Taking into Account Job Meaning, Work Organization, and Labor Productivity to Better Advise Farmers

The authors present a comprehensive, multidisciplinary analysis of livestock farming work by integrating three dimensions: labor productivity, task organization, and the personal meaning farmers attach to their profession. Employing a structured interview guide developed by sociologists, economists, and animal scientists, they examine 56 French farms spanning seven production sectors and 19 large-scale Northern European operations. The research highlights five farmer profiles, demonstrates that reasonable-sized farms can balance quality of life with economic viability, and emphasizes the importance of farmer–advisor collaboration for designing services and organizational changes on the ground.