The average dairy cow in intensive systems is culled at three to four lactations — far below her potential lifespan. Improving longevity is both a welfare and sustainability goal with interconnected benefits.
Dairy cow longevity is a welfare issue because early culling reflects either chronic health problems or a production system that prioritises yield over wellbeing. Cows culled for lameness have typically experienced significant pain; those culled for reproductive failure may have suffered from metabolic disease around calving. High-yielding genetics selected for peak milk production have created cows whose bodies are under extreme physiological stress during peak lactation — a state associated with negative energy balance, immune suppression, and elevated disease risk. Longevity-focused breeding — selecting bulls with high daughter fertility, low mastitis rates, and good feet and legs alongside reasonable production — produces cows that live longer, healthier lives. Welfare is directly expressed through lifespan in dairy: a cow that lives to seven or eight lactations has had a longer period of positive welfare than one culled at three. Consumer understanding that high welfare dairy often means lower peak yield per cow incentivises the market conditions that make longevity farming economically viable.