Climate change is intensifying heat stress in farmed livestock. Understanding its welfare impacts and practical mitigations is increasingly urgent for farmers, vets, and policymakers.
Heat stress is a welfare problem with both acute and chronic dimensions. In the short term, animals in heat stress are physiologically compromised: they pant, reduce movement, cluster near water, and eat less — all indicators of significant discomfort. Chronic heat stress suppresses immune function, reduces reproductive success, and predisposes to mastitis and other infections. The welfare impact is compounded by the fact that high-producing dairy cows generate substantial metabolic heat and are therefore more vulnerable, and by the trend toward ever-larger, indoor-confined herds where natural behavioral thermoregulation (seeking shade, accessing water) is restricted. Climate adaptation in livestock farming requires genuine welfare investment in cooling infrastructure, not just production optimization.