US EditionClimate change cuts milk production, even when farmers cool their cows
- A 2025 study in Science Advances revealed that exposure to intense humid heat can decrease daily milk yields by as much as 10 percent on Israeli dairy farms.
- Researchers analyzed over 12 years of high-frequency local weather and production data covering 130,000 cows and surveyed more than 300 farmers about cooling technologies.
- Cooling systems, widely adopted by nearly all surveyed farmers, recoup installation costs in about eighteen months but offset only roughly half of production losses, while heat effects can last over ten days.
- The study reports that without enhanced cooling, top milk producers including India, Pakistan, Brazil, and the United States could face per-cow milk output declines averaging up to 4 percent, highlighting urgent needs for climate-adaptive infrastructure.
- Researchers urge international policy and agricultural reforms to invest in holistic management that reduces animal stressors exacerbating heat sensitivity to protect milk production and global food security amid escalating climate risks.
11 Articles
11 Articles
As Heat Waves Persist, This Beloved Product May Soon Vanish from Supermarket Shelves
World milk production is now faced with an unprecedented climate challenge. While heat waves become more frequent and more intense under the effect of global warming, their consequences on cattle farms worry scientific and professional. Two recent studies sound the alarm on world dairy production, one carried out by the universities of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Chicago, published in Science Advances; The other conducted by the University of Illino…
Scorching days like these are no fun for us. But for dairy cows it’s even worse. Scientists have discovered that extreme heat can reduce cows’ milk production by up to 10 percent. Farmers use cooling systems, such as fans and sprinklers, but they only compensate for half of that loss. And as if that wasn’t […] More science? Read the latest articles on Scientias.nl .
Climate change significantly reduces milk production, even where farmers are actively using cooling, a study in Israel over 12 years covered 130,000 cows and showed that a day with a wet temperature of more than 26 °C reduces the cost by 10 per cent, and the effects are maintained for almost 11 days, which means that even advanced technological systems only partially cover heat damage, says Phys.org. "The climate change will have a wide impact o…
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