Doktorand Karin Berggren

I graduated with a degree in veterinary medicine from SLU in 2023 and then worked as a research assistant at KV in veterinary epidemiology. I have a keen interest in farm animals and am driven by working for healthy and prosperous animals.

My project is about the best way to cool dairy cows in a Swedish climate to counteract heat stress. Heat stress affects cows in several ways, including negative effects on their health, welfare, and reproduction. Cows suffering from heat stress generally eat less, spend less time lying down in their cubicles, lose milk production, and experience changes in milk composition. In addition, reproductive disorders are observed, including cows having more difficulty becoming pregnant. In addition to the effects seen directly in connection with hot weather, heat stress also has long-term consequences. If cows do not become pregnant as expected during the summer, this affects the flow of animals and can lead to an increased concentration of calving if many cows become pregnant at the same time when temperatures begin to drop. This affects recruitment and can lead to uneven occupancy in the barns. In addition, negative effects have also been seen on calves born to cows that have been heat stressed during late pregnancy, including smaller calves, poorer growth, and lower milk production later in life. Overall, heat stress leads to a number of negative consequences, and even Swedish summers are warm enough to cause heat stress in dairy cows. As climate change progresses, a warmer climate is predicted in Sweden, which can be expected to result in increased problems with heat stress in dairy cows.

To counteract heat stress in dairy cows, there are various cooling methods that are already widely used abroad in areas with a warm climate. Examples of cooling methods that actively cool cows include fans and various water-based solutions (e.g., sprinklers, showers, misters/foggers). However, there is a lack of studies and information on which cooling methods are most effective in temperate areas. Our project therefore aims to conduct studies on dairy farms in Sweden to see which cooling methods work best here. We will focus on evaluating fans and water-based solutions such as sprinklers/soakers, as these are most often recommended in studies abroad.

In parallel with the studies to investigate the effectiveness of cooling methods, we will also conduct interviews and workshops with farmers, advisors, experts, and other stakeholders to investigate the opportunities and obstacles they see in connection with different cooling methods. The ultimate goal is to lay the foundation for recommendations that are evidence-based, sustainable, and practically applicable for Swedish farmers.