Best care for animals
We commit to striving for health, welfare and best care for all our animals throughout their lives.
The health and wellbeing of animals is critical to the Australian dairy industry. Appropriate care for our animals is essential not only to the success of every farming business, but our moral responsibility. It is an expectation of our customers and stakeholders.
It is our commitment to continue to improve our practices and report transparently on how we are progressing and where we need to do more.
Our goals.
The 2030 goal we have set for ourselves around animal welfare in the Australian Dairy Industry Sustainability Framework is to:
Provide best care for all animals for whole of life (Framework Goal 7)
Check out our progress on our goals against baseline and 2030 targets in the 2020 Summary Scorecard.
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Breeding for cow welfare
Breeding for cow welfare
Datagene develops modern tools and resources to drive genetic gain and herd improvement in the Australian dairy industry. Datagene has developed an Australian Breeding Value for heat tolerance, which allows farmers to breed animals with improved tolerance to hot, humid conditions - a characteristic that is likely to become increasingly important in a warming climate and can also have benefits for animal welfare.
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You Ask We Answer
You Ask We Answer
We know people have questions about dairy. You Ask, We Answer was developed for people to ask questions and get the answers they're looking for, from real experts. Discover dairy questions that have already been answered or ask your own.
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Support for farmers
Support for farmers
Online courses such as Dairy Australia's Working with Livestock module helps staff understand their role in safely and effectively working with livestock in order to ensure the wellbeing of all animals and people on farm.
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Australian Animal Welfare Standards
Australian Animal Welfare Standards
The Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Cattle have been developed to safeguard the welfare of cattle on farms across Australia. The Standards have been developed by the Australian and State governments in consultation with Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF), Dairy Australia, other livestock organisations and animal welfare groups. The dairy industry works with farmers to help ensure these standards are met and supports appropriate actions taken by state authorities who regulate the standards.
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Tracking progress
Tracking progress
To benchmark improvements in the welfare of dairy animals, Dairy Australia has regularly conducted the Animal Husbandry Survey since 2005. The data gathered is used to identify where the industry requires more support and information, to inform future development of the National Dairy Industry Animal Welfare Strategy, as well as to track the uptake of recommended practices.
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Case studies
Case studies
Adopting best-practice pain management strategies on farm can enhance productivity and welfare outcomes. Read more about how dairy farmers are helping their animals through necessary procedures or a period of ill-health.
