Genomic selection tools allow dairy breeding to incorporate welfare traits alongside production, offering a path to genetically healthier cows.
Genomic dairy breeding represents the most fundamental long-term intervention available to improve cow welfare. Management improvements can only partially compensate for genetic predispositions to metabolic disease, lameness and mastitis. Genetic selection that includes health and welfare traits alongside production metrics changes the biological foundation of dairy cow welfare. The Nordic countries have demonstrated that welfare traits can be included without sacrificing production competitiveness. Promoting welfare trait inclusion in breeding indices used globally would benefit hundreds of millions of dairy cows over coming decades.