New Zealand dairy is predominantly pasture-based — offering significant welfare advantages over housed systems — but faces welfare challenges including bobby calf management and lameness.
New Zealand dairy's predominantly pasture-based system provides genuine welfare benefits compared with housed systems: cows graze, walk, socialise and experience seasonal rhythms in ways that housed cows cannot. But pasture-based systems are not automatically welfare-positive. Bobby calf management remains a significant welfare concern, with millions of calves slaughtered within days of birth. Track and laneway injuries cause a substantial proportion of lameness. Heat stress during summer and metabolic stress from high-production demands create welfare challenges that pasture access alone does not resolve.