Recent research highlights the important connection between farmer well-being and animal health, indicating that farmers with greater stress levels are more likely to have animals with health difficulties. This emphasizes the necessity for supporting farmers’ mental health to improve animal welfare.
Meagan King, an assistant professor in the U of M’s department of animal science, is at the forefront of this research.
In high school, she considered pursuing veterinary school. However, during her undergraduate studies in environmental biology, she worked at the humane society and in labs at Queen’s University, conducting biology and ecology research. She realized that her passion lies in working with animals and exploring science through research, rather than veterinary studies.
“I’ve always loved animals,” she said. “I like science and research and working with animals, so it kind of combines the two things that I’m very passionate about and enjoy doing.”
King’s research focus is farm animal health and welfare.
Her work explores strategies to provide housing that ensures animals are comfortable, healthy and productive. Additionally, it focuses on using precision technologies to enhance animal health, as well as the quality of life and mental well-being of farmers.
“All my work with dairy cows was using robotic milking systems and the collars that the cows wear that record how much time they spend chewing their cud, which is like a sign of a healthy, relaxed cow,” she explained. “How can we use all this data to understand if a cow is getting sick and then maybe detect it earlier?”
One of King’s current projects on animals includes the study of piglet performance, behaviour and welfare focusing on how to reduce their stress level. Another study focuses on dairy cows and heifers, employing scientific methods to evaluate whether the animals are experiencing positive or negative emotions.
King later realized that her research mainly focused on farm animals, while the farmers who took care of those animals remained understudied.
“If I really care about how farm animals are doing, I should also care about how farmers are doing,” she said. “So that leads me into some of my current research.”
In her research work, King examined the well-being of farmers and its impact on their animals, exploring whether barn management practices could support both. She questioned whether stressed farmers might have animals with more health issues and if farmers with strong support systems and good relationships are better equipped to provide quality care to their animals.
“I do have some research projects where we’re serving farmers, asking how they’re doing, looking at physical and mental health and social supports and their working environment, and then also looking at animal outcomes,” she explained. “So are the animals healthy, or do they have certain diseases?”
King expressed her excitement about expanding into social sciences, despite her primary focus as an animal scientist.
She also emphasized the multidisciplinary nature of research within the faculty of agricultural and food sciences, where projects often involve collaboration across diverse fields such as soil science, plant science, animal science, psychology and veterinary medicine.
In addition, King reiterated the importance of qualitative research in her work. Rather than solely relying on data and spreadsheets, she focuses on understanding farmers’ perspectives by analyzing their experiences and knowledge.
“[Farmers] are the ones who know the most about farming,” she said. “We should respect their knowledge and experiences and work with them and support them to raise animals.”
“It’s good to remind everyone to just be kind — not like nice — but truly kind and genuine, and to support each other, because everyone has things going on in their lives, good and bad.”
