The transition from individual gestation stalls to group housing for pregnant sows represents one of the most significant farm animal welfare improvements in recent decades. Understanding what has been achieved and what remains to be done is important.
The gestation stall ban represents a genuine welfare achievement - millions of sows worldwide now experience significantly better welfare than they did before legislation. However, the achievement is incomplete. The EU ban applies only to EU-produced pork - imports from stall-using countries face no welfare equivalence requirement. UK consumers choosing to import pork from countries that still use gestation stalls are directly funding the system that was banned here for welfare reasons. The transition from stalls to group housing also demonstrated that welfare improvements are achievable at commercial scale without unacceptable production losses - a model for future welfare transitions.