Our Animals
As a leader in animal protein production, we take very seriously our responsibility to provide the animals under our care a good quality of life and a humane end. We are committed to following animal welfare practices, both in our own operations and supply chains to meet the needs of our customers, consumers and society, and more importantly demonstrate our respect for the animals our business depends on.
Across our operations, our approach to animal care is grounded in science, measurement, training, audits, and research. We have established and implemented animal welfare policies and procedures in line with internationally recognized standards and local laws and regulations. Our animal welfare programs lay out the appropriate practices, controls, training and documentation, and have historically been motivated by the globally recognized “Five Freedoms”, developed by the Farm Animal Welfare Council Animal Welfare Committee (AWC).
However, this theme has evolved in the last few years, and the “Five Freedoms” are now more commonly represented as aspirational states or principles that provide a logical and understandable guide to assessing and managing animal welfare, but they are difficult to achieve, if not impossible to measure.
Therefore, we have evolved our approach to focus on the “Five Domains Model”:
1. Nutrition: food deprivation, water deprivation, and malnutrition
2. Environment: environmental challenges (heat, cold, mud, dust, lack of space, etc.)
3. Health: diseases, injuries, functional limitation
4. Behavior: behavioral restrictions
5. Mental states: weakness, pain (moderate), vertigo, hunger, thirst, pain (short term), nausea, fear, loneliness, anxiety, frustration, anguish, hopelessness, pain (persistent).
Aligning compliance with these Five Domains, and the standards and regulations in each region where we operate, is an important component in our management approach, and we believe these practices should permeate throughout the entire value chain. To that end, every year, we invest in regularly training and developing our team members and suppliers, and track various performance indicators to help identify opportunities for improvement. When necessary, corrective actions are outlined according to our animal welfare programs, and additional training is administered as needed.
Within our supply chains, we prioritize animal welfare standards through the following measures:
Our Regional Approaches
Australia:
In Australia, all cattle and small stock that are consigned for sale are required to have a National Vendor Declaration (NVD), a document verifying Australian meat and livestock food-safety, as well as the...
Australia:
In Australia, all cattle and small stock that are consigned for sale are required to have a National Vendor Declaration (NVD), a document verifying Australian meat and livestock food-safety, as well as the product’s origin. In signing the NVD, the producer declares compliance with the Livestock Producer Assurance (LPA), an independently audited on-farm food-safety certification program. The NVD contains information relevant to the husbandry of livestock consigned for harvest. In addition, before cattle and small stock leave their farm of birth, they must be tagged with an approved National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) individualized Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag. This allows each animal's movements to be recorded in a national database and provides the assurance of livestock trace-back to the property of birth and trace-forward from the property of birth. Sheep are required to have an ear tag visually identifying their unique property of origin.
Brazil:
In Brazil, Friboi organizes campaigns, workshops and seminars on cattle farms, and sponsors programs to engage suppliers. Technical literature on animal health and welfare, prepared by our own...
Brazil:
In Brazil, Friboi organizes campaigns, workshops and seminars on cattle farms, and sponsors programs to engage suppliers. Technical literature on animal health and welfare, prepared by our own technical staff, and Good Practice Manuals developed by the Animal Ecology and Etiology Research Group (ETCO Group), which have been sponsored and re-released by JBS, are available for reference on our digital platform.
Poultry and hog farmer partners supplying to Seara undergo stringent assessments for compliance with animal welfare practices at each stage of production. The items assessed in these audits include such aspects as layout, technology, and temperature conditions suited for animals’ health and physiological needs.
Canada:
In Canada we require all our partners who raise the cattle we purchase to be Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) certified and verify compliance by conducting third-party audits according...
Canada:
In Canada we require all our partners who raise the cattle we purchase to be Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) certified and verify compliance by conducting third-party audits according to the BQA Feedyard Assessment.
Europe:
In Europe, all Moy Park poultry farms are Red Tractor approved and meet or exceed Red Tractor or equivalent welfare standards. Annually, an external auditor audits each farm to Red Tractor...
Europe:
In Europe, all Moy Park poultry farms are Red Tractor approved and meet or exceed Red Tractor or equivalent welfare standards. Annually, an external auditor audits each farm to Red Tractor standards, which results in Assured Chicken Production (ACP) certification, and farms are visited and assessed weekly according to our Animal Welfare Program.
Our Pilgrim’s Moy Park Orléans business purchases beef for further processing. They only source beef from approved suppliers that are audited annually for food safety and animal welfare. They also developed contracting initiatives with French beef farmers associations to ensure available supply. In a declining French cattle market, this provides farmers an alternative to an otherwise volatile and uncertain market.
Pilgrim’s Moy Park Beef Orléans also encourages its suppliers to purchase cattle from farms involved in Charte des Bonnes Pratiques d’élevage (Good Farming Practices) agreement. The Good Farming Practices, established by the National Livestock Confederation (CNE), is the approved industry standard. Meat from the Netherlands and Ireland also meet requirements set out by the Good Farming Practices. This contributes to making sure our 1,600 contracted farm partners are audited for animal welfare and environmental performance.
Pilgrim’s UK’s own higher welfare supply chain raises hogs at a minimum to the Red Tractor (pig) standard, but they are also afforded an additional level of welfare via the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) standard, as well as our own British Quality Pigs (BQP) welfare standard. To that end, Pilgrim’s UK’s integrated suppliers are RSPCA approved by independent external auditors.
Pilgrim’s UK provides the only fully dedicated lamb supply chain in the U.K., partnering with our network of 400 dedicated sheep farmers — some of these partners have been with us for over 25 years. Our farmer partners are located in Wales and West Country of England. These regions are renowned for their grass conditions, making them an ideal location for extensive lamb production. All Pilgrim’s UK lamb producers are Farm Assured and raise lambs to meet or exceed industry standards. Our standards are independently audited by Farm Assurance Assessors. Our lamb producer partners also complete a Responsible Efficient Production Assessment biannually. This assessment evaluates the farm’s production, health, welfare, and environmental standards.
Mexico:
At Pilgrim’s Mexico, poultry farms are visited and assessed weekly according to our Animal Welfare Program. The majority of farms are also are compliant with the Federally Inspected...
Mexico:
At Pilgrim’s Mexico, poultry farms are visited and assessed weekly according to our Animal Welfare Program. The majority of farms are also are compliant with the Federally Inspected Type (TIF), a voluntary food-quality certification of the Mexican government.
United States:
In the U.S., we require all our partners who raise the cattle and hogs we purchase to be Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) or Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA+) certified and verify compliance...
United States:
In the U.S., we require all our partners who raise the cattle and hogs we purchase to be Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) or Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA+) certified and verify compliance by conducting third-party audits according to the BQA Feedyard Assessment and the Common Swine Industry Audit (CSIA). Our sow and finishing farms are regularly assessed by field managers, veterinarians and our Director of Animal Welfare.
At Pilgrim’s U.S, poultry farms are visited and assessed weekly according to our Animal Welfare Program. A subset of farms are also audited by PAACO-certified auditors according to National Chicken Council (NCC) guidelines.
Please see Our Supplier Partners to learn more about the additional animal welfare requirements and certifications our suppliers must meet to be in our branded product programs.
Our animal welfare programs are often reviewed by animal handling and welfare experts from universities around the globe. These lasting academic partnerships have assisted our company in identifying and investing in additional upgrades to both our facilities and team member and supplier training programs to further enhance the welfare of our animals.