Cattle express pain through subtle behavioural and postural changes that stockpersons are often untrained to recognise. Improving pain recognition is one of the highest-impact welfare interventions available in beef and dairy systems.
Cattle evolved as prey species and mask pain effectively, making detection challenging without training. Subtle signs — ear position, orbital tightening, head carriage, and isolation from the herd — indicate pain that may otherwise be missed for days. Pain scoring at calving, dehorning, foot-trimming, and surgical procedures should be routine. Farms with stockpersons trained in pain recognition show faster treatment rates and lower disease duration. The economic case for pain management is well-established: treated animals recover faster and suffer less secondary immune suppression. Pain management is both a welfare imperative and a productivity investment.