The paper “Comparison of the welfare of beef cattle in housed and grazing systems: hormones, health, and behaviour“, published in The Journal of Agricultural Science, has been chosen as the latest Editorial Highlight and is freely available to download for one month.

One of the most important decisions for beef farmers is whether to house or graze their cattle. This choice has implications for resource management, economics, the environment, and, notably, animal health and welfare – which we investigated in this study. As part of our ‘Soil to Nutrition’ Institute Strategic Program (funded by BBSRC), we compared conventionally reared cattle, which were housed in winter (fed on silage) and grazed on pasture in summer, with intensively reared cattle that were housed year-round (fed silage plus concentrate). Our comparisons encompassed behavior, physical health, hormones, and performance.

The most striking difference observed was in behavior. Housed cattle exhibited a higher incidence of negative behavior, including boredom and lower activity levels, which appeared to be due to the increasing time and area utilized for grazing. Reduced sociability was also observed, and it appeared that in housing, individuals chose to utilize the space available, while on pasture, social cohesion was greater, possibly because herd groupings offer safety in numbers. Nasal discharge was more prevalent among housed cattle, likely attributed to closer proximity and reduced airflow compared to being outdoors. There were minimal differences in other physical health indicators. Grazing cattle yielded slightly higher hair cortisol concentrations. The exact reasoning for this is unclear, but it may be a result of the increased physical exertion required on pasture. Growth rates were greater in the housed cattle, though this was expected due to differences in diet.

Overall, the results favoured grazing as the more beneficial strategy for cattle health and welfare, despite a trade-off in individual animal performance. This preference can be attributed to the favourable behavior exhibited by grazing cattle and the cognitive benefits associated with it.

It is important to note that both groups of cattle were reared on Rothamsted Research’s North Wyke Farm Platform, a BBSRC National Bioscience Research Infrastructure, ensuring high standards of husbandry. Therefore, the results must be interpreted in this context. In other settings where husbandry practices may not necessarily meet these standards, or under extreme conditions (e.g., extreme weather events, disease outbreaks), different outcomes might be observed. Hence, future research should focus on conducting larger-scale studies and evaluating the potential risks associated with different cattle management systems.

The Journal of Agricultural Science Editorial Highlights are selected by the Editor-in-Chief and are freely available for one month. View the recent selections here.