Advancing livestock welfare science toward positive indicators of flourishing represents a major shift in how farm animal welfare is measured and improved.
The shift toward positive welfare indicators represents a conceptual maturation in welfare science — from asking only whether animals are suffering to asking whether they are flourishing. This matters for practical welfare improvement because a farm can eliminate all visible negative indicators while still providing an environment so impoverished that animals have no opportunities for positive experience. Positive welfare requires active provision: enrichment that enables play, space that supports exploration, social conditions that allow affiliation, and human contact that generates positive rather than neutral or negative responses. Measuring and rewarding positive welfare indicators gives producers a meaningful aspiration beyond compliance — a standard of genuine good life rather than just tolerable existence.