Farm Animal Welfare

Pig Welfare Monitoring Programme Standards

Standardised welfare monitoring programmes on pig farms provide systematic data for improvement and accountability.

Key Facts

Welfare monitoring programmes specify minimum observation frequencies and indicator sets
Tail lesion scoring, body condition assessment and mortality monitoring are core programme elements
Programmes that include both outcome and input indicators provide more complete welfare pictures
Digital recording of welfare monitoring data enables trend analysis and benchmarking
Programme participation rates and data quality vary substantially between farms and schemes

Welfare Considerations

Welfare monitoring programmes create systematic observation that improves welfare by detecting problems earlier and creating accountability for chronic welfare failures. Programme design that makes monitoring practical and links data to management action maximises welfare benefit.

What You Can Do

Support pig welfare monitoring programme development with practical farmer-friendly tools
Advocate for welfare monitoring programme participation as a condition of supply chain membership
Engage with data analysis from welfare monitoring programmes to identify improvement priorities