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Cartwright SL, Schmied J, Karrow N, Mallard BA. Impact of heat stress on dairy cattle and selection strategies for thermotolerance: a review. Front Vet Sci 2023; 10:1198697. [PMID: 37408833 PMCID: PMC10319441 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1198697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Climate change is a problem that causes many environmental issues that impact the productivity of livestock species. One of the major issues associated with climate change is an increase of the frequency of hot days and heat waves, which increases the risk of heat stress for livestock species. Dairy cattle have been identified as being susceptible to heat stress due to their high metabolic heat load. Studies have shown heat stress impacts several biological processes that can result in large economic consequences. When heat stress occurs, dairy cattle employ several physiological and cellular mechanisms in order to dissipate heat and protect cells from damage. These mechanisms require an increase and diversion in energy toward protection and away from other biological processes. Therefore, in turn heat stress in dairy cattle can lead numerous issues including reductions in milk production and reproduction as well as increased risk for disease and mortality. This indicates a need to select dairy cattle that would be thermotolerant. Various selection strategies to confer thermotolerance have been discussed in the literature, including selecting for reduced milk production, crossbreeding with thermotolerant breeds, selecting based on physiological traits and most recently selecting for enhanced immune response. This review discusses the various issues associated with heat stress in dairy cattle and the pros and cons to the various selection strategies that have been proposed to select for thermotolerance in dairy cattle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon L. Cartwright
- Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Julie Schmied
- Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Niel Karrow
- Centre of Genetics of Improvement of Livestock, Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Bonnie A. Mallard
- Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
- Centre of Genetics of Improvement of Livestock, Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
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Osei-Amponsah R, Dunshea FR, Leury BJ, Cheng L, Cullen B, Joy A, Abhijith A, Zhang MH, Chauhan SS. Heat Stress Impacts on Lactating Cows Grazing Australian Summer Pastures on an Automatic Robotic Dairy. Animals (Basel) 2020; 10:E869. [PMID: 32429603 PMCID: PMC7278445 DOI: 10.3390/ani10050869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2020] [Revised: 05/05/2020] [Accepted: 05/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The objective of this study was to measure the impacts of summer heat events on physiological parameters (body temperature, respiratory rate and panting scores), grazing behaviour and production parameters of lactating Holstein Friesian cows managed on an Automated Robotic Dairy during Australian summer. The severity of heat stress was measured using Temperature-Humidity Index (THI) and impacts of different THIs-low (≤72), moderate (73-82) and high (≥83)-on physiological responses and production performance were measured. There was a highly significant (p ≤ 0.01) effect of THI on respiratory rate (66.7, 84.7 and 109.1/min), panting scores (1.4, 1.9 and 2.3) and average body temperature of cows (38.4, 39.4 and 41.5 °C), which increased as THI increased from low to moderate to high over the summer. Average milk production parameters were also significantly (p ≤ 0.01) affected by THI, such that daily milk production dropped by 14% from low to high THI, milk temperature and fat% increased by 3%, whilst protein% increased by 2%. The lactation stage of cow had no significant effect on physiological parameters but affected (p ≤ 0.05) average daily milk yield and milk solids. Highly significant (p ≤ 0.01) positive correlations were obtained between THI and milk temperature, fat% and protein% whilst the reverse was observed between THI and milk yield, feed intake and rumination time. Under moderate and high THI, most cows sought shade, spent more time around watering points and showed signs of distress (excessive salivation and open mouth panting). In view of the expected future increase in the frequency and severity of heat events, additional strategies including selection and breeding for thermotolerance and dietary interventions to improve resilience of cows need to be pursued.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Osei-Amponsah
- School of Agriculture and Food, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (F.R.D.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (A.J.); (A.A.); (M.H.Z.)
- Department of Animal Science, School of Agriculture, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, P.O. Box LG 226, Accra, Ghana
| | - Frank R. Dunshea
- School of Agriculture and Food, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (F.R.D.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (A.J.); (A.A.); (M.H.Z.)
| | - Brian J. Leury
- School of Agriculture and Food, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (F.R.D.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (A.J.); (A.A.); (M.H.Z.)
| | - Long Cheng
- School of Agriculture and Food, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (F.R.D.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (A.J.); (A.A.); (M.H.Z.)
| | - Brendan Cullen
- School of Agriculture and Food, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (F.R.D.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (A.J.); (A.A.); (M.H.Z.)
| | - Aleena Joy
- School of Agriculture and Food, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (F.R.D.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (A.J.); (A.A.); (M.H.Z.)
| | - Archana Abhijith
- School of Agriculture and Food, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (F.R.D.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (A.J.); (A.A.); (M.H.Z.)
| | - Michael H. Zhang
- School of Agriculture and Food, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (F.R.D.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (A.J.); (A.A.); (M.H.Z.)
| | - Surinder S. Chauhan
- School of Agriculture and Food, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (F.R.D.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (A.J.); (A.A.); (M.H.Z.)
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Pryce JE, Haile-Mariam M. Symposium review: Genomic selection for reducing environmental impact and adapting to climate change. J Dairy Sci 2020; 103:5366-5375. [PMID: 32331869 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2019-17732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Accepted: 12/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The world has been warming as greenhouse gases accumulate. Worldwide from 1880 to 2012, the average surface temperature has increased by about 0.85°C and by 0.12°C per decade since 1951. The world's cattle population is a contributor to atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas, in addition to suffering from high temperatures combined with humidity. This makes research into reducing the global footprint of dairy cows of importance on a long-term horizon, while improving tolerance to heat could alleviate the effects of rising temperatures. In December 2017, genomic estimated breeding values for heat tolerance in dairy cattle were released for the first time in Australia. Currently, heat tolerance is not included in the Balanced Performance Index (Australia's national selection index), and the correlation between heat tolerance breeding values and Balanced Performance Index is -0.20, so over time, heat tolerance has worsened due to lack of selection pressure. However, in contrast, sizable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions have been achieved as a favorable response to selecting for increased productivity, longevity, and efficiency, with opportunities for even greater gains through selecting for cow emissions directly. Internationally considerable research effort has been made to develop breeding values focused on reducing methane emissions using individual cow phenotypes. This requires (1) definition of breeding objectives and selection criteria and (2) assembling a sufficiently large data set for genomic prediction. Selecting for heat tolerance and reduced emissions directly may improve resilience to changing environments while reducing environmental impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennie E Pryce
- Agriculture Victoria Research, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia; School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia.
| | - Mekonnen Haile-Mariam
- Agriculture Victoria Research, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia
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Osei-Amponsah R, Chauhan SS, Leury BJ, Cheng L, Cullen B, Clarke IJ, Dunshea FR. Genetic Selection for Thermotolerance in Ruminants. Animals (Basel) 2019; 9:E948. [PMID: 31717903 PMCID: PMC6912363 DOI: 10.3390/ani9110948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2019] [Revised: 11/05/2019] [Accepted: 11/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Variations in climatic variables (temperature, humidity and solar radiation) negatively impact livestock growth, reproduction, and production. Heat stress, for instance, is a source of huge financial loss to livestock production globally. There have been significant advances in physical modifications of animal environment and nutritional interventions as tools of heat stress mitigation. Unfortunately, these are short-term solutions and may be unsustainable, costly, and not applicable to all production systems. Accordingly, there is a need for innovative, practical, and sustainable approaches to overcome the challenges posed by global warming and climate change-induced heat stress. This review highlights attempts to genetically select and breed ruminants for thermotolerance and thereby sustain production in the face of changing climates. One effective way is to incorporate sustainable heat abatement strategies in ruminant production. Improved knowledge of the physiology of ruminant acclimation to harsh environments, the opportunities and tools available for selecting and breeding thermotolerant ruminants, and the matching of animals to appropriate environments should help to minimise the effect of heat stress on sustainable animal genetic resource growth, production, and reproduction to ensure protein food security.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Osei-Amponsah
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (I.J.C.); (F.R.D.)
- Department of Animal Science, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana
| | - Surinder S. Chauhan
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (I.J.C.); (F.R.D.)
| | - Brian J. Leury
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (I.J.C.); (F.R.D.)
| | - Long Cheng
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (I.J.C.); (F.R.D.)
| | - Brendan Cullen
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (I.J.C.); (F.R.D.)
| | - Iain J. Clarke
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (I.J.C.); (F.R.D.)
| | - Frank R. Dunshea
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; (R.O.-A.); (B.J.L.); (L.C.); (B.C.); (I.J.C.); (F.R.D.)
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Lees AM, Sejian V, Wallage AL, Steel CC, Mader TL, Lees JC, Gaughan JB. The Impact of Heat Load on Cattle. Animals (Basel) 2019; 9:ani9060322. [PMID: 31174286 PMCID: PMC6616461 DOI: 10.3390/ani9060322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2019] [Revised: 05/16/2019] [Accepted: 05/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Heat stress and cold stress have a negative influence on cattle welfare and productivity. There have been some studies investigating the influence of cold stress on cattle, however the emphasis within this review is the influence of heat stress on cattle. The impact of hot weather on cattle is of increasing importance due to the changing global environment. Heat stress is a worldwide phenomenon that is associated with reduced animal productivity and welfare, particularly during the summer months. Animal responses to their thermal environment are extremely varied, however, it is clear that the thermal environment influences the health, productivity, and welfare of cattle. Whilst knowledge continues to be developed, managing livestock to reduce the negative impact of hot climatic conditions remains somewhat challenging. This review provides an overview of the impact of heat stress on production and reproduction in bovines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela M Lees
- School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland; Gatton, QLD 4343, Australia.
- School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia.
| | - Veerasamy Sejian
- Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Adugodi, Bangalore 560030, India.
| | - Andrea L Wallage
- School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland; Gatton, QLD 4343, Australia.
| | - Cameron C Steel
- School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia.
| | - Terry L Mader
- Department of Animal Science, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
- Mader Consulting, Gretna, NE 68028, USA.
| | - Jarrod C Lees
- School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia.
| | - John B Gaughan
- School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland; Gatton, QLD 4343, Australia.
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Pryce JE, Nguyen TTT, Axford M, Nieuwhof G, Shaffer M. Symposium review: Building a better cow-The Australian experience and future perspectives. J Dairy Sci 2018; 101:3702-3713. [PMID: 29454697 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2017-13377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2017] [Accepted: 12/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Genomic selection has led to opportunities for developing new breeding values that rely on phenotypes in dedicated reference populations of genotyped cows. In Australia, it has been applied to 2 novel traits: feed efficiency, which was released in 2015 as feed saved breeding values, and heat tolerance genomic breeding values, released for the first time in 2017. Feed saved is already included in the national breeding objective, which is focused on profitability and designed to be in line with farmer preferences. Our future focus is on traits associated with animal health, either directly or in combination with predictor traits, such as mid-infrared spectral data and, into the future, automated data capture. Although it is common for many evaluated traits to have genomic reliabilities ranging between 60 and 75%, many new, genomic information-only traits are likely to have reliabilities of less than 50%. Pooling of phenotype data internationally and investing in maintenance of reference populations is one option to increase the reliability of these traits; the other is to apply improved genomic prediction methods. For example, advances in the use of sequence data, in addition to gene expression studies, can lead to improved persistence of genomic breeding values across breeds and generations and potentially lead to greater reliabilities. Lower genomic reliabilities of novel traits could reduce the overall index reliability. However, provided these traits contribute to the overall breeding objective (e.g., profit), they are worth including. Bull selection tools and personalized genetic trends are already available, but increased access to economic and automatic capture farm data may see even better use of data to improve farm management and selection decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- J E Pryce
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia; School of Applied Systems Biology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia.
| | - T T T Nguyen
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia
| | - M Axford
- DataGene Ltd., Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia
| | - G Nieuwhof
- Agriculture Victoria, AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia; DataGene Ltd., Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia
| | - M Shaffer
- DataGene Ltd., Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia
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Nguyen TT, Bowman PJ, Haile-Mariam M, Nieuwhof GJ, Hayes BJ, Pryce JE. Short communication: Implementation of a breeding value for heat tolerance in Australian dairy cattle. J Dairy Sci 2017; 100:7362-7367. [DOI: 10.3168/jds.2017-12898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2017] [Accepted: 05/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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