Access to pasture significantly improves dairy cow welfare by allowing natural grazing, exercise, and social behaviors denied in year-round indoor housing systems.
Pasture access fundamentally improves dairy cow welfare by enabling natural grazing behavior that is the highest time-priority activity for cattle. Cows on pasture show lower rates of lameness from exercise on varied ground, better hoof health from natural wear, more normal social behavior in established groups, and lower rates of stereotypic behaviors than zero-grazed cows. The transition from pasture to indoor housing in spring and autumn causes social disruption and adjustment stress. Year-round indoor housing systems, while offering advantages in feed efficiency and management control, deny cows the natural behaviors they are highly motivated to perform. The welfare of seasonally-grazed cows is significantly better than zero-grazed counterparts, and this is reflected in higher RSPCA Assured certification rates for grazing farms.