Farm animal welfare science has made substantial progress but significant knowledge gaps remain. Identifying research priorities guides funding toward the questions with the greatest potential welfare impact.
Farm animal welfare research priorities should be guided by potential welfare impact per unit of research investment. This suggests focus on: species with the largest populations and least developed welfare science (farmed fish, insects); pain and positive welfare indicator validation for species where these are poorly understood; welfare economics research that enables cost-benefit analysis of improvement interventions; and precision livestock technology validation to ensure these tools deliver welfare benefits rather than just production data. The alignment between welfare science and production efficiency is an important research theme - demonstrating this alignment accelerates industry adoption of welfare-positive practices.