Outcome-based welfare assessment using animal-based measures is transforming dairy cow welfare auditing from input compliance to actual welfare achievement.
Animal-based welfare auditing reveals what input-based auditing misses: two farms with identical stocking densities and facilities can have dramatically different welfare outcomes depending on management quality. A farm where 30% of cows are lame is failing on animal welfare regardless of what its specifications document says. Outcome-based assessment creates accountability for actual welfare achievement rather than procedural compliance, driving improvement in the farms with poorest outcomes and rewarding farms that achieve genuinely good welfare.