Farm Animals

Pig Welfare Benchmarking Programs

How benchmarking programs compare pig welfare performance across farms and drive improvement through data and incentives.

Key Facts

Benchmarking programs compare welfare indicators across participating farms to identify outliers
Tail biting, mortality, and lameness are common benchmarking metrics
Farms with poorest welfare profiles are often unaware of their relative performance
Benchmarking can drive improvement without requiring mandatory standards
Denmark and the Netherlands operate advanced pig welfare benchmarking programs

Welfare Considerations

Benchmarking creates welfare improvement incentives by showing producers how their performance compares to peers. Farms at the bottom of welfare rankings often improve significantly when they discover their relative standing. Data-driven improvement is a powerful complement to regulation.

What You Can Do

Advocate for mandatory welfare benchmarking programs in pig production
Support organizations that develop and operate welfare benchmarking systems
Engage with benchmarking data to identify producers with the best welfare performance