Heat stress is one of the most significant and growing welfare threats to cattle globally. As temperatures rise with climate change, providing adequate cooling is both a welfare and productivity imperative.
Heat stress causes genuine suffering in cattle. Affected animals display open-mouth breathing, excessive drooling, trembling, and reduced activity. Severe heat stress causes production of stress hormones at levels associated with significant physiological distress, and in extreme cases leads to heat stroke and death. The welfare impact extends beyond individual animals - heat stress during pregnancy compromises calf welfare at birth and throughout early life through epigenetic effects on immune function and growth. Proactive heat abatement planning is not optional - it is a basic welfare obligation for livestock keepers.