Emerging technologies are transforming the ability to monitor livestock welfare continuously, enabling earlier intervention and more objective welfare assessment.
Precision livestock technology creates the possibility of continuous welfare monitoring that is more sensitive, objective, and less labour-intensive than manual assessment. Early detection of welfare problems including lameness, ketosis, and social disruption allows intervention before welfare deterioration becomes severe. The challenge is ensuring these technologies are accessible to farms of all sizes and that their data is used for welfare improvement rather than purely production optimisation.