Transforming ideas to impact at FAI

As the global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity loom larger, FAI has remained at the forefront of championing transformative solutions in food animal production systems. Last year saw us transform ideas into real-world impact.

We’ve deepened our commitment to creating a resilient food system by forming meaningful partnerships, conducting cutting-edge research, and sharing practical insights, with our use of tech a recurrent game-changer to scale sustainable change. As we look forward to the year ahead, we’re set to build on all we achieved in animal welfare and regenerative agriculture during 2024.

Laying hens: taking health and welfare of cage-free hens to a new level

Along with project partners The Lakes Free Range Egg Company, Newcastle University and Agri-Tech Centre UK, we have received Innovate funding for FLOCKWISE, a 3-year project to further enhance the award-winning BirdBox technology.

The BirdBox system already provides extensive farm management insights through its flockbook app, environment and equipment monitoring and integration of supply chain information, such as egg grading, veterinary and feed data.

The FLOCKWISE project aims to further develop the existing BirdBox system through integrating novel sensors which use vocalisation and egg quality data to detect additional health, welfare and productivity indicators and use artificial intelligence to provide guided insights, informed by real-time industry data, to farmers and the wider supply chain.

Keen to know more? Take a look at our FLOCKWISE case study.

Aquaculture: advancing aquatic welfare globally

In our aquaculture work, we’re helping farmers put welfare at the heart of what they do by expanding our training programmes, launching e-learning courses and welfare assessment apps in new languages and teaming up with like-minded partners.

The Tilapia Welfare App continues to impress, as we see increasing numbers of farmers assess and improve conditions for millions of fish using this mobile-based welfare assessment tool.

With more than 5,500 enrolments in our online welfare courses in 2024, 25 welfare-focused workshops across the globe and participants from nearly 1,800 farms using the FAI Tilapia Welfare App, we’re empowering farmers, technicians and aquaculture professionals worldwide. 

If you work in seafood - schedule a call with Dr Sara Barrento, FAI’s e-learning and aquaculture programme manager, to learn how you can help implement better welfare.

Regenerative agriculture: Cultivating change

The end of 2024 marked the culmination of our four-year transition from rotational grazing to Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing on our farm in Oxford - a project supported by McDonald’s UK and Ireland.

The results show the potential of regenerative grazing as a triple-win for the environment, ethics and economics:

• Transformed our farm’s soil health and biodiversity, with bioacoustics monitoring which recorded over 50 bird species. Carbon sequestration modelling also reveals our beef enterprise is now carbon-positive.
• AMP grazing has delivered exceptional animal welfare, illustrated by the positive social interactions within the herd and minimal antibiotic use.
• Daily liveweight gains reducing the age at slaughter and outwintering have cut housing costs by more than £200 per cow.

We have also been paving the way for regenerative dairy. In June, we launched a free, farmer-led online training course in partnership with Farmwel and global food companies, offering practical guidance for farmers curious about transitioning to regenerative practices. Based on the personal experiences of farmers worldwide, it has already engaged hundreds of participants.

Looking ahead

It’s clear FAI’s mix of technology, training and collaboration is creating real change. But there’s more to do. Welfare and environmental stewardship aren’t add-ons. They are central to everything - healthier animals, sustainable farming and meeting consumer expectations.

Our work reinforces the importance of combining rigorous research with practical applications to drive sustainable change. In the coming months, we will continue to build on this year’s achievements to further transform farming practices.

Stay tuned as we work to shape a sustainable future for people, animals and the planet.