Animal welfare is one of the most widely discussed topics in the food industry. But when it comes to information on the internet and in the media about animal welfare, it can be difficult for the average consumer to identify the truth behind how livestock are treated in the US’ animal agriculture system.

Between undercover videos, articles written by journalists who have never spent time on a farm, and the viral nature of inflammatory headlines on social media, many consumers may feel like the truth is hard to find and that it’s best to just avoid animal products altogether.

“In the decade or so I have been in this space, the sheer number of articles coming out every day about animal welfare labels, plant-based eating, and the ethical discussion around raising and consuming animals is in the dozens now versus one or two,” Daisy Freund, director of farm animal welfare at ASPCA, told me during a phone interview. “We also have more access to imagery that we didn’t use to have about what goes on inside industrial farms.”

ASPCA recently announced that Whole30 has become the first dietary program to commit to comprehensive animal welfare standards. By 2021, all Whole30 Approved products sold in stores and online will require an animal welfare certification from an entity recognized by the ASPCA’s Shop With Your Heart program or proof that it meets rigorous animal welfare standards with third-party auditing to ensure compliance.

“As a Whole30 advisor and dietitian, I’m thrilled to see this partnership,” says Diana Rodgers regarding the new announcement. “Melissa has always been very committed to food quality and animal welfare and this solidifies Whole30 as not only a healthy way to eat, but a great choice for those concerned about the treatment of farm animals.” Freund was a guest on the Sustainable Dish podcast in November 2016 to discuss the then pending Massachusetts Question 3 imposing heightened farm animal welfare standards. 

When it comes to advocacy, the ASPCA’s approach involves meeting consumers in the middle and helping them understand the implications of their purchasing decisions at the supermarket. Consumers have proven to be an incredibly powerful force in changing the way animals are raised, according to Freund.

The power of consumer purchasing patterns is reflected in the flurry of state-based ballot measures passed in recent years imposing certain welfare requirements for laying hens, breeding sows, and veal calves. Florida was the first state to pass a ballot measure prohibiting the use of gestation crates for pregnant sows. Since then, a number of states like Massachusetts and Washington have joined the effort with California passing two measures: one in 2008 and another stricter standard in 2018.

The ballot measures largely seek to establish minimum space requirements for laying hens and breeding sows, with some also enacting minimum space requirements for veal calves. 

But by and large, the initiatives lack mention of beef production or dairy production. The answer as to why cattle have largely been left out of the welfare debate may surprise consumers.

“From our perspective, relative animal-to-animal, beef cattle are having a better experience through the majority of their life than other animals even if they end up on a confined feedlot,” Freund explains. “That’s not to say we don’t advocate for grass-finished animals on pasture-raised in the highest holistic sense, but the experience of the cattle being outdoors, in family units of some kind, in a herd is better than what the average chicken is enduring. The level of welfare they are experiencing does change when they go to a feedlot, but it is still significantly better than chicken raised entirely indoors without seeing sunlight or a pig who never sees dirt under its feet, has a place to root, or feels the sun on its back.”

As we’ve written about previously on Sacred Cow, the beef cattle production cycle starts at cow-calf operations, which are independently-owned farms where ranchers maintain herds of cows that are bred to produce calves once a year during either fall or spring. The calves are then either sold to stocker operations for more time on pasture before finishing on a feedlot, or sold to feedlots. Typically, cattle only spend the last 100 - 300 days of their lives on a feedlot, meaning the majority of their lives are on pasture. 

Many consumers seem to have the assumption that beef cattle live their whole lives in feedlots or other high-density confinement systems, and that cattle eat 100% grain. Contrary to what many people assume, only about 10% - 13% of the feed typical beef cattle consume is grain over their lifespan People often have an emotional response to welfare-related issues and tend to latch onto broad concepts that don’t necessarily apply equally to different production systems, such as beef versus poultry, Freund explains.

“There is an issue of painting the cattle industry with a broad brush. It’s certainly true that it’s really just the end-of-life that they are in these conditions.” 

Feedlots generally offer more welfare for the animals compared to CAFO chicken and pork operations where animals spend their entire lives indoors. From an animal welfare perspective, CAFO chicken and pork are much worse than feedlot finished beef. Beef also contains more nutrients per calorie than chicken or pork. And because much of their diet is from grass and other crop residue that humans can’t consume, or that would have no other use (like leftovers from the plant-based protein industry and the ethanol and alcohol industries) cattle actually are net protein “up-cyclers”.

