Welfare Science

Farm Animal Welfare Benchmarking

Welfare benchmarking compares farm performance against industry averages and best practice, enabling farms to identify gaps and prioritise improvements with the greatest welfare benefit.

Key Facts

Benchmarking uses standardised welfare indicators to enable meaningful farm comparison
Key indicators include mortality, lameness prevalence, antibiotic use, and enrichment provision
Benchmarking data drives improvement when shared transparently with farmers
Industry-level benchmarking reveals systemic problems requiring sector-wide intervention
AHDB in the UK and similar bodies in other countries are developing welfare benchmarking systems

Welfare Considerations

Welfare benchmarking makes the scale of welfare problems visible and creates competitive and normative pressure for improvement. Transparent data sharing drives the fastest industry-wide change.

What You Can Do

Support adoption of welfare benchmarking in farm assurance scheme requirements
Advocate for transparency in national farm welfare benchmarking data
Raise awareness of benchmarking as a farm improvement tool in agricultural communities
Support organisations developing validated welfare benchmarking systems for farm species