Animal Well-Being
Animal well-being is a complex issue. NIFA's goal in addressing animal well-being is to help producers provide America with abundant, safe, nutritious, and affordable food animal products, produced in ways that respect animals and the environment.
Evaluating farm animal well-being is essential to the food animal industry and scientific communities. Scientists seek to understand how to best measure well-being in animals used in the agricultural sector for food, fiber, research, and experimentation and to improve methods of enhancing their comfort and well-being. For example, scientists may study animals in different environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, duration of daylight, bedding, size and shape of living quarters, or the number of other animals sharing an environment. They may also investigate how animals react both behaviorally and biologically to stressful situations--such as in transport or when animals must be constrained. This understanding is important whether working with animals as pets, livestock, or wildlife to ensure their safety and well-being, as well as that of their human caretakers.
NIFA Hatch and Animal Health Formula Funds
The following species names link to pages that contain select active awards funded by either NIFA Hatch or Animal Health Formula Funds:
Stakeholder Webinars
In Fall 2016, NIFA and the USDA Agricultural Research Service will host a series of webinars on Animal Health to solicit stakeholder input on research, education and extension priorities. Animal Well-Being is included in the series as a cross-cutting topic. For more information, visit the Animal Health Stakeholder Webinar Series page.
Stakeholder input on animal well-being was also collected during a series of webinars on Animal Production hosted by NIFA and ARS in May 2016. This information is currently being analyzed and a summary will be posted on this page at a later date.
- Animal Welfare Issues Compendium (1997)
- The International Egg Commission
- Animal Welfare Issues Compendium
- Animal Welfare Assessment Contest
- American Dairy Science Society
- American Egg Board
- American Meat Science Association
- American Society of Animal Science
- American Veterinary Medical Association
- Animal Welfare Information Center, National Agricultural Library
- Animal Welfare Institute
- Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International
- Center for Veterinary Medicine, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Council on Agricultural Science and Technology
- American Health Institute
- Livestock Behavior Research Unit, USDA-ARS/Purdue University
- Livestock Behavior, Design of Facilities, and Humane Slaughter
- National Animal Interest Alliance
- National Cattlemen's and Beef Association
- National Institute for Animal Agriculture
- National Meat Association
- National Milk Producers Federation
- The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
- United Egg Producers
- Universities Federation for Animal Welfare
- APHIS - Veterinary Services