Average dairy cow productive life in intensive systems is declining. Improving longevity through better welfare management benefits cows, producers, and the environment simultaneously.
Dairy cow longevity is a welfare proxy: cows that live longer are, by definition, cows that experience fewer welfare-compromising disease events that would otherwise trigger culling. The cow culled after two lactations for lameness has experienced chronic pain; the cow culled for mastitis has experienced infection and discomfort; the cow culled for reproductive failure may have experienced metabolic disease. Improving longevity through welfare-focused management — reducing lameness, mastitis, and metabolic disease — simultaneously improves individual cow welfare and herd economics. The three-way alignment of welfare, productivity, and environmental goals in dairy longevity makes it one of the most compelling welfare improvement opportunities in the dairy sector.