On-farm animal welfare assessment has shifted from resource-based to outcome-based measures, giving a more accurate picture of how animals actually experience their conditions.
The shift from resource-based to outcome-based welfare assessment represents one of the most significant advances in practical welfare science. Measuring animals directly — their body condition, injury prevalence, behavior, and disease signs — reveals welfare problems that resource audits miss and finds adequate welfare in resource-poor systems that are managed well. Outcome-based assessment is now standard in the most credible welfare certification schemes and is improving standards globally.