Constructed future practices and roles of Finnish livestock farmers in the anticipated era of cellular agriculture

Abstract Cellular agriculture (CA) is an emerging food production sector using cell culture technologies to produce food and food ingredients. The sector’s successful development can potentially disrupt future livestock farming. This study draws on prior research on farmers’ values, family farming, and CA to examine livestock farmers’ perceptions and potential future positions in a hypothetical CA food system. The data from qualitative semi-structured interviews with 22 Finnish livestock farmers were analysed using a constructivist grounded theory approach. Interviewed farmers considered the possibilities of integrating CA into conventional farming through emerging practices, such as cell bank, biotech, energy, and input farming. Although these novel hypothetical practices were considered distant, uncertain, and expensive, they could provide improved rural livelihoods, working conditions, and new income opportunities. The study contributes to academic debates on aligning animal farming practices with the technological, economic and ethical issues of emerging food technologies.