The more we understand and collect in terms of quality data in food animal agriculture, what is at the top of the Iceberg (above the waterline – Existing Indicators) using what we can see and know, applying a set of standards for those data points, this can be used to inform the unknown (below the waterline – New indicators), ultimately raising the more of the iceberg up, where data of value can be seen and identified. Those new metrics and the existing data can be used towards the future What & Where identification that aids in greater agile decision support, welfare assessments, and value at the farm level once commercially viable and standardized.  

Beginning the five steps of the Dynamic Iceberg Metrics Concept for Dairy Cow Welfare:

1. What do we want, and where can it be found?
2. Identify Sources and analysis of data
3. Blending different data sets for use in producing insights
4. Data standards
5. Turn the data into decision support.

Research and farming overlap in this model and are symbiotic (at the waterline); this is a highly interconnected relationship that farms and research will continue to have in the efforts of continuous improvement in food animal welfare and sustainable practices, which will be pivotal to the future of food animal farming and data points of value.