Drought causes chronic suffering for cattle through inadequate nutrition, water stress, and deteriorating body condition — and climate change is making droughts more frequent.
Drought imposes cumulative welfare costs on cattle — first through reduced pasture quality, then quantity, then water availability, finally through severe undernutrition and dehydration. Producers facing drought are caught between economic pressure to hold stock and the welfare imperative to prevent suffering. Early destocking decisions, based on body condition monitoring, prevent the worst outcomes but require accepting economic loss. Emergency supplementary feeding programs can bridge shorter droughts. Animal welfare regulations during drought are poorly developed in most countries, leaving welfare outcomes dependent on individual producer judgment and financial capacity.