Climate change is intensifying heat stress risks for livestock globally, requiring proactive adaptation of farm systems and management to protect animal welfare.
Heat stress is one of the most significant and growing welfare challenges in animal agriculture, and climate change is making it more frequent and severe across major livestock-producing regions. Heat stress causes a cascade of welfare harms: reduced appetite, increased respiratory rate, behavioural changes including reduced movement, increased standing on hard surfaces, and in severe cases, mortality. For dairy cows, heat stress also causes reproductive failure and suppresses immune function, increasing disease susceptibility and treatment requirements. Adapting farm systems to increasing heat stress risk requires investment in infrastructure — shade, ventilation, cooling systems — and management changes including adjusted feeding schedules, modified stocking densities during heat events, and access to additional water. Farm adaptation planning that incorporates heat stress projection is becoming a welfare necessity rather than an optional improvement.