Sensor technology and data analytics are transforming the ability of farmers to monitor individual animal welfare in large herds and flocks, offering significant opportunities and some risks.
Precision livestock farming technology offers genuine welfare benefits by enabling early detection of individual animal problems in groups too large for regular individual observation. A lame cow in a 500-cow dairy herd may not receive timely treatment under traditional walk-through inspection, but automated gait analysis can flag her daily. The technology also enables objective welfare assessment for audit purposes, moving beyond subjective observer assessment. However, technology does not substitute for good management; a sensor that alerts to a welfare problem is only beneficial if the alert is acted upon promptly. There is also a risk that technology enables even larger group sizes by substituting for human observation, potentially creating welfare problems beyond the technology's capacity to detect.