China Will Probably Follow the Same Path as the US in Livestock Industry Development

An Interview with Dr. Craig Morris, Deputy Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service of United States Department of Agriculture in World Conference on Farm Animal Welfare

“I think China will follow the same path as the US. In a large measure, what we see in the US probably happened firstly in Europe. The US and China are similar in that we have intensive agricultural systems. We are focused on efficiency. China has the advantage to embrace the best information already out there in terms of how we manage the processes, how we, not only through auditing, but through work we do with consumers, how we provide products to consumers seeking to have transparency in production systems that we vote to share frankly.”

In the US, products with additional value not only enjoy popularity, but also experience rapid growth. “If you look at the US market place, the organic sector, for example, it’s roughly 15 billion dollars market in the US. It has experienced huge growth year after year in the last decade. We also see a lot of growth in a whole series of other areas closely related to animal welfare. Not only are the markets growing in the US, but they are demanding premiums in the market place. So producers choose to do things beyond conventional practices, oftentimes, they are receiving a premium product that more than covers the cost associated with that. So it’s the market place decision if the consumers are willing to pay the additional.”

How to connect agricultural producers more closely and truthfully with market demands? That’s where the Agricultural Marketing Service of United States Department of Agriculture comes into play. The assessment program of the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) assesses industry animal welfare programs and makes sure those programs are consistent with ISO technical specification on animal welfare: ISO/TS 34700-2016, the development of which Dr. Craig Morris had participated in. “We help provide consumers with confidence when companies make claims, when they see things like the USDA Process Verified in the shelf, they know these claims have been followed through audits the US government provides. One of the programs that we oversee in the Agricultural Marketing Service is called National Organic Program which has a lot of requirements related to production systems that livestock are raised under. We see oftentimes, consumers are looking for additional information beyond the organic field, claims specifically related to animal welfare and a whole variety of other things, whether it’s pasture-raised hogs or grass-fed beef. AMS tries to make sure that those are truthful claims.”

According to Dr. Craig Morris, taking measurements is key to managing things, including animal welfare. “I think it’s commendable what China is doing, is not only learning about animal welfare systems that exist around the world, but also take baselines of what the current circumstances are in China. I was watching one of the presenters talking about a variety of indicators that could determine whether or not animals are in a stressful situation in different production systems. By taking measurements, it gives you a baseline to understand as you make changes in China whether you are improving animal welfare or not. By measuring, you get an idea where you need to focus your resources, where you need to provide training and where you need to auditing.”

Dr. Craig Morris thinks that World Conference on Farm Animal Welfare is an amazing opportunity for the US and China to learn from one another. “The trade between the US and China will increase in the years ahead. It’s important that we will both approach issues in animal welfare similarly. Your market, your consumers, our market, our consumers, your market, your producers, our market and our producers all look at animal welfare issues similarly. So we have the best opportunity for mutually beneficial trade relationships between our two markets. I think the more we communicate on efforts related to animal welfare, the less likely we are going to have any impediment to that relationship.”