Animal Welfare Verification System brings scientific accuracy to animal welfare monitoring
Valio is collaborating with animal welfare researchers at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) to develop a new, scientifically grounded set of welfare indicators. The goal of the Animal Welfare Verification System (AWVS) project is to develop a comprehensive national animal welfare assessment, verification, and communication system for cattle that brings added value to animal-based products and meets the demands of the market and consumers.
The system is based on animal welfare assessment protocols developed by Luke and third-party audits. The system aims to enable the scientifically valid measurement and verification of animal welfare in dairy and beef primary production, produce certified data describing animal welfare that is comparable across production facilities and systems, and ensure the traceability of sustainability attributes across the entire food production chain. The Animal Welfare Verification System complements the current Naseva health care system.
The set of indicators covers the entire life of the animal
Unlike the methods used to date, the new set of indicators is designed to take into account all animal groups on a dairy farm, including young calves. The assessment is not limited to external factors, but is primarily based on animal-based indicators, i.e. factors directly observable in the animal itself. This information is supplemented with data describing conditions and care practices, as well as data from the Naseva system.
Animal welfare is assessed holistically across five key areas:
- Nutrition: Adequacy and quality of feed.
- Living environment: Comfort and safety of the animals’ living environment.
- Health: The animals’ physical condition and disease prevention.
- Behaviour: The animals’ opportunity for species-appropriate behaviour and social interaction.
- Emotional state: The animals’ overall experience and state of mind.
Goal-oriented development and transparency
The goal of the project, being carried out in 2025-2027, is to create a system that generates animal welfare data that is more reliable and comprehensive and also available to customers and consumers. The system was piloted in practice at 50 Valio dairy farms in 2025.
Through the AWVS project we can:
- Accurately assess the current state of animal welfare.
- Improve animal welfare in a goal-oriented manner based on data.
- Share reliable welfare data throughout the milk value chain.
- Use welfare data to create new forms of added value for Finnish milk.
The system ensures that animal welfare monitoring is based on the latest researched welfare data and is more transparent than ever.