CLEAR Conversations: What Animal Cognition Means for Sustainable Farming

At the UC Davis CLEAR Center, understanding animals goes beyond observing behavior—it’s about uncovering how animals think and interact with the world around them. In a recent episode of CLEAR Conversations, host Tracy Sellers sat down with Kristina Horback to explore the growing field of animal cognition and what it means for animal welfare, livestock management, and the future of sustainable agriculture.

Horback, an associate professor in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California, Davis, studies how animals process information—how they take in sights, sounds, and smells, and how they learn from those experiences. “Cognition is really about information processing,” she explained. “Each species has evolved to prioritize different types of information. Some rely more on smell, others on vision or spatial memory. We’re trying to understand how they use that information to make decisions.”

That curiosity—how animals think—has been a driving force in Horback’s career. Inspired by a lifelong fascination with animals and behavior, she approaches research with a simple but powerful goal: to better understand animals on their own terms. And because animals can’t tell us directly how they feel, her work relies on carefully designed experiments that measure changes in behavior as a window into their internal state.

One area where this research has real-world impact is in livestock systems, particularly with pigs. Horback and her team have been studying how environmental enrichment—simple additions like ropes or brushes—can influence sow behavior and welfare in group housing systems. While pregnant sows spend much of their time resting, they also interact with their environment and each other, sometimes leading to stress or aggression.

“We wanted to know if giving them something to do—something that’s natural for pigs—would change how they behave,” Horback said.

The results were striking. When given enrichment, sows showed a reduction in abnormal repetitive behaviors, such as “sham chewing,” where pigs mimic chewing without food. Another unexpected behavior—excessive interaction with water dispensers—also declined when enrichment was introduced.

“These are simple, low-cost changes,” Horback noted. “But they had a meaningful impact on how the animals spent their time and how they interacted with their environment.”

Beyond improving welfare, this type of research also connects to sustainability. Healthier, less stressed animals are more productive and require fewer resources over time, contributing to more efficient farming systems.

Horback’s work is also gaining attention beyond the farm. She recently returned from the annual meeting of the Comparative Cognition Society in Montréal, where she and her team were the only presenters focusing on swine cognition. Among studies on pigeons, rats, and primates, pigs stood out—and sparked curiosity.

“Many researchers don’t work with farm animals,” Horback said. “So there was a lot of interest in what we were doing, especially around welfare and how cognition plays a role.”

That interest reflects a broader shift in how scientists—and the public—view animals. Once primarily studied through the lens of basic learning or behavior, animals are now increasingly recognized as complex individuals with distinct personalities and cognitive abilities.

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Horback’s research extends beyond pigs to explore those differences across species. In one study, she examined how personality traits in cattle influence grazing patterns on rangeland. Using GPS tracking, her team found that cows are not randomly distributed across landscapes, as one might assume. Instead, individual animals consistently preferred different grazing styles—some venturing far and alone into higher elevations, while others stayed close to the herd and water sources.

“These patterns are consistent over time,” she explained. “That tells us personality is playing a role.”

Understanding those traits could help producers make more informed management decisions, from grazing strategies to breeding selections. It also highlights an important shift in thinking: behavior isn’t just something to manage when it becomes a problem—it’s a trait that can be understood and even leveraged.

Across all of her work, there is a common theme: curiosity. Whether studying pigs, cattle, or even hens, Horback encourages a mindset of observation rather than assumption.

“One misconception is that some animals are ‘smart’ and others aren’t,” she said. “Every species is as intelligent as it needs to be to survive. They just express it in different ways.”

By better understanding how animals perceive and respond to their environment, researchers and producers can design systems that support both animal well-being and operational success.

Looking ahead, Horback sees new tools—especially advances in artificial intelligence—playing a major role in the future of animal cognition research. Technologies that analyze movement, facial expressions, and behavior patterns could help identify signs of stress, illness, or discomfort earlier than ever before.

“It could change how we monitor and care for animals,” she said. “Helping us see patterns we might otherwise miss.”

For now, the work continues one question at a time—each study adding another piece to the puzzle of how animals think and experience the world.