Page 57 of articles about behaviour-welfare

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a new interagency agreement promoting renewable energy generation and slashing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock operations.

A new pig welfare code has drawn a big response from the public calling for an end to the use of sow stalls and farrowing crates in the pork industry. The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee released a draft version of the new welfare code for pigs in March.

Non-restraint farrowing systems are being developed at University of Newcastle and Scottish Agricultural College. The work isn’t finished yet. Some fine-tuning may be necessary. But results so far show overall mortality to be similar to the industry indoor average.

EU Directive 2008/120/EC describes the existing EU pig welfare legislation, and repeats the intention of the Commission to evaluate the legislation on the basis of scientific evidence. In anticipation of this review, the Dutch ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality asked Wageningen UR Livestock Research to describe the present situation regarding the translation of Directive 2008/120/EC into national legislation by the member states.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued Notice 19-10: Humane Handling Activities and Documentation in Livestock Slaughter Establishments.

Scientists at the Wageningen University's Animal Sciences Group (ASG) presented a brochure called 'Varkansen'. The research, conducted at the request of Dutch agriculture minister Gerda Verburg, developed three designs for more sustainability in pig production; in translation called the Pagode, the Pillar and the Pearl.

Authored by Colorado State University Professor of Animal Science Temple Grandin, Ph.D., with the Institute's Animal Welfare Committee, the 2010 edition includes an important new transportation audit that measures key animal welfare factors on trucks when they arrive at meat plants and as drivers and plant personnel unload livestock.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality commissioned research into the impact on the pig farmer of the necessity to comply with government measures relating to animal welfare (Pig Decree) and the environment (Ammoniac and Nitrate Directive) after the end of the transition period. Based on individual pig farms in the Farm Accountancy Data Network, it was investigated whether farms can finance the necessary investments and whether the farm will have any income after that investment. It was also investigated whether pig farms can use alternative forms of housing which require less extensive investments. The policy for which the transition period ends in 2013 has far-reaching consequences for the entire pig sector.

South Korea plans to introduce international guidelines on improving livestock welfare to reflect current trends supporting the humane treatment of farm animals.

The Ohio House signed off on legislation establishing the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, the next step in the process following voter approval of the issue in November.

EU animal welfare rules must be more rigorously enforced, with more inspections and effective penalties, said the Agriculture Committee. It nonetheless welcomed a reduction in harmful antibiotics in animal feed, further to an EU ban.