Cows - Climate Agenda

UK dairy farmers are milking their best-ever Holstein cows, having improved all health and production traits through breeding selection.

However, there is an “unfavourable trend in maintenance” which has become a problem environmentally, according to SRUC professor of livestock informatics Mike Coffey.

See also: Why big cows are inefficient and how to breed smaller stock

“Big cows are bad. Bigger cows means we now have an equivalent of 60,000t of cow liveweight to feed each day in the UK – about 90,000 mature Holsteins.