Dairy cow longevity is both a welfare indicator and an economic signal, with longer-lived cows reflecting better health management, reduced disease burden, and improved welfare outcomes.
Dairy cow longevity serves as an integrated welfare metric because cows that experience good health and welfare stay productive longer. Early culling is symptom of systemic welfare failures including lameness from poor flooring, mastitis from inadequate hygiene and milking management, and metabolic disease from nutritional imbalances at peak lactation. Farms that prioritize preventive health management, body condition, and comfort achieve higher longevity and lower culling rates. The welfare trajectory of the average dairy cow, from calving through culling, provides an honest picture of systemic welfare standards that single-point assessments can miss.