The quality of human-animal interactions on pig farms profoundly affects pig welfare and productivity. Good stockmanship reduces fear, improves growth rates, and lowers stress hormone levels across entire herds.
Stockmanship quality is one of the most powerful levers for improving pig welfare at scale. Pigs that fear their human handlers are under chronic stress, with measurable impacts on health, growth, and reproductive success. Conversely, gentle, predictable handling reduces fear and allows pigs to express more natural behaviors. Farm welfare programs that train and monitor stockperson behavior deliver some of the highest returns on welfare investment. On-farm welfare audits increasingly include behavioral fear tests such as the human approach test as indicators of stockmanship quality.