Farmers Urged to Prevent Heat Stress in Animals

The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) is encouraging livestock owners to be proactive in preventing heat stress in their animals.

According to the University of Minnesota, heat stress occurs when animals generate and absorb more heat than they can easily get rid of by respiration, sweating and air blowing.

Senior livestock Specialist at RADA, Maxine Brown, told JIS News that as summer continues and temperatures rise, if livestock owners intend to preserve their herds, they should have a strategy for keeping animals cool and addressing cases of heat stress.

“If you see an animal that is consistently being affected by temperature changes, you can eliminate that animal from the herd, because that animal seems to be prone to the condition,” she said.

Ms. Brown said it is ideal for farmers to have animals in their herd that are more adaptable to temperature changes.

“You want animals that are able to cope with the temperatures that you are having. If you see the animals are suffering from heat stress, then you can start to adjust by looking at your farm and determining if you need more shading or increasing your water stores, so the animals are able to cool themselves,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ms. Brown emphasised that properly managing heat stress through monitoring both environmental and animal temperatures is critical to the overall well-being of livestock.

“If the animals are under stress, they’re not going to be eating or reproducing, and they’re not going to give you a good growth rate. All these things that happen to the livestock, just like us humans when we’re under stress, affect productivity,” she said.

Farmers who need help with assessing their animals can reach out to the nearest RADA Office in their parish for assistance.

Persons can visit rada.gov.jm or call 876-977-1158 for details.