Maintain livestock health and performance

Climate change is expected to affect livestock production by increasing animal stress from diverse changes that include higher temperatures, changes in forage quality and quantity, and increases in pest and pathogen incidence (Walthall et al. 2012). This approach works to reduce the risks associated with livestock production systems by maintaining animal performance levels and reducing the negative impacts of environmental changes that increase animal vulnerability. The risks to livestock systems increase when performance levels drop, for any reason, making them more vulnerable to other changes in environmental parameters (Hahn et al. 2005). Maintaining adequate livestock health and performance prepares animals to cope better with changing and extreme conditions.

Climate change is likely to increase stress on agricