Increasing dairy cow longevity improves both welfare and sustainability by reducing the proportion of the herd experiencing disease-prone first lactations.
Short productive lives in dairy cattle mean a disproportionate amount of the herd is always in the high-risk first lactation period. Increasing longevity by selecting for health and fertility rather than purely production reduces overall disease incidence. Cows that live longer in good health experience better lifetime welfare than those achieving peak production briefly before disease necessitates culling.