Heat Stress and Agroforestry for Dairy Welfare
Following our natural capital assessment, Kilford is tackling a hidden challenge for Welsh dairy farmers: heat stress. Despite its potential to significantly impact cow welfare and profitability, it's a topic that's surprisingly under-researched in Wales. With summer temperatures frequently climbing above 21°C – a threshold for heat stress – and Kilford's open grazing system, we suspect this could be a major, unseen issue. AHDB data confirms the financial toll: poorer fertility, reduced milk yields, and increased mobility. This project seeks to understand the real impact and, ultimately, optimize milk production and cow welfare by integrating trees and pasture.
Here's how we're doing it:
- Advanced Individual Monitoring: 80 cows are equipped with SmaXtec boluses, giving us real-time insights into their drinking, rumination, activity, and internal heat stress levels.
- Precise Outdoor Heat Measurement: Setting up two Dallas temperature sensors within 150mm copper 'black globes' (Figure 1) – one in full sun and one under shade – to accurately measure radiant heat on the grazing platform.
- Comprehensive Environmental Data: Temperature Humidity Index (THI) sensors will provide a crucial comparison between indoor housing and outdoor grazing conditions, Figure 2 & 3.
- Performance Tracking: Milk production data from our rotary parlour will be carefully analysed to correlate with environmental factors.
Ultimately, this data will allow us to pinpoint the specific temperatures at which heat stress impacts our cows, providing valuable insights for future farm management strategies to ensure optimal cow health and productivity.
In addition, this project will deliver against the following Sustainable Land Management outcomes:
- Maximising resource efficiency
- Achieving and promoting high standards of animal health and welfare
Figure 1: THI and ‘black globe’ sensors in open field.
Figure 2: THI sensors in cattle housing
Figure 3: Location of all 6 sensors