Location: Livestock Behavior Research
Project Number: 5020-32000-013-031-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: May 1, 2016
End Date: Sep 1, 2020
Objective:
To evaluate the impact of climate change on livestock physiology with the goal of developing mitigation and recovery strategies that producers can use to improve productivity and overall well-being of animals.
Approach:
Climate change threatens the overall welfare and productivity of agriculturally important livestock species both within the United States and globally. In order to reduce its negative effects on animal health and well-being this project will use a multi-disciplinary approach to develop producer tools and mitigation strategies to improve the welfare and productivity of swine. Studies will be performed to elucidate the effects of differing levels of heat stress on the thermal status of swine in order to update thermal stress guidelines for producers. In addition, this project will evaluate the impact of different cooling practices following heat waves on physiological health of swine in order to improve future management practices during times of thermal stress.
