KANSAS CITY, MO. — The 2024 Animal Care & Handling Conference, held May 16-17 in Kansas City, Mo., buzzed with excitement as approximately 230 attendees partook in a year of firsts for the event. 

For roughly half the registrants, it was their first year in attendance, lending to the event’s optimistic energy and exchange of various perspectives and knowledge. Adding to the conference’s offerings, the Meat Institute launched its first poster session, paired with the welcome reception at the end of the day. And, of course, a first that no one wished for — a discussion on highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in dairy cattle.

While the conference was full of new topics and new attendees, one essential session remained the same, and that was Temple Grandin’s presentation on the ABC’s of Animal Handling. Grandin, PhD, livestock consultant and a professor of animal science at Colorado State University, delivered her iconic pre-conference talk on animal handling basics.

One topic Grandin emphasized was keeping the livestock calm, as it takes 20 minutes for any species to calm down after becoming stressed — time that no producer or processor has. Good animal husbandry can help minimize stress. For example, tapping an animal to invoke movement should never escalate to a beating. Grandin defined beating as the severity it would take to transform an intact cardboard box into a damaged one.

Another topic that concerned Grandin was congestive heart failure among cattle, which is growing in prevalence as the average size of cattle continues to increase.

“We’re pushing that biology to the point where we’re getting bad becoming normal,” she said. “You see, the problem with this lameness and the problem with the congestive heart is it’s slowly got worse, so you don’t see it.”

Grandin believes big welfare issues seen in the plant like these are problems that can get fixed at the farm.

Following Grandin’s session was a presentation on consumer and operator insights into animal welfare by Lori Rakoczy, associate principal at Technomic. While Rakoczy led with some discouraging news about the level of trust in our society at large, she countered that with an encouraging trend in the meat industry.

According to a Gallop poll, Americans’ confidence in areas from the military to Congress to the press has dropped significantly from 1979 to 2023. This downward trend indicates the meat industry is fighting an uphill battle when looking to gain consumers’ trust. Encouragingly, though, while other industries are experiencing a negative trust trend, the meat industry has slowly gained consumer confidence, according to Technomic’s research in partnership with the Meat Institute.

“Trust in institutions has declined dramatically in the US; however, consumer trust in the meat industry is slowly ticking up, especially when it comes to animal welfare,” Rakoczy said. “Consumers are recognizing the efforts of the industry. Why does it matter? It matters because increasing trust in those focus areas, especially animal welfare, does increase purchases.”

The conference also included a couple panels — one on restaurant, retail and home delivery operators’ animal welfare initiatives, featuring speakers from McDonald’s, Wendy’s, H-E-B and Hello Fresh, as well as one on enforcement action situations.

During the enforcement action situation panel, a group of industry professionals discussed real life situations relating to beef, pork, lamb and chicken to argue whether the corrective action taken could have been appealed or not. Lucy Anthenill, DVM, noted that the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) always assumes a Notice of Suspension (NOS) first for an egregious act, which can be argued down to a Notice of Intended Enforcement (NOIE).

Another constant for the conference was the regulatory update, this year covered by Casey Gallimore, director of regulatory policy at the Meat Institute; Anna Forseth, director of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC); and Josh White, senior executive director of producer education and sustainability at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

Forseth informed the audience of new state bills similar to California’s Proposition 12. New York and Oklahoma both introduced animal confinement legislation. Oregon introduced legislation that would ban harming or killing of any animal for any reason besides self-defense and would classify artificial insemination as sexual assault. However, Forseth does not foresee these bills going anywhere anytime soon. 

Gallimore focused on an update regarding labeling regulations. The new definition of “Product of USA” goes into effect Jan. 1, 2026, she said, which will only permit meat born, slaughtered and raised in the United States to bear the label. Gallimore also brought up the recent petition brought forth by Perdue Farms requesting FSIS to clearly define free-range and pasture-raised chicken as two different things. She added that the Environmental Working Group’s petition for beef products not to be able to make carbon claims of any kind will likely not come to anything but to expect additional petitions on environmental claims in the future.

“If you are going to opt to use one of these claims to set your product apart in the marketplace, you better have it very well supported,” Gallimore said as a precaution to processors. “And you better be ready to push back and be able to support that claim very well in a court of law.”

This year’s keynote speaker was Anne-Marie Roerink, president of 210 Analytics LLC. Roerink presented insights from the 2024 Power of Meat study as well as other research she has found relating to meat and poultry in retail.

According to Roerink, 9 in 10 consumers are willing to spend a little more when it comes to purchasing meat and poultry.

“They have certainly not given up on meat and poultry, and that’s really important,” she said, adding that eating meat continues to be the norm after a period when flexitarians were trending.

Currently, 80% of consumers say they eat meat every day or most days. However, of those who eat meat, 29% say they want to eat less of it, which Roerink attributes to feelings of guilt. The main reasons consumers seek to draw back are the very same pillars that the Meat Institute’s Protein PACT seeks to improve — animal welfare, health and wellness, and emission reductions.

The general industry outlook based off the conference discussions appears to be a promising one. In a society of growing cynicism, the meat industry has struck a chord with consumers, whether that’s with their taste buds or their trust. The potential for improved consumer relationships seems high, especially as industry members continue to strive for the highest standards in animal welfare, quality and sustainability. As a testament to the industry’s strong stance, the Meat Institute saw a 21% increase in registrants for the 2024 Animal Care & Handling Conference compared to last year.