Associations between on-farm animal welfare indicators and productivity and profitability on Canadian dairies: I. On freestall farms

Motivating dairy producers to financially invest in the improvement of their animals' comfort and welfare can pose some challenges, especially when financial returns are uncertain. Economic advantages for dairy producers associated with increased animal welfare are likely to come from either a premium paid for the milk or increased productivity. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the associations between measures of herd productivity and farm profitability and animal-, management-, and resource-based indicators of cow welfare and comfort. The cow welfare measures were collected during a cow comfort assessment conducted on 130 Canadian freestall dairy farms, including 20 using an automatic milking system. Herd productivity and farm profitability measures were retrieved or calculated from data collected by the regional dairy herd improvement programs, and included milk production and quality, longevity, and economic margins over replacement costs. Univariable and multivariable linear regression models were used to assess the associations between welfare indicators and productivity and profitability measures. Increased yearly corrected milk production was associated with reduced prevalence of cows with knee lesions [beta = 7.40; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.6, 12.2], dirty flanks (beta = 26.9; 95% CI: 7.4, 46.5), and lameness (beta = 11.7; 95% CI: 3.3, 20.1). The farms' economic margin per cow, calculated over replacement costs, was associated with the within farm average lying time standard deviation (beta = -7.2; 95% CI: -12.7, -1.7), percent of stalls with dry bedding (beta = 6.4; 95% CI: 1.4, 11.4), and prevalence of cows with knee lesions (beta = -5.1; 95% CI: -8.9, -1.3). Some of the relationships found were complex, including several interactions between the animal-, management-, and resource-based measures. Overall, the results suggest that improved cow comfort and welfare on freestall farms is associated with increased herd productivity and profitability, when the latest is calculated by the margins over the replacement costs.