Farm Animal Welfare

Dairy Cow Longevity Welfare

Improving dairy cow longevity reduces replacement heifer rearing costs, improves lifetime efficiency, and is an indicator of good welfare throughout the cow's productive life.

Key Facts

Average UK dairy cow productive life is approximately 2.5 lactations before culling
Leading causes of early culling include lameness, mastitis, reproductive failure, and low production
Herds with mean productive lives of 4+ lactations demonstrate better health management
Longevity is heritable and selection for health traits improves lifetime welfare outcomes
Lifetime productivity is better in cows with longer productive lives, benefiting both welfare and economics

Welfare Considerations

Dairy cow longevity is both an indicator and a driver of good welfare; systems that invest in cow health and longevity produce better welfare outcomes and can be more economically sustainable.

What You Can Do

Support dairy certification schemes with lameness and longevity monitoring requirements
Choose dairy products from producers with documented herd health metrics
Advocate for longevity and health as core breeding goals in national dairy genetics programmes