Animal Health & Welfare

Milk from healthy and well-cared animals provides nutrition security for millions of people around the world.

IDF work on dairy animal health and welfare focuses on dialogue and discussion on, and form consensus about new developments in the dairy sector field of animal health and animal welfare, their implications on prevention of diseases considering aspects relating to farm economics, food safety, human health, and dairy technology.

IDF also works to assess the effects of cattle diseases on animal welfare and dairy production for human consumption, as well as maintaining relations with intergovernmental and non- governmental bodies.

The dairy sector supports animal welfare

The dairy sector is committed to implementing best practices to ensure animal welfare based on scientific evidence and reference standards. The IDF promotes the implementation of good animal welfare practices in dairy production at global scale and refers to key Standards.

The IDF is actively contributing to the work on animal welfare of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

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The role of the IDF is to provide science-based expertise and consensus for the global sector

Learn more about animal health & welfare

The breadth of issues IDF covers in its work is extensive. Find out more about the work we do.

Promoting the welfare of dairy animals

For a dairy farmer to be successful at producing milk of good quality, the welfare needs of dairy an...

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Excellent udder health for high quality milk

Excellent udder health during lactation results in high quality milk.

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Calf care from birth to weaning

The animal health and welfare management of calves from birth to weaning is of great importance to t...

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Heat stress in dairy cattle

Heat stress in dairy cows can have negative consequences for milk production, and for reproduction, ...

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Minimizing the need for antimicrobial use

To minimize the need for antimicrobial use, the dairy sector encourages good animal health and welfa...

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Farm Management

Dairy farming of all scales, in all regions, contributes to food security and achievement of sustain...

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Related reports & publications

IDF provides a permanent source of authoritative scientific and other information on a whole range of topics relevant to the dairy sector.

Related news & insights

IDF provides a permanent source of authoritative scientific and other information on a whole range of topics relevant to the dairy sector.