Heat stress in cattle causes significant welfare impacts, production losses, and increased disease susceptibility, requiring proactive management during summer months.
Heat stress is a serious and widespread welfare problem in cattle during summer months, particularly for high-producing dairy cows whose metabolic heat production already challenges thermoregulation. Cattle experiencing heat stress show clear signs of distress - elevated respiration rates, seeking shade, standing in water, and reduced normal behaviors like grazing and social interaction. Heat stress also increases susceptibility to other diseases and reduces reproductive performance. As climate change increases summer temperatures, heat stress will affect a growing proportion of cattle operations globally. Providing adequate cooling infrastructure is both a welfare responsibility and an economic necessity.