Iowa Select Farms has developed a new initiative for all of their farms called SelectCare, to increase its focus on improving farm animal care and well-being practices.
SelectCare was developed after a comprehensive independent examination of the company’s animal care practices and standards by Dr. Anna Johnson, a nationally recognized expert in animal behavior and well-being at Iowa State University. Iowa Select Farms requested the examination to answer questions about the animal care standards used on the company’s farms and to provide an expert, third-party assessment of both current practices and the opportunities to further improve animal care. Dr. Johnson’s examination was funded by ISU Extension; not by Iowa Select Farms, and included on-farm tours and review of employees working with animals.
The SelectCare initiative will include the following key directives:
- Appointing Dr. Howard Hill as full-time Director of Animal Well-Being Compliance and Improvement,
- Hiring a minimum of four full-time animal well-being specialists,
- Creating an expert Animal Well-Being Advisory Committee of outside, third-party experts,
- Conducting quarterly independent audits at a minimum of three of our farms, which will be randomly selected, and
- Designing and implementing a new enhanced training and testing program for all farm employees who work with animals.
In addition to implementing the SelectCare initiative, the company will continue to provide increased transparency of their animal well-being policies and procedures through the use of:
- Online farm tour videos illustrating pork production and animal well-being practices,
- Dedicated website pages for farm animal care and well-being, including details of the SelectCare program, and
- Continuing tours for customers, media and other stakeholders.
Source: Iowa Select Farms