Livestock Heat Stress Genetic Adaptation

As climate change increases heat stress events, genetic selection for heat tolerance is becoming a welfare priority in livestock breeding programmes.

Key Facts

Bos indicus (zebu) cattle have significantly better heat tolerance than Bos taurus breeds
Slick gene in cattle provides improved heat tolerance with minimal production impact
Heat tolerance traits are moderately heritable and can be incorporated into breeding programmes
Some European cattle breeds have naturally higher heat tolerance than high-yield dairy breeds
Crossbreeding for heat tolerance is being evaluated in multiple livestock species

Welfare Considerations

Genetic selection for heat tolerance is a proactive welfare intervention for a climate-changing world. The welfare benefit of selecting for heat-tolerant genetics is direct: animals with better heat tolerance experience less thermal stress during hot periods, maintain better feed intake and production during heat events, and have reduced risk of serious heat-related illness. The challenge is that heat tolerance traits may be in partial conflict with maximum production traits — the highest-yielding dairy breeds are often the most heat-sensitive. Balancing welfare considerations in breeding selection, explicitly including heat tolerance as a welfare trait, is a forward-looking welfare investment.

What You Can Do

Support dairy and beef breeding programmes that include heat tolerance trait selection
Advocate for heat tolerance to be an explicit trait in national genetic evaluation programmes
Engage with the livestock breeding industry about the welfare case for heat-tolerant genetics
Support research into heat tolerance genetics across livestock species
Choose animal products from producers who invest in climate-adapted breeding strategies