Feedlot cattle face significant welfare risks from heat stress, particularly as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of heat events across major cattle-producing regions.
Heat stress in feedlots represents a growing welfare crisis amplified by climate change. Unlike animals with access to shade trees or wallowing opportunities, feedlot cattle are often confined with limited thermal refuge. The welfare impacts — panting, reduced movement, immune compromise, and in severe cases death — affect millions of animals annually. Mandatory shade and cooling requirements, early warning systems for heat events, and stocking density adjustments during heat waves are evidence-based interventions that the industry has been slow to adopt.