Blue light is vital for dairy cattle health and productivity. Disruptions to natural light experienced using indoor lighting can negatively impact dairy cattle welfare. Implementing alternative lighting schedules at night that use red-light only can reduce the negative impacts on dairy cattle welfare.
Across the UK, around 40,000 dairy cattle are reared indoors for the whole year. In this article, we discuss how lighting in barns can be used to maximise the health of dairy cattle and optimise milk productivity. We focus on two aspects of lighting used in sheds, namely their wavelength and intensity.
How light influences daily rhythms in dairy cattle physiology and welfare