Research into farm animal welfare is chronically underfunded relative to the scale of the welfare issues involved, limiting progress on science-based improvements.
The gap between the scale of farm animal welfare issues and the funding available to study them is striking. Billions of animals are affected, yet farm animal welfare research is underfunded relative to companion animal research, wildlife research, or productive aspects of animal science. This limits the evidence base available for welfare standard development and makes it harder to make the case for specific interventions. Independent, publicly funded research is particularly important where industry interests may not align with welfare improvement.