Stable management is key to animal welfare
Organic farming does not automatically improve animal welfare
A new study by the Thünen Institute of Organic Farming shows that while organic farming offers great potential for animal welfare, animals do not automatically fare better than they do on conventional farms. What matters more is how farm owners manage their herds.
Organic farming is often credited with providing better animal welfare. Researchers at the Thünen Institute of Organic Farming in Trenthorst have now systematically examined whether this is actually the case in practice. To do so, they analyzed 86 studies from January 1990 to June 2023, as well as 623 pairs of comparable farms from Europe and North America. The result: The picture is not clear-cut. In 28 percent of cases, organic farming had advantages over conventional animal husbandry; in 56 percent, no clear difference could be detected. The study has just been published in the journal *Organic Agriculture* by Springer Nature.
The results show that animal health, in particular, depends less on whether a farm is organic or conventional and more on the individual management practices of the farms. However, where the main risk factors for animal health are addressed by the EU Organic Regulation, organic farms perform better. For example, the requirements regarding bedding and space ensure that the animals’ hooves and limbs are healthier. Lameness and joint damage are therefore less of a concern.
To date, only a few studies have considered not only animal health but also the behavior and emotional well-being of the animals. In this area, there are clear indications of advantages to organic animal husbandry, for example because the animals have more space or are allowed to roam or graze. “The guidelines for organic farming offer great potential, but no guarantee of improved animal welfare. For example, they help ensure that animals can behave in a species-appropriate manner,” says Solveig March, co-author of the study.
Based on the analysis of animal welfare, the study’s authors recommend supplementing the guidelines—which are focused solely on housing and management—with outcome-oriented inspections to better incorporate animal health. “Only by observing the animal directly can we determine whether it is thriving—that is, whether it is healthy and comfortable,” says Solveig March.
Specifically, the experts recommend incorporating a transparent, standardized, and practical animal welfare audit with animal-based indicators into organic certification. This allows animal welfare to be measured and ensured independently of the system. To this end, a project involving partners from the fields of practice and science has been underway at the Thünen Institute of Organic Farming since 2023.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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