Looking ahead to 2050, evidence-based projections for pig welfare improvement driven by technology, policy, and food system change.
The 2050 welfare trajectory for pigs depends on choices being made now - in breeding, technology, policy, and consumption. Technology will enable better monitoring and earlier intervention. Policy reform will raise minimum standards. Alternative proteins may reduce demand and total production. The question is whether these changes happen fast enough and reach broadly enough to materially reduce the suffering of the billions of pigs produced annually between now and 2050.