Developments in Farm Animal Welfare in the U.S.

Cathy Liss, President, Animal Welfare Institute

Market-Driven Animal Welfare in the EU and the U.S.

March 22, 2012

About the Animal Welfare Institute

• Non-profit US charity founded in 1951 • Mission to alleviate suffering inflicted on animals by

humans• Seeks humane husbandry, handling, transport and

slaughter for all animals raised for food.• Engages with policymakers, scientists, industry and

the public• Has focused on farm animal welfare dating back to

its work on humane slaughter in the early 1950s

AWI’s high welfare farm animal standards

• In 1989, AWI developed Humane Husbandry Standards for Pigs and the first “USDA-Approved”label placed on pork from animals raised to AWI’s standards.

• Animal Welfare Approved is launched in 2006. It is a high welfare, pasture or range-based program. AWA requires that its farmers have individual ownership and control of their animals.

Animal Welfare Approved

Carries out the following activities:• Auditing and compliance• Market support • Supply chain work • Grants and grant support.

Has standards for 14 types of livestock, plus slaughter standards

Works with 1500 farms in 45 states and Canada

Consumer AwarenessWelfare and protection of farm animals is important to consumers and a strong consideration in buying food.

Food industry trend watcher, the Hartman Group, cites grass-fed meat, healthy fats, real butter, cage-free eggs, heirloom marbled pork, and the family dinner as growing trends in 2012.

Consumer Awareness• Concern about meat’s origins is growing….some shoppers are

willing to pay two or three times as much to guarantee that the animals they eat had ample living space and sufficient time outdoors, were raised on organic or foraged food (or both), and were not fed antibiotics or growth hormones. ---Carolyn Dimitri, professor of food studies at New York University

• According to a 2011 Kansas State University study consumers will likely pay up to 20% more for meat with a mandatory label showing that animals were raised without the use of cages and crates. Women and younger consumers indicated even higher demand for this labeling.

Consumer AwarenessMost consumers uninformed:

•Believe only 37% of eggs produced in the U.S. come from hens in cages (in fact >90% of eggs produced in cage systems)

•About 30% believe the pork they buy comes from pasture or organic farming (actual amount is <5%)

Farm Animal Welfare in the US

Mainly market driven welfare criteria

Little regulation underpinning farmed animal management

Single issue state legislation may have a minimal effect on overall animal welfare

--welfare is multi-factorial--states that have enacted legislation tend to

have smaller numbers of producers

Retailers and companies are setting their own agenda

State Laws

State action includes:• Prohibition of gestation crates for pigs

• Prohibition of cattle tail docking

• Ban on foie gras

• Regulation on hen housing

• Prohibition on veal crates

Small number of states in total

Federal Laws

No federal regulation of:

•Humane slaughter for poultry

•Transport times for poultry

•Transport conditions (except horses)

•On-farm husbandry practices

Regulatory Developments• National Organic Standards

Board is drafting animal welfare regulations

• Some states have set/are in the process of setting on-farm husbandry regulations (standards are very low, however)

Third Party Initiatives

There are animal welfare certification programs with birth to slaughter requirements in the U.S.

•Cover multiple species

•About 40 million animals/year currently raised under these programs

Third Party Initiatives

Other animal welfare-related food labels exist

•Not necessarily making a “humane” claim – but some standards on welfare

•About 300 million animals/year raised under these programs

•Some of the animal welfare requirements are equivalent to standard industry practice

Benefits of Third Party Initiatives

• Reduce consumer confusion about animal rearing practices

• Help consumers make more informed choices

• Reward high-welfare farmers

• Illustrate differences in welfare among farms and marketing programs

Negatives of Third Party Initiatives

• Voluntary• Inconsistent• Can solely be used as marketing tools rather than

improvement of welfare• Can be expensive for the farmer to participate• Claims can be meaningless• Not necessarily any independent oversight

Production Industry Initiatives

• United Egg Producers modified guidelines to prohibit feed withdrawal for molting as of 2006

• American Veal Association resolution recommending transition from veal crates to group housing by 2017

Individual Producer Initiatives

• Mary’s Chicken and Bell & Evans chicken switched to controlled atmosphere stunning

• Smithfield Foods says it will phase-out gestation crates by 2017

• Hormel Foods says it will phase-out gestation crates by 2017 (for company-owned facilities)

• Cargill reported it is 50% gestation crate free in 2012

Individual Retailer Initiatives

• Numerous chain restaurants and several chain grocery stores have adopted animal welfare policies that set minimum standards for: – eggs from cage free hens

– pork from group-housed sows

– poultry meat from birds killed with controlled atmosphere stunning/killing

• McDonald’s is requiring suppliers to produce plans to phase out gestation crates

Food Service Industry Initiatives

Compass Group•Shell eggs now cage free

•Pork from gestation crate systems phased out by 2017

Bon Appétit•Shell and liquid eggs to be cage free

•Pork to be from group-housing only (no gestation crates)

•No foie gras and no veal from crates

Labeling Oversight

Animal raising claims made by affidavit, and challenged by:

•Lawsuits

•Better Business Bureau advertising complaints

•Administrative agency petitions

What’s Needed

• Public education about conventional and higher-welfare production and the meaning of common marketing claims

• Mandatory labeling of meat and dairy products• Meaningful regulatory definitions of common

marketing claims • Independent welfare assessment of all raising

protocols

A big thank you to the Delegation of the European Union

and the European Institute