Assessing welfare in cattle requires robust, animal-based measures. Understanding these indicators helps producers, auditors, and advocates identify and address suffering.
Systematic welfare assessment in cattle reveals the gap between legal minimum standards and good welfare. Lameness alone represents one of the most prevalent welfare problems in modern dairy farming, causing persistent pain that reduces mobility and quality of life. Resource-based measures like space allowance and bedding quality correlate with but do not guarantee good welfare outcomes. Animal-based indicators are now the gold standard because they reflect the animal experience directly. Regular on-farm assessment with feedback to producers and consequences for non-improvement is essential for meaningful welfare progress.