Pig Welfare Benchmarking Progress

Farm welfare benchmarking systems enable comparison of welfare performance between farms, identifying best practice and driving improvement through transparency.

Key Facts

Welfare Quality protocol assessment provides a validated framework for pig farm benchmarking
UK welfare indicators including tail lesion scores are now collected at slaughter for benchmarking
Denmark and the Netherlands lead on systematic farm welfare benchmarking linked to retailer standards
Benchmarking works best when data is shared transparently and connected to commercial incentives
Animal welfare benchmarking is more effective when integrated with health and production data systems

Welfare Considerations

Welfare benchmarking transforms individual farm assessment into a driver of industry-wide improvement. Data transparency and commercial linkage make benchmarking a powerful tool for welfare progress.

What You Can Do

Support retailers that require and publish welfare benchmarking data from their supply chains
Advocate for standardised welfare benchmarking frameworks adopted across pig production sectors
Engage with welfare data organisations developing open benchmarking systems