We are less inclined to think about the health benefits of good animal welfare, but they exist and should be an important consideration for anyone handling livestock.
Typical examples of welfare measures that can influence health include the way in which painful procedures such as disbudding, dehorning or castration are undertaken. As we know from our own experience, pain is a major stressor which can lead to health problems if not addressed.
The acknowledgement of animal sentience is an important step in animal welfare, and it was this recognition that led to the move from the Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare to the Five Domains.
I always found the term “Affective States'' for the fifth domain a little confusing, but what it boils down to is the longer term mental state of the animal. While an animal may be temporarily thirsty, but has access to water, or may be startled by a predator, an affective state is the sum of positive and negative experiences which would stem from the other four domains, that is nutrition, environment, health and behaviour, over time.
Clearly, animals that are stressed due to any of those factors will end up having a less positive mental state than those that experience less stress. While the obvious stressors such as painful procedures can influence health outcomes, so can more insidious stressors.
Weaning method has been studied and found to be a contributor to health outcomes. We can all recognise weaning as being stressful for calves, but there is a considerable variation in how this is handled, with fenceline weaning contributing to a lower stress experience and better outcomes as calves spend more time resting and feeding.
This contributes to both better production outcomes, but also health outcomes as a well fed and less stressed calf is going to be healthier and better able to cope with immune challenges.
Most countries have farm assurance programmes by now, either voluntary or required for participation in formal markets. These also generally include animal welfare, though the level of ambition certainly varies.
In all cases, we should be looking for continuous improvement. Just like sustainability, animal welfare is not an end point but a daily consideration when working with animals.
As you may have heard on our board call, our social impact working group has set up two additional work streams on nutrition and indigenous rights. We are at the beginning of the discussion around nutrition, but initial thoughts centre on the concept of a healthy varied diet that supplies sufficient nutrients and micronutrients.
Recent articles in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition highlight the need to consider micronutrient availability when designing diets with a reduced environmental impact.
We need to avoid setting a purely self-serving target, but the importance of nutrient bioavailability will be part of the discussion. Nutritional guidelines' primary function is to recommend healthy diets for all, with the onset of trying to combine nutritional guidelines with environmental impacts, there is a tradeoff between what is healthy and other considerations.
As the groups most likely to experience shortfalls, even in high income countries, it is particularly important for growing children, young adults and women of reproductive age to have access to all of the nutrients and micronutrients that they need.
Restricting diets is not a way to improve population health outcomes, nor is taxing the most nutrient dense foods that we have. The increased cost will impact the poorest and most vulnerable. already likely to experience the most deficient nutrition, in any society.
