AFRI – FAS Welfare of Agricultural Animals (A1251)

Program Area Priority: Evaluation (which should include assessment of animal welfare) of current animal agriculture (including aquaculture) production practices and/or development of new or enhanced management approaches that safeguard both animal welfare and adaption to climate change, including but not limited to:

1. Advance objective measures of animal welfare, including the use of emerging methods and metrics for assessment (e.g., functional genomics; epidemiology; automated, noninvasive methods) for outcome based (health and behavior) welfare assessment criteria.
2. Alternatives or improvements for painful management procedures; euthanasia and slaughter methods to decrease pain and distress; handling and transportation to decrease injury and distress (including thermal stress);
3. Understanding the effect of the microbiome on animal welfare;
4. Selection methods or experiments for improved robustness, behavior, and/or social effects, including those that may be impacted by climate change (such as thermal stress); or
5. Development of innovative alternatives to replace or reduce the use of animals in 36 agricultural research.