Livestock Heat Stress Advanced Mitigation

Heat stress is a growing threat to farmed animal welfare as climate change intensifies summer temperatures across major livestock production regions.

Key Facts

Dairy cows experience heat stress at temperatures above 25 degrees C with high humidity, reducing milk production and reproductive performance
Pigs are highly susceptible to heat stress and can die rapidly in poorly ventilated housing during heat waves
Broiler chickens have been selectively bred for rapid growth, which generates significant metabolic heat and increases heat stress vulnerability
Effective mitigation strategies include shade provision, sprinkler systems, ventilation upgrades, and modified feeding schedules
Heat stress during late gestation impairs fetal development and has lasting welfare effects on offspring
Climate projections indicate that without adaptation, heat stress losses in livestock will increase substantially by 2050

Welfare Considerations

Heat stress causes measurable pain and distress in livestock, impairing immune function, fertility, and metabolic health. As climate change extends and intensifies heat wave events globally, the welfare risk to confined livestock without adequate mitigation grows correspondingly. Proactive investment in heat mitigation infrastructure is both an animal welfare and an agricultural resilience priority.

What You Can Do

Purchase livestock products from farms with demonstrated heat stress mitigation infrastructure
Support climate adaptation research focused on livestock heat stress and welfare outcomes
Advocate for mandatory heat stress standards in livestock housing regulations
Reduce livestock product consumption to decrease the scale of farmed animals exposed to heat stress risk