Get cows sweaty and the world will likely be a safer place, scientists declare
Boffins believe sweaty cows could help to save us from global warming.
Scientists found the animals tend to stop eating and breeding when they get too hot, which reduces beef and milk production and results in fewer calves being born – risking our planet’s food security.
But sweatier cows are more likely to continue chewing grass and getting jiggy as temperatures rise.
A team from the University of Florida now plans to help farmers carry out selective breeding to create clammier cattle.
Professor Raluca Mateescu said: “Heat stress is the main threat of food security.
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“Under heat stress, the growth production and reproduction of cattle are affected.”
(Image: Getty Images/Tetra images RF)
She told trade journal Food Manufacture: “Unless we’re doing something to affect the ability of our cattle to thrive in heat stress conditions, they are not going to reproduce, so there’s a food security concern there.”
Researchers found an estimated £291million of beef production is lost annually across the globe due to cow heat stress.
Prof Mateescu said cows eliminated 85% of their body heat via perspiration.
Her team is working to identify the genes within breeds of cattle that will lead to the sweatiest, heat-tolerant offspring.
The study, published in the Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology, looked at 2,401 Brangus cattle, a cross between Brahman and Angus cows, on two ranches in Florida.
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Skin biopsies were taken to determine the physical characteristics that contribute to the beasts’ ability to manage heat stress, such as the size of sweat gland area.
The scientists were able to collect data on the cows’ particular type and arrangement of genes and used software to estimate genetic parameters.
They found that a moderate amount of variation in sweating ability is genetic, which they said would enable farmers to select sweatier cattle for breeding.
