Despite strong scientific evidence for pain experience in livestock and effective pain management products, the gap between what is available and what is used on farms remains a major welfare challenge.
The persistent gap between pain management knowledge and farm practice represents one of the most tractable welfare problems in animal agriculture. The medications exist, the evidence is clear, and the costs are low relative to animal value and production losses from pain-impaired recovery. Yet surveys consistently reveal that a large proportion of farmers do not routinely provide analgesia for procedures known to be painful. Closing this gap requires multiple simultaneous interventions: farmer education and attitude change, veterinary communication that normalises pain management as standard of care, regulatory requirements with real enforcement consequences, and streamlined access to pain management medications at point of use. The economic argument — that pain management returns value through faster recovery and better performance — is increasingly recognised as a complementary message to the ethical case.