As independent entities, cow-calf operators have complete discretion over the welfare provided on their individual farms. While some may assume this means that there is minimal effort invested in ensuring that cows are content and cared for, producers have a financial incentive to not only ensure animals receive adequate nutrition but to maintain healthy pastures, too. If a cow is not in good condition -- meaning she’s not well-fed and healthy -- odds are she won’t cycle for breeding. Ranchers often depend on selling calves for income, making a missed breeding season a tough proposition.

And when it comes to pasture management, different philosophies about how to manage ruminant animals so that they regenerate landscapes are gaining attention in lieu of continuous grazing systems where cattle are given unfettered access to an entire farm. Ranchers are increasingly applying adaptive grazing practices such as Savory’s holistic planned grazing methodology to increase the amount of forage growing on their farms, improve soil health, enhance water quality, reduce disease and parasite stress on their livestock, and sequester more carbon. 

These practices aren’t just for grass-fed operations either. Even farmers who feed grain or other inputs to their cattle can benefit from improved pasture management.

Animal Welfare in Feedlots

But as Freund points out, some consumers are against feedlot finishing despite the short amount of time cattle spend there, leading many to seek out beef products that are labeled grass-fed. Despite the increasing consumer demand for 100% grass-fed meat, the USDA has yet to provide a clear and enforceable definition for grass-fed label claims. As a result, a producer who runs a cow-calf operation but finishes on a 60-day feed ration could argue that the animals were grass-fed because they consumed grass throughout their lifetime. This has led many producers who offer truly grass-fed and finished products to opt for the label claim “100% grass-fed” instead.

Dr. Temple Grandin has been one of the most influential forces when it comes to improving animal welfare throughout the beef industry. Gradin’s animal welfare audits, which require feedlots and processing plants to keep track of things like the number of animals who may slip and fall while unloading or how many times a cattle prod was used, have become common practice in the industry and are even encompassed in third-party certifications like Certified Humane. Through the North American Meat Institute’s Glass Walls Project, Grandin narrates a tour of a processing plant to demonstrate the welfare standards.

Despite these widely accepted standards, there are aspects in which animal welfare can still be improved throughout the beef industry, particularly during the end-of-life phase.

“I think the biggest concern is certainly transport. Any time an animal is being transported there are welfare risks. That’s not to say it’s always a problem, but moving animals opens up the possibility of injury, stress, and mishandling,” Freund says. “There is also the digestive stress from being fed corn and other foods that are just not natural to ruminants that we know can cause ulcers. As a result, there is a high use of antibiotics to compensate for those problems.”

Heat stress in feedlots located in warmer climates that lack shade structures, respiratory issues from dusty conditions, and an accumulation of mud and manure in holding pens are also issues that the ASPCA is working to address. The veal calf industry also poses unique issues. Male calves born to dairy cattle are often raised for veal. According to what Freund has observed, many veal calves live their entire lives in a feedlot-like system without access to pasture.

As animal welfare continues to be a subject of debate, its possible that we may see proposed regulations providing enhanced welfare requirements for beef and dairy cattle, but Freund highlights the challenges involved.

“The issues are more complex and involve things like stocking density, what constitutes true outdoor access, what’s the right forage for them to be eating, milking equipment, body scores, and lameness,” Freund explains. “It’s pretty hard to write laws around that and it’s hard to get people to agree with what’s right.”

Where to Find Better Meat

Sacred Cow makes the case for better meat not only from an environmental and nutritional standpoint but from an ethical standpoint, too. This includes continually striving to provide animals with enhanced welfare and environments where they are free to express their natural behaviors and fed a species-appropriate diet. Here is a list of resources from Freund and the ASPCA providing tools to find better meat near you:

• Animal Welfare Approved Online Directory - The first seal to guarantee that humanely labeled products do not come from agribusiness-owned operations that raise some of their animals under cruel conditions. This directory provides a list of AWA products.

• ASPCA’s Shop With Your Heart program - ASPCA’s consumer platform helping people make higher welfare choices

• Label guide - Details the labels ASPCA recognizes for welfare and definitions of common claims

• Shop With Your Heart Brand List - Welfare-certified brands available at national retailers

• Farmer’s market guide - Questions to ask a farmer whether or not they are welfare-certified

• ShopKind Helpline - The ASPCA’s text-based helpline for consumers looking to find better products

To support Sacred Cow and the case for better meat, click here.

Lauren Manning, Esq., LL.M., is a cattle farmer, agricultural law professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law, food journalist, and contributor to the forthcoming documentary and book project Sacred Cow: The environmental, nutritional, and ethical case for better meat.