The emerging concept of positive welfare for farm animals recognises that good welfare means more than the absence of suffering and includes positive experiences and emotional states.
Traditional animal welfare assessment focused almost exclusively on preventing negative states such as pain, fear, and frustration. A complete welfare assessment must also ask whether animals are experiencing positive states including engagement, contentment, and pleasure. Systems designed to elicit positive welfare go beyond minimum standards to create conditions where animals genuinely thrive. This higher aspiration for animal welfare is achievable in commercial production with appropriate investment and innovation.