Sustainable Dairy Farming: A Veterinarian’s Perspective on Balancing Health, Welfare, and the Environment

Muhammad Shazal

Veterinary Doctor

6 min read
12/12/2024
Sustainable Dairy Farming: A Veterinarian’s Perspective on Balancing Health, Welfare, and the Environment

As a veterinarian, I've worked in dairy farms, observing the intricate balance between animal health, productivity, and sustainability. Sustainable dairy farming isn't just about producing a good quantity of milk. It is about using measures that support the health of animals, protect the environment, and ensure economic viability for farmers. Let me visit the world of sustainable dairy farming from a veterinarian's perspective, focusing on how animal care intertwines with sustainable practices. 

What Does Sustainable Dairy Farming Mean?

Sustainability in dairy farming is a major approach to agriculture that ensures cows are healthy and comfortable while farming practices minimize environmental impact. The 3 key pillars of sustainable dairy farming include:

  1. Animal Health and Welfare: Maintaining the health & well-being of cows to get good quality milk is a cornerstone of sustainability.
  2. Environmental sustainability: Managing manure, reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as conserving water and land resources are critical
  3. Economic Viability: Farmers must thrive financially to continue implementing sustainable practices.

 

Veterinarians' role in sustainable dairy farming

Veterinarians play a major role in sustainability by ensuring that dairy cows are healthy and productive. Our work involves disease prevention, promoting ethical treatment, and advising on-farm management practices that benefit animals and the environment.

  • Preventing Disease through Herd Health Programs

Preventive care is at the heart of sustainable dairy farming. A healthy herd requires fewer medical interventions, reducing the environmental impact of pharmaceuticals and increasing farm efficiency. Herd health programs include:

  1. Vaccination Schedules: Protecting cows against common diseases like mastitis and other infectious diseases. 
  2. Nutrition Counseling: Helping farmers to provide formulated cow diets to improve health and reduce methane emissions, as well as guiding them to use feed additives.
  3. Biosecurity Measures: Healthy measures (pesticide spray, lime use on farm entry site) are being taken to prevent the introduction and spread of infectious diseases on the farm. 

Healthy cows live happier and longer and produce more milk from fewer resources, thus benefiting both the farmer and the community.

  • Improving animal welfare 

As a veterinarian, we're passionate about working for animal welfare. Cows are sentient beings with unique needs, and their comfort directly impacts their productivity. Key welfare considerations include:

  1. Housing Conditions: Ensure cows have clean, spacious, and well-ventilated environments. Proper bedding, such as sand or straw, reduces the risk of lameness and infections. 
  2. Pain Management: Providing pain relief during procedures like dehorning or calving. 
  3. Monitoring Stress Levels: Stress-free cows produce more milk. Reducing stress through gentle handling and minimizing changes to their routines is essential.

When cows are treated well, the results are evident: higher milk yields, better reproductive performance, and lower disease rates. 

Environmental Challenges and Solutions in Dairy Farming

1. Tackling greenhouse gas emissions

One of the biggest sustainability challenges in dairy farming is reducing methane emissions. Cows naturally produce methane during digestion, but there are ways to mitigate this: 

  • Feed Additives: Innovative feed supplements (3-NOP, seaweed, tannins, canola/coconut oil, yeast, beet pulp, high concentrate diet) can significantly reduce methane production in cows' rumen.
  • Efficient Manure Management: Methane from manure can be captured and used to generate biogas, a renewable energy source, by extracting methane from dung in a biodigester & then using a generator to make electricity from methane. 
  • Selective breeding: Using selective breeding programs by breeding with cows that produce less methane (Holstein Friesian, Jersey, Sahiwal cow, Nilli Ravi buffalo) from their digestive tract.

2. Water conservation 

Water is vital for cows and crops but is a finite resource. This conservation is usually not adopted in the Indian sub-continent, but it should be considered. Sustainable practices for water conservation include:

  • Water Recycling Systems: Reusing water for cleaning barns or irrigating fields. 
  • Optimized Irrigation: Using precision technology to water crops only when and where it's needed. 

Hydration is critical for cow health, so ensuring a sustainable water supply benefits both animals and the environment. 

3. Preserving soil health

Healthy soil is essential for growing the feed crops that sustain dairy herds. Veterinarians collaborate with agronomists to promote practices like: 

  • Rotational Grazing: Allowing pastures to recover and preventing overgrazing by moving animals to other divided pasture land for grazing after every specific period.
  • Composting Manure: Turning waste into organic fertilizer (vermicompost by allowing worms like red wigglers, Indian blue worms, earthworms, etc. to digest dung & make fertilizer out of it that enriches soil without the use of chemical fertilizers (urea, DAP, etc.).

The Humane side of sustainability

Many families earn a living from dairy farming, and sustainability extends beyond the farm itself. Farmers are stewards of their land but also need support to transition to sustainable practices.

  • Education and training 

Farmers often rely on veterinarians for guidance on new technologies and practices. By building strong relationships with farmers, we can help them adopt methods that are both practical and beneficial for their herds and the environment

  • Economic support 

Sustainable practices can come with upfront costs, such as investing in precision agriculture tools or biogas systems. Governments, nonprofits, and industry organizations must provide subsidies or low-interest loans to make these investments accessible. 

Sustainable dairy farming in practice 

Let's take a closer look at how sustainability is being implemented on farms.

Case Study: A Family Farm in Action

Sustainability was front and center on a family-owned dairy farm I recently visited. They had:

  • Solar Panels: Powering the milking parlor and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
  • Automated Milking Systems: Allowing cows to milk themselves when they feel ready, reducing stress and labor costs. 
  • Manure-to-Biogas System: Turning dung into renewable energy, which powers both the farm and nearby homes.

This results in healthier cows, lower emissions, and a thriving farm business. 

Consumer Impact: How You Can Support Sustainable Dairy

As consumers, we have the power to drive change by making conscious choices. Here's how you can contribute:

  1. Choose Certified Products: When buying dairy products, Look for labels like “Certified Humane,” “USDA Organic,” or “Carbon Neutral.”
  2. Support Local Farms: Buying from local farmers reduces transportation emissions and supports small-scale sustainable operations.
  3. Reduce Waste: Only purchase what you need and store milk properly to extend its shelf life. 

 

Looking Ahead: The Future of Sustainable Dairy Farming

Sustainability is a journey, not a destination. As a veterinarian, I’m excited about future innovations that will shape the industry, including:

  • Artificial Intelligence: Predicting health issues before they become serious & using various AI equipment (wearable sensors, computer cameras, Automated milking systems, Precision feeding systems, Milk quality & nutrition analyzer, AI heat detection equipment & many others ), saving resources and improving cow welfare.
  • Carbon Sequestration on Farms: Capturing and storing carbon in pastures and crop fields to offset emissions.
  • Lab-Grown Dairy Alternatives: Offering additional options for consumers while reducing the environmental footprint of traditional dairy.

The path to sustainable dairy farming requires collaboration between veterinarians, farmers, scientists, and consumers. Together, we can create a future where dairy farming nourishes people while protecting the planet.

Conclusion

Sustainable dairy farming is about more than just milk—it’s about ensuring that every aspect of the farming process respects animals, the environment, and the farmers who make it all possible. As a veterinarian, I see the profound connection between healthy cows, thriving farms, and a healthier planet.

By working together, we can ensure that dairy farming remains a vital, sustainable, and ethical part of our global food system for generations to come. Whether you’re a farmer, a vet, or a consumer, we all have a role to play in this journey. After all, sustainability is not just a goal; it's a way of life.  

References 

  • Krueger, A., Cruickshank, J., Trevisi, E., & Bionaz, M. (2020). Systems for evaluation of welfare on dairy farms. Journal of Dairy Research, 87(S1), 13-19. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022029920000461
  • Fleming, P. A., Clarke, T., Wickham, S. L., Stockman, C. A., Barnes, A. L., Collins, T., & Miller, D. W. (2016). The contribution of qualitative behavioural assessment to appraisal of livestock welfare. Animal Production Science, 56(10), 1569-1578. https://doi.org/10.1071/AN15101 
  • Windsor, P. A. (2021). Progress with livestock welfare in extensive production systems: lessons from Australia. Frontiers in veterinary science, 8, 674482. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.674482

 


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