Animal Agriculture Transparency: The Case for Open Farm Data

Greater transparency in animal agriculture - including public welfare outcome data - is essential for enabling informed consumer choices and holding industry accountable to welfare standards.

Key Facts

The UK's Farm Animal Welfare Committee recommends publishing welfare outcome indicators at farm level
Existing farm assurance schemes including Red Tractor rarely publish individual farm welfare data
Denmark's CheckOn system publishes farm-level inspection data, enabling consumer and market accountability
Slaughterhouse CCTV is mandatory in the UK since 2018, with footage reviewed by Official Veterinarians
Antibiotic use data is published at sector level in the UK but not individual farm level
Welfare outcome data (lameness, mortality, injuries) is collected by some schemes but rarely published publicly
Corporate transparency reports from retailers increasingly include supply chain welfare commitments and progress data

Welfare Considerations

Welfare transparency is a precondition for meaningful accountability. Without farm-level welfare outcome data, consumers cannot make informed choices, journalists cannot investigate problems, and industry cannot be held to account for welfare commitments. The technical infrastructure for welfare data collection exists - the barrier is industry resistance to transparency that would reveal the gap between marketing claims and welfare realities. Public, easily accessible welfare data would transform market dynamics in favour of producers delivering on welfare promises.

What You Can Do

Support campaigns for mandatory farm-level welfare data publication in the UK
Ask retailers what welfare outcome data they collect from suppliers and whether it is published
Advocate for expansion of mandatory CCTV from slaughterhouses to all intensive livestock housing
Use available welfare data sources including assurance scheme standards when choosing food products
Donate to farm animal welfare monitoring and transparency organisations