Dairy farmers, vets and industry professionals across the supply chain have collaborated through Ruminant Health & Welfare (RH&W) to create the new UK Dairy Cattle Welfare Strategy for the next five years.
The strategy is designed to help the industry show progress in animal welfare by 2028.RH&W vice-chairman Gwyn Jones says the strategy is an update of a previous one aimed at improving the welfare of the UK’s dairy herd but, importantly, has support across the four nations. He added:
Six strategic goals
The six strategic goals in the strategy are:- Thriving cows – ensuring all dairy animals are bred, reared and cared for to thrive in all systems
- Healthy feet – ensuring a proactive lameness management plan is in place on every UK dairy farm
- Comfortable cows – maximising cow comfort in housing and at pasture
- Appropriately nourished cows – ensuring a healthy body condition throughout the year
- Healthy udders – continued improvements to udder health to reduce cases of mastitis
- Positive welfare – moving towards providing an environment that allows animals to exhibit normal behaviours such as curiosity or play
RH&W steering group member and senior animal health and welfare scientist at AHDB, Dr Jenny Gibbons, said AHDB has committed to helping the industry publish an annual progress report. The report will capture data evidencing the outcomes achieved by the strategy’s stakeholders, showing the actions taken annually to achieve the six welfare goals.
Dr Gibbons said:
In developing the strategy, the key stakeholder groups have been identified and split into the following categories:
- Farm assurance
- Farmers
- Government
- Processing supply chains, including markets and hauliers
- Retail supply chains
- Research organisations
- Commercial organisations
- Veterinary surgeons
The dairy welfare strategy is part of a wider body of work at RH&W to facilitate and create welfare strategies for the whole UK ruminant sector – sheep and beef cattle ones will follow in due course.
Visit the Ruminant Health & Welfare website
View the Dairy Cattle Welfare Strategy 2023–2028