Recent Activities

All Member Meeting Discussions and Engagement

• Welfare outcome measures, with an expert briefing from the Royal Agricultural University.
• Developments in EU animal welfare legislation.
• Welfare of decapod crustaceans, with an expert briefing from Crustacean Compassion.
• The interplay between animal welfare and other aspects of sustainability, with presentations from:
  • Wageningen University & Research on circular food systems
  • Blonk Sustainability on life cycle assessments of higher welfare production
  • The Sustainable Food Trust on the Global Farm Metric
  • The Food Systems Institute, University of Nottingham
  • Association of Poultry Processors and Poultry Trade in the EU Countries (AVEC)
  • Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford
• The Beijing Consensus on Farm Animal Welfare at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
• Publication: Knowledge Share – Implementing Animal Welfare Commitments – GCAW Member Experiences.
• The role of animal welfare in regenerative agriculture.
• Publication: GCAW: The First Five Years.

Laying Hen Welfare Working Group Discussions and Engagement

• Alternative supply chain models to facilitate procurement of cage-free eggs in challenging regions.
• Stakeholder consultation on alternative supply chain models for other products, including:
  • The Round Table on Responsible Soy Association
  • Textile Exchange
  • Global Food Partners.
• Avoiding the practice of day-old male chick culling, with insight from companies that have successfully adapted to bans introduced in Germany and France, with a briefing on in-ovo sexing technologies from Agri Advanced Technologies.
• Publication of a member-only resource: GCAW Alternatives to Male Chick Culling.
• Publication: Knowledge Share – Cage-Free Eggs Procurement: A GCAW Consultation Report.
• The role of technology as an enabler for driving improvements in animal welfare at scale, with insight from Optifarm.
• How the use of specific laying hen breeds could improve welfare and sustainability metrics.
• China’s cage-free egg certification scheme, with a presentation from the IQC.
• Publication: Knowledge Share – Cage-Free Eggs Global Landscape Review – Executive Summary.

Broiler Chicken Welfare Working Group Discussions and Engagement

• How welfare outcome measures could drive welfare improvements for broiler chickens, with expert briefings from:
  • Global Animal Partnership
  • International Poultry Welfare Alliance
• Publication: GCAW Recommendation on the Use of Welfare Outcome Measures for Broiler Chickens.
• Brazil – a regional industry update with insight into production systems, welfare issues, legislative developments and assurance schemes.
• The benefits and challenges of sourcing slower growing broiler breeds in relation to animal welfare and environmental impacts, with insight presentations from:
  • Hubbard Breeders
  • Wageningen University & Research
• Implementing European Chicken Commitment and Better Chicken Commitment standards.
• The EU BroilerNet project, with insight from the British Poultry Council.

Pig Welfare Working Group Discussions and Engagement

• Alternatives to close confinement and innovative housing systems for sows, including expert briefings on free-farrowing and group housing from:
  • Aarhus University
  • Skiold Group
  • Big Dutchman
• Practical options for providing environmental enrichment to pigs.
• How welfare outcome measures could help improve pig welfare, including an expert briefing from the UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) on the world’s largest welfare outcome measure data collection initiative.
• Australia – a regional industry update with insight into production systems, welfare issues, legislative developments and assurance schemes.
• A study tour for the next generation of Dutch pig farmers to Sweden, in collaboration with the Dutch Young Farmers’ Association (NAJK).
• The use of, and options for, pain relief during routine mutilations in piglets, with an expert briefing from Kansas State University.
• Analysing an NGO proposal for Pig Minimum Standards against established assurance schemes.
• Supply chain insight presentations from:
  • Maple Leaf Foods
  • duBreton

Research insights from COPA-COGECA and ANPROGAPOR and an introduction to the European Welfarmers project