Precision livestock farming technologies - including wearable sensors, automated health monitoring and AI analysis - offer new tools for welfare monitoring at farm scale. Understanding their potential and limits is essential.
Precision livestock farming holds genuine promise for welfare improvement but carries significant risks if implemented without appropriate safeguards. Sensors that detect lameness early can reduce suffering duration - this is unambiguously positive. But systems optimised for productivity (feed conversion, growth rate, reproduction) may actually worsen welfare by pushing animals harder while monitoring for acute problems. The critical question is whether welfare monitoring data is used to trigger welfare responses or merely to provide certification cover. Regulatory requirements to act on welfare alerts, combined with independent audit of sensor data, are essential for technology to deliver genuine welfare benefits rather than commercial advantage.