@start-1@The individual parameters that we will use to measure animal welfare are now structured in the full monitoring systems and training the people who will visit the farms is well underway. Visits to farms have already started for some species. Now that the details of the measures to be collected are decided, work on how to integrate them into the 12 sub criteria has taken a large step forward.
Last autumn 45 descriptions were made of the work, to validate and develop the different measures of animal welfare for cattle pigs and poultry. The animal-based measures that best satisfied our criteria were discussed together with social scientists to check that the prototype monitoring systems reflect the concerns of consumers and retailers. We arranged the measures in an order that was feasible for collection on farm and at slaughter. Now, together with selected resource and management-based measures, we have 7 full monitoring systems, one for each category of animal; dairy cows, beef cattle, veal calves, sows and piglets, fattening pigs, laying hens and broilers.
During spring training weeks were organized, @end-1@@start-2@ Dr Linda Keeling

to standardize the people visiting the farms and slaughterhouses with each other in their assessment. Data collection on the 570 farms and slaughterhouses will continue during 2007, to check the reliability of the whole system. The final stage will be to reduce the full monitoring systems to the final monitoring systems.
The focus is currently also on how to integrate the many different individual measures into the 12 formulated sub criteria. The work is most advanced in dairy cows, and now that the details of the measures are finalised the partners have been able to propose the mathematical formula to construct each sub criterion. Similar work was performed for veal calves, although it is not yet completed. Both social and animal scientists within Welfare Quality® are being consulted in this first stage of the integration process.
As we approach the third year of the project we are starting to see the results of our early work and our common goal – robust monitoring systems for assessing animal welfare on farm, during transport and at slaughter.
Dr Linda Keeling, linda.keeling@hmh.slu.se @end-2@