Subject: Ecology / Environment

Access to bedding and outdoor runs for growing-finishing pigs: is it possible to improve welfare without increasing environmental impacts?

A.K. Ruckli, S. Hörtenhuber, S. Dippel, P. Ferrari, M. Gebska, M. Heinonen, J. Helmerichs, C. Hubbard, H. Spoolder, A. Valros, C. Winckler, C. Leeb

Published in 2024

Scientific article showing that the provision of bedding or access to an outdoor run to improve pig welfare can have an impact on the environment through changes in feed efficiency and manure management.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Livestock buildings, Societal issues, Enrichment, Environment, Risk management, Welfare indicators, Housing, Pollution, livestock farming system

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Sixty Years of Tinbergen's Four Questions and Their Continued Relevance to Applied Behaviour and Welfare Research in Zoo Animals: A Commentary

Robert Kelly, Paul Rose

Published in 2024

Scientific article illustrating how ethologist Tinbergen's four questions - based on the causality, ontogeny, phylogeny and function of animal behaviors - can help zoo animal research in areas such as sentience, welfare, conservation and species management.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: All animals

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Biodiversity, Population management, Living environment, Evolutionary processes, Behavioural disorders

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Understanding dairy farmers' trade-offs between environmental, social and economic sustainability attributes in feeding systems: The role of farmers' identities

Oyakhilomen Oyinbo, Helena Hansson

Published in 2024

Sociological survey of dairy farmers highlighting the trade-offs they face in adopting sustainable production practices. Farmers concerned about the impact of their feeding systems on the environment and society are motivated above all by their pro-environmental and pro-social identities. The strengthening of identity could be part of a political argument to encourage the adoption of grassland systems.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Biodiversity, Environment, Lactation, Living environment, One Welfare, Pollution, Societal issues, livestock farming system

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Consumers across five European countries prioritise animal welfare above environmental sustainability when buying meat and dairy products

Jeanine Ammann, Gabriele Mack, Nadja El Benni, Shan Jin, Paul Newell-Price, Sophie Tindale, Erik Hunter, Victoria Vicario-Modroño, Rosa Gallardo-Cobos, Pedro Sánchez-Zamora, Simona Miškolci, Lynn J. Frewer

Published in 2024

Analysis of a survey among meat and dairy consumers in five European countries showing that freshness, quality/taste and animal welfare are the characteristics considered to be most important. Environmental factors such as food miles, carbon footprints and organic production appear to bew less important, even if they are perceived as useful.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Bovines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Keywords:Education, Carcass quality, Environment, Carcass quality, Pollution, Livestock farming system, Welfare indicators, Processing, Societal issues

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European Parliament: written answer to question E-003741/2023: Aid for poultry farmers who improve their flocks' environment 

Question: Annika Bruna (ID). Answer: Mrs Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2024

Reply from the European Commission to a Member of Parliament on the insufficient aid provided for European poultry farmers trying to enrich  the living environment of their animals, and who must face foreign competition due to increased imports of poultry products not subject to European legislation.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Animal trade, Enrichment, Environment, Housing, Restraint equipment, Pollution, Livestock farming system, Transport, Societal issues

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Climate change, public health, and animal welfare: towards a One Health approach to reducing animal agriculture's climate footprint

Verkuijl Cleo, Smit Jessie, Green Jonathan M. H., Nordquist Rebecca E., Sebo Jeff, Hayek Matthew N., Hötzel Maria José

Published in 2024

Scientific summary article comparing the potential impacts on public health and animal welfare of three types of strategies often proposed in livestock farming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: (1) "sustainable intensification" methods, (2) "species shift" approaches, and (3) "systemic dietary change" approaches.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines, Caprines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Environment, Risk management, Living environment, One Welfare, Pollution, Livestock farming system, Societal issues

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Face au changement climatique, quelles stratégies d’atténuation et d’adaptation pour les productions avicoles ?

Anne Collin, Vincent Coustham, Jacob Kokou Tona, Sophie Tesseraud, Sandrine Mignon-Grasteau, Bertrand Méda, Anaïs Vitorino Carvalho, Yann Guyot, Sandrine Lagarrigue, Frédérique Pitel, Tatiana Zerjal

Published in 2024

Review proposing strategies to reduce the impact of poultry production on the environment. This may involve, for example, a combination of innovation strategies in nutrition, health, early reprogramming, or animal genetics.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Environment, Risk management, Housing, Living environment, One Welfare, Pollution, Evolutionary processes, Robustness, Livestock farming system, Societal issues.

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Monetizing Animal Welfare Impacts for Benefit-Cost Analysis

Budolfson Mark, Espinosa Romain, Fischer Bob, Treich Nicolas

Published in 2024

Article proposing an analytical tool that sites the impacts of public policy on animal welfare within the same framework as impacts on human welfare, the environment and the economy. This would enable the advantages and disadvantages of public policies to be expressed both globally and more accurately, and would make it possible to compare different impacts. To this end, the authors propose a method for monetizing animal welfare that expresses the intrinsic value of impacts on animal welfare in monetary terms.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Cattle, Goats, Equines, Wildlife, Sheep, Pigs, Poultry

Keywords:Biodiversity, Environment, Risk management, Population management, Welfare indicators, Living environment, Modelling, One Welfare,  Livestock farming system, Societal issues

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Quelles sont les quatre principales représentations de l’agriculture dans la société française ?

Valérie Godement

Published in 2024

Study by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty's Center for Studies and Forecasting, intended to feed into public policy-making and describing the four main representations of agriculture and farmers seen in French society today: traditional family farming, large-scale industrial farming, farmers under pressure to scale up, and small farms that just scrape a living.The study takes into account three current debates that impact these representations of agriculture: 'agribashing', use of pesticides and animal welfare.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Bovines, Caprines, Equines, Monogastrics, Ovines, Porcines, Ruminants, Poultry

Keywords:Livestock buildings, Living environment, One Welfare,  Livestock farming system

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Trade-offs in the externalities of pig production are not inevitable

Bartlett H, Zanella M, Kaori B, Sabei L, Araujo MS, de Paula TM, Zanella AJ, Holmes MA, Wood JLN, Balmford A

Published in 2024

Scientific study examining the trade-offs between environmental costs (land use, GHG emissions and use of antimicrobials) and animal welfare costs in pig farming systems. Despite the common view that trade-offs are unavoidable, the study suggests that a focus on reducing impacts within existing systems rather than changing farming type offers the best way to avoid these trade-offs and mitigate externality costs.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Antibiotic resistance, Livestock buildings, Societal issues, Environment, Risk management, Living environment, Pollution, Livestock farming system

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