SMART Broiler: Improved welfare means better margins
The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and the McDonald’s Corporation funds the research and development of broiler welfare monitoring technologies via its SMART Broiler program.
Large scale adoption of this kind of technology does not just increase animal welfare, it can also improve efficiency and profitability.
“The commercial broiler industry raises billions of chickens annually for meat,” said Nikki Dutta, scientific program officer, Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research. “Given the size and scale of these facilities, implementing SMART technologies on a large scale could significantly enhance farm management, profitability and animal health and welfare. It could also offer farmers more operational flexibility by allowing them to monitor their flocks remotely while away from their farms.”