Comparative Assessment of Livestock Welfare and Productivity in Pasture Based and Intensive Feedlot Systems Under Climatic Stress

Abstract

Addressing livestock welfare and productivity in the various production systems in the face of climate change and environmental variability has become a major challenge. This study aims to provide a comparison of livestock welfare and productivity in pasture-based and intensive feedlot production systems in climatic stress conditions, using the livestock dataset FAOSTAT and incorporating climatic indicators. The study recognizes that there are studies that do not provide integrated analysis of welfare with productivity under environmental stress. A quantitative comparative research design was utilized, which involved livestock production indicators and climatic variables such as temperature, humidity, rainfall, and Temperature–Humidity Index (THI). The data were pre-processed through data cleaning, data normalization, and a composite data welfare index. The relationships between climatic variables, welfare, and productivity indicators were analyzed using the Pearson correlation. The results showed that the pasture system had a higher welfare score (85.4) and a lower stress index (32.5), while the intensive feedlot system had higher productivity with meat production of 586.8 kg/year, milk production of 4515.7 L/year, and better feed efficiency (86.5%). The results of the correlation showed that there was a moderate relationship between the climatic stress and welfare indicators that showed the effect of climatic stress on animal welfare and production was negative. The study concludes that incorporating welfare concepts with productivity management strategies can enhance sustainable livestock production with the altered climatic conditions.