Cow quality of life: a global typology for dairy farm systems

Context Dairy farming occurs across a wide range of production systems globally, but all share a common requirement, namely, their development and sustainability depend on meeting fundamental animal wellbeing needs, such as shelter, nutrition, and comfort, within varied social, cultural, economic, and regulatory contexts. Aim A conceptual typology for global dairy farm systems is proposed, designed to enable evaluation across any system from an animal wellbeing perspective. Methods The typology is structured around eight primary system components that influence the adult dairy cows’ physiological and psychological wellbeing, including living environment, diet, genetic selection for resilience, contact with people, degree of behavioural autonomy, group size, milking interval and cow–calf interaction. These components are organised into an attribute hierarchy, visually represented in a matrix that progresses from lower to higher levels of human intervention, and a shift in welfare risks from physiological to psychological domains. The typology was applied to representative dairy systems in New Zealand, the United States, Ireland, and China. Key results Despite limitations in cross-jurisdictional data availability, it successfully highlighted key similarities and differences in wellbeing-related system attributes. Further refinement, particularly in measuring components such as the degree of human contact, could enhance its precision and applicability. The framework was also tested against future scenarios, demonstrating its potential to identify farm system attributes that align with varying and changing welfare expectations. Conclusions This exercise supports the broader utility of the typology in system-level assessments, including those not explicitly focused on animal welfare, while ensuring that wellbeing remains a central consideration. Implications Overall, the attribute hierarchy provides a cow-centric and operationally flexible tool for characterising and evaluating global dairy farm systems.