Intensive selection for production traits has narrowed genetic diversity in farm animals. Maintaining diverse breeds improves resilience and reduces welfare vulnerabilities.
Genetic diversity loss in farm animals is a slow-motion welfare crisis. Commercial selection for narrow production traits has created animal populations highly vulnerable to welfare problems - bone disease, cardiovascular failure, reproductive dysfunction - that are embedded in their genetics. Maintaining diverse breeds and expanding the genetic base of commercial lines is both a welfare and a resilience priority.