Modern dairy cows often live only 3-4 years in production before culling. Low longevity reflects poor welfare and represents a significant ethical concern.
Dairy cow longevity is a concentrated welfare indicator — farms with high culling rates are almost invariably farms with high disease prevalence, poor lameness management, and inadequate welfare standards. The metabolic demands placed on modern high-producing cows — producing 10,000 litres or more per year — push animals to physiological extremes that compromise health and shorten productive life. A cow that is lame, suffering from mastitis, or unable to conceive is a cow that is suffering. The economic incentive to cull rather than treat, and to prioritise milk production over cow health, is a structural problem in the dairy industry. Farmers and breeding programs that prioritise longevity and health over peak yield tend to produce cows with better welfare outcomes.