Mastitis is the most economically costly disease in dairy farming and causes significant welfare harm through udder pain, systemic illness, and premature culling.
Cows with clinical mastitis experience udder pain during milking and touch, fever causing malaise and reduced feed intake, and the systemic effects of infection including lethargy and weight loss. Subclinical mastitis, which causes no visible signs but measurable immune response and reduced milk quality, affects far more cows and represents chronic low-grade welfare compromise that is often undetected. Bedding hygiene, milking hygiene, teat dip protocols, and dry cow therapy together prevent a substantial proportion of mastitis cases. Early detection using inline milk quality sensors enables prompt treatment before minor cases become severe. The welfare and economic costs of mastitis make it a leverage point where dairy welfare interests align with producer economic incentives.