certification standards for dairy cows. Sometimes we travel as far as Iwate for this mission. Since certified farmers will promote themselves by referring to their farm's AW certification, we make careful, accurate examinations. Furthermore, we discuss how farmers can make improvements to meet criteria they haven't met. It delights us when we hear how the conditions of the cows have improved as a result of our advice.

As a next step, we're getting ready to launch AW certifications for beef cattle and pigs. A draft of the AW certification standards for beef cattle and pigs has been completed, and we visit farmers to solicit feedback on these standards. We try to determine a standard level while confirming whether that level meets the situation on farms, listening to the opinions of farmers and experts, and having discussed at seminars.

In these studies, we've decided to make the careful observation of cattle a top priority, and we intend to continue research for cattle. Although it might not be a scientific expression, my motto is “try to talk to cattle.”

Animal Welfare certified milk
Animal Welfare assessment of swine
Animal Welfare assessment of cattle

List of current research topics

  • Animal Welfare Assessment of dairy, beef cattle and swine
Related industries Animal husbandry facility
Affiliated academic society Japanese Society for Applied Animal Behaviour, Japanese Society of Livestock Management, Hokkaido Society of Livestock and Grassland Science
Academic background 1997 Admitted to the Doctoral Program in Department of agriculture science of Tohoku University
1997 Adopted as a Special Post Doctor for Science and Technology at Hokkaido Agricultural Examination Station
1998 Adopted as Research Associate of Obihiro university of agriculture and veterinary medicine
2018 Present Post