Farmer–veterinarian interaction as multi-level situated learning: Negotiating health, risk, and responsibility in intensive pig farming — a scoping review

Farmer-veterinarian interaction is central to how responsibility for animal health and antimicrobial use is enacted. Especially in intensive pig systems, where high animal density, economic pressures, and stringent biosecurity requirements elevate both zoonotic risks and public health concerns. Yet, empirical research on these interactions remains limited as these are often embedded in broader animal health studies and disproportionately focused on dairy contexts. This scoping review synthesizes 40 empirical studies on farmer-veterinarian interaction in intensive pig farming, applying PRISMA-ScR methodology and a four-level socio-ecological framework encompassing individual, interpersonal, interprofessional, and systemic influences. Eligible sources included all studies including relevant empirical insights published until July 2023, with no geographical restrictions, retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, Agricola, and CAB Abstracts. Findings indicate that veterinarians in intensive pig farming are increasingly positioned as strategic partners in herd health management. Their influence depends not only on technical expertise but also on trust, embeddedness in local practice, and their role in enabling ongoing learning in complex farm environments. However, tensions persist. Farmers may turn to peer networks over professional advice in times of stress, especially under economic pressure, and divergent views and priorities concerning animal health management, welfare, and antimicrobial use can complicate interaction. Structural pressures-such as short-term economic incentives, market constraints, and the dual commercial-regulatory role of veterinarians- further limit joint decision-making capacity. Although zoonotic risk and antimicrobial resistance dominate macro-level policy discourse, these concerns did not emerge as central themes in the empirical literature on everyday farmer-veterinarian interaction. By adopting a multi-level lens, this review exposes the layered complexity of human-animal health governance in industrial livestock systems. The synthesis offers a systems-aware perspective on how contextually situated relationships shape management behaviours, health and biosecurity outcomes. These insights support more effective policy design and cross-sectoral collaboration at the livestock-public health interface for resilient livestock farming.