Evidence-based welfare reform for pig farrowing systems documents the welfare costs of crate confinement and validates alternative designs achieving welfare improvement without acceptable piglet mortality increases.
Farrowing system welfare reform is evidence-based: the research documenting sow welfare costs in crates is robust, and the research demonstrating that alternative designs can achieve comparable piglet survival with improved sow welfare is growing. The policy challenge is translating this evidence into implementation through transition support, training, and economic frameworks that make welfare improvement achievable for producers who lack the resources to transition independently. The EU 2030 target creates a policy timeline requiring both evidence-based design standards and industry support programs to be in place before the deadline — welfare science providing the destination, policy implementation providing the path.