Beyond preventing disease and injury, positive welfare science asks whether dairy cows experience a good life. Evidence-based positive welfare indicators for dairy cows are transforming farm assessment approaches.
Positive welfare in dairy farming is an idea whose time has come. The traditional focus on preventing disease, injury, and starvation - important as it is - represents a floor, not a ceiling. A cow that is healthy but chronically bored, frustrated, and unable to express natural behavior is not experiencing a good life. Positive welfare assessment asks additional questions: can cows choose where to go? Do they groom each other? Do they play? Do they have preferred companions they can spend time with? Farms that score high on positive welfare indicators are not just being kind - they are managing herds that are genuinely thriving.