Animal Health and Welfare in Organic Agriculture

A brief report is given of the 4th Network for Animal Health and Welfare in Organic Agriculture (NAWHOA) workshop at Wageningen in the Netherlands, held in March 2001. The workshop focussed on breeding (especially dairy, pigs and poultry) and feeding, as opposed to yield and productivity, with the emphasis on food quality. Feeding was discussed from two angles: feeding for production, and feeding to protect the animal from disease or parasitic infection. A vision of the future was described, in which higher prices are gained for fewer animals, better housed and with a regional approach to breeding, processing and marketing.