Increasingly frequent extreme weather events from heat waves to floods create novel welfare challenges for livestock that require proactive management.
Climate change is a livestock welfare issue as well as an environmental one. Increasing frequency of heat waves, floods, droughts, and storms creates welfare emergencies for farm animals that are dependent on human management for their basic needs. Animals that cannot seek shade, access water, or move to higher ground when floods threaten are entirely at the mercy of farm management decisions. Welfare-resilient livestock systems invest in infrastructure — shade, cooling, elevated housing, reliable water supply — and management protocols that anticipate and respond to extreme weather before animals suffer. Climate adaptation for farms is not just about production continuity but about fundamental welfare responsibility for the animals in human care.