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Animal Management and Sustainability

The U.S. has made significant strides in dairy productivity, with more milk being produced and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per unit of milk than ever before. With an increasing focus on sustainable agriculture, the dairy sector can continue to explore opportunities to reduce emissions intensity (GHG emissions per unit of milk) and absolute emissions (total GHG emissions over a period of time).

 

Improved animal health may result in increased absolute emissions at the animal level due to higher feed intake, increased milk production. At the supply chain level, emissions may decrease due to improved productivity and a reduced need for replacement animals (​Džermeikaitė et al., 2024).

Learning HubAnimal Management and Sustainability

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SPEAKER : Dr. Kaitlyn Briggs

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Summary of Key Points from the Presentation

Why Focus on Animal Health?

Improving animal health boosts the dairy industry's sustainability in three key areas: environmental, economic, and societal perception. In addition, it is important to recognize that the environment influences cow health (e.g., hot climates can cause heat stress in cows), and cow health, in turn, affects the environment (e.g., healthier cows emit fewer GHGs). A resilient dairy sector should consider both aspects when making decisions about animal care.

A recent United Nations (UN) report (FAO 2023) suggests that increased productivity and improved animal health can reduce global livestock emissions by 30%. 

Environmental Impact of Disease

Reducing the incidence of disease in a herd is a great way to both reduce emissions and improve a farm’s bottom line. Disease often reduces cows’ productivity, making them less efficient. A sick cow requires more resources and produces more GHG per unit of milk compared to a healthy cow. Many diseases put cows at greater likelihood of developing other diseases, further exaggerating productivity and efficiency issues. This also translates into less profit due to reduced productivity, the cost of treatment, and increased likelihood of culling.​

Examples of how diseases impact a farm's GHG footprint:

  • Mastitis: For every 1% decrease in clinical mastitis prevalence, GHG emissions per unit of milk decreased by 2%, and total herd GHG emissions decreased by 1% (Hospido & Sonesson, 2005). 

  • Lameness: For every 1% reduction in overall herd lameness, total herd GHG emissions decrease by 1.5% (Mosert et al., 2018a).

  • Ketosis: For each case of subclinical ketosis that is prevented, the GHG emissions per unit of milk decrease by 2% (Mostert et al., 2018b).

Related Practices Or Technologies

Improving Youngstock Management

Colostrum, nutrition, and environment are the three pillars of calf health.  The management of the calf environment is highly influential on the performance of calves and can have impacts that last throughout the animal's lifetime. Proper nutrition and care during the early stages of a calf's life lead to healthier, more productive adult cows, reducing the need for additional replacements and lowering overall greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, well-managed youngstock are less likely to suffer from diseases, resulting in lower veterinary costs and decreased medication use, contributing to a more sustainable farming practice.

Examples of how diet reformulation can impact enteric emissions:

  • Colostrum management: Good colostrum management and feeding practices early in life results in better pre-weaning daily gains. This translates into faster time to breeding age and greater milk production (Skuce et al., 2023; Rosenberger et al., 2017)

  • Ventilation: Proper ventilation is also important for youngstock and can result in fewer respiratory diseases like pneumonia. Early pneumonia in calves leads to lifelong reductions in productivity, which means greater GHG emissions. Heifers that reach maturity one month earlier (because of better health) have a lower GHG footprint.  A 1-month decrease in the age of first calving results in a 30% decrease in the heifer footprint, which causes an overall 7.5% decrease in the GHG footprint (Dall-Orsoletta et al., 2019).

Related Practices Or Technologies

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References

Adult Cow Management

Improving animal health through better monitoring, stress prevention, heat stress control, and reproductive management significantly enhances the efficiency of animal production. Stress prevention and effective heat stress control ensure animals remain comfortable, leading to better growth rates and overall well-being. These measures collectively result in healthier, more productive animals, which means fewer resources are needed to produce the same amount of product.

Examples of how management can impact a farm's GHG footprint:

  • Health monitoring: Farmers can quickly address potential issues by closely monitoring animal health, reducing illness, and increasing productivity (Skuce et al., 2023). 

  • Improving reproductive efficiency:  Enhanced reproductive management improves breeding success rates and herd health. Improving the pregnancy rate in adult cows by 5% (from 20% to 25%) can reduce herd methane emissions by 10% (Garnsworthy, 2004; Knapp et al., 2014).

  • Reducing heat stress: Heat stress makes cows less productive and can have long-term repercussions on their health, depending on the length and severity of the stress. If it occurs during pregnancy, heat stress can also impact the health of unborn calves. (Park et al., 2022).

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