Dairy cows in intensive production systems are typically culled after 2-4 lactations, far short of their natural lifespan, with welfare costs concentrated in the final period of declining health before culling.
Dairy cow longevity is a composite welfare indicator: farms with better welfare outcomes in health, lameness, and fertility management also achieve longer productive lives. The welfare-longevity connection runs both ways — farms that keep cows healthy keep them longer, and farms that keep cows longer have the economic incentive to invest in health management. The intensive production treadmill that maximizes short-term yield while tolerating high culling rates represents a welfare and economic failure that better management can address. Consumer demand for dairy products from farms with longer cow productive lifespans creates market incentives for the management investment needed to achieve them.