Dairy Cattle Breeding for Welfare: Longevity and Health Traits

Overview of cattle breeding for welfare-relevant health and longevity traits in dairy systems.

Key Facts

Productive lifespan is a welfare trait with both genetic and management components
Breeding indices increasingly include health traits like mastitis resistance and fertility
Genomic selection enables faster progress on welfare-relevant health traits
Holstein Friesian dominance has narrowed diversity affecting welfare resilience
Crossbreeding for hybrid vigour can improve health and welfare outcomes in dairy cattle

Welfare Considerations

Dairy cattle breeding for welfare requires integrating health, longevity, and functional traits alongside production. Mastitis resistance, fertility, and feet and legs scores are welfare-relevant traits now included in leading breeding indices. Genomic selection is accelerating progress. Crossbreeding for hybrid vigour offers welfare benefits through improved disease resistance and reproductive performance. The genetic diversity challenge requires both crossbreeding strategies and conservation of diverse breed genetics.

What You Can Do

Support dairy breeding programmes that integrate welfare and health trait goals
Advocate for welfare trait weighting in national dairy genetic improvement programmes
Choose dairy products from farms using breeding strategies that prioritise health and longevity