Benefits of shade and shelter for beef cattle

Being kept outdoors provides animals with outdoor space and the opportunity to perform their normal behaviours, allowing them to live more natural lives. However, this also exposes them to a variety of environmental conditions – so it’s important for their welfare to have access to shade and shelter. The welfare of beef cattle can be improved if they have the ability to rest (and ruminate) comfortably under shade and shelter.

In many pasture-based farming systems, shelter or shade is commonly provided by way of vegetation, topography such as rocks and ridges, and by other animals (i.e. animals grouping together). Other ways to minimise the effects of adverse weather may be to provide more water in the summer heat, or to provide extra feed in the winter cold.

These methods can be insufficient to provide animals with a good physical environment and a positive mental experience as per the Five Domains, which is the model that underpins SPCA Certified.

Artificial shelters in the form of shade cloth, huts, sheds, or barns can also be provided in outdoor farming systems to help improve the welfare of beef cattle. Shade is particularly important for dark coated cattle, who can suffer from heat stress more easily. In addition, trees and shelterbelts will help provide appropriate shelter – and can provide supplement feed if required.

SPCA Certified standards for beef cattle explicitly require access to shade and shelter in all paddocks at all times. This goes further than the minimum standard under the law, which only requires ‘the means to minimise the effects of heat stress’.

Shade and shelter can have multiple benefits for beef cattle beyond helping cows manage their body temperature. All cows and calves in the Certified programme have opportunities to scratch and groom themselves on trees and other structures that are available in paddocks.

See below to learn more about the many benefits of providing shade and shelter for beef cattle.