Monitoring, Control And Management

Constant improvement in the chain monitoring.

There is an ongoing control of animal mortality rates throughout the reproduction chain and weight gain tracking, number of animals culled, animal density in the farms (quantity or live weight of animals per square meter in a facility), diseases, average animal transport time, in-transport density and mortality and the pre-slaughter stunning processes, where the company takes corrective action when necessary.

Field Mortality Indicator
2021 (1ST HALF)
Poultry 5,75%
Finishing Pigs 4,17%
Turkeys 4,87%

When the monitored indicators show any trend of deviation, committees are established in each production unit to find opportunities for improvement. The Committees connects links in the production chain, seek solutions and best practices.

We have developed specific corporate instructions on animal welfare for each stage of the chain, where all the minimum actions in each stage of the chain are described and easily accessible to our workforce. The compliance framework helps us to act preventively and systemically, in line with these guidelines.

BRF has a Corporate Committee for Livestock Transport that tracks farm animal transport indexes. Transport time is still a major challenge, given the territorial dimensions of each location (like Brazil, for example).

In order to mitigate in-transport stress, our corporate guidelines define a maximum recommended animal transport duration of 8 hours. The trucks have a pre-determined route and are equipped with speed trackers, telemetry and drivers are periodically trained on animal welfare and defensive driving.

Proportion of animals transported on trips lasting up to 8 hours
Indicator Grand Total
2020
Poultry 98,56%
Pigs 97,60%
2021 (1ST HALF)
Poultry 98,59%
Pigs 99,45%

The entire fleet is regularly inspected to prevent the vehicles from causing any type of injury to the animals. When this situation is detected, the vehicles are sent for maintenance and are put back in service upon check by the animal welfare officer. The lease duration for each vehicle is 7 years, but their average life in 2021 is 4 years.

BRF establishes standards for livestock transport vehicles, which are annually reviewed to ensure the best practices. As part of the company's commitment to safety, we use high technology by installing fatigue sensors to detect signs of driver fatigue and provide safety for them and the animals.

We have the Ranking of Transporters that are evaluated by the GIF PROGRAM (Integrated Supplier Management), so we can measure their compliance with safety, environment and operation rules.

We also have a corporate instruction for accidents in livestock transport, so that drivers know what to do in the event of an accident. Besides, all vehicles have stickers identifying the contact person in BRF to pass on the first instructions in case of emergency.

The processes and technologies implemented for transportation contribute to the evolution of results. One of the indicators monitored is the Mortality of Transport of Broiler Chicken.

TRANSPORT MORTALITY INDICATOR
POULTRY 2019 2020 2021
0,145% 0,146% 0,145%

Number of live load accidents

Year/Segment Grand Total No. of dead animals
2019
Poultry 17 Not counted.
Pigs 18 Not counted.
2020
Poultry 11 Not counted.
Pigs 4 Not counted.
2021 (até o momento)
Poultry 14 About 21.890
Pigs 5 About 42

Making animals insensitive to pain before slaughter is critical to our commitment to ensure that the highest standards of animal welfare are met. That's why we conduct daily internal animal welfare monitoring at each BRF processing plant, which includes a critical checkpoint to ensure proper and effective stunning.

We respect our customers and perform religious slaughter without stunning prior to slaughter in plants in Brazil to meet the specific market. This slaughter represents about 7% of the birds slaughtered in Brazil

According to the mapping carried out in our chain, the percentages of stunning animals are:

PERCENTAGE OF ANIMALS IN GLOBAL OPERATIONS UNDERGOING PRE-SLAUGHTER STUNNING

Pigs Poultry Turkeys Eggs Cattle
Brazil 100% 92,3% 100% 100% 92,30%
Turkey N.A 100% 100% Not mapped Not mapped

All employees working with live animals receive training on animal welfare. Employees working in the stunning area are specifically trained to identify signs of poor stunning and if necessary repeat the process for pigs.

Together with the Animal Welfare Officer, they have the authority to stop the line and make the necessary adjustments for the stunning to work fully efficiently. For birds, the monitoring of the stunning quality is carried out by a trained employee and if poor stunning birds are detected, adjustments are made to the electrical parameters so that the stunning is effective.

PERCENTAGE OF ANIMALS IN GLOBAL OPERATIONS WITH STUNNING EFFECTIVENESS

Pigs Poultry Turkeys Cattle
Brazil 100% 99% 99% N.A
Turkey N.A 100% 100% N.A

BRF also adopts the premises of humane slaughter, reinforcing its concern for the welfare of animals at this relevant stage of the process. We constantly monitor animal welfare indicators, with some indicators being monitored cargo by cargo, such as the animals maximum fasting time, time in the waiting area and temperature in the waiting areas.