Social Sustainability
Stocking Density
The number or weight of animals kept per unit area — a key determinant of welfare, pollution and disease risk in livestock systems.
Definition
Stocking density is the number of animals (or their live weight) kept per unit of area — per hectare in grazing systems, per square metre in housed systems such as broiler chicken production. High densities increase disease pressure, heat stress, behavioural restriction and manure concentration beyond land's capacity to absorb nutrients; welfare schemes and regulations set maximum densities (for example EU organic rules and broiler directive limits), making density a primary audit and certification variable.
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