Transforming Dairy Cattle Breeding for Sustainability: Integrating disciplinary methods to mitigate environmental impacts and to improve resilience

Summary

This study investigates how dairy cow breeding can be improved to handle climate change and reduce environmental impacts while still being profitable. Traditional breeding mostly focused on making money, but this research aims to also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve how efficiently cows use nutrients. Based on data of dairy farms, models were created to estimate the economic and environmental effects of breeding decisions. The study showed possibility of breeding cows that are both more profitable and less polluting. It also explored using milk data and machine learning to predict how well cows use nitrogen. Another part focused on breeding resilient cows that can better handle stress and climate changes, like heat. Long-term simulations showed that cows bred for resilience could live longer, be healthier, and help the environment, while they produce less milk. Overall, the study highlighted that breeding for both profit and sustainability is possible with improved resilience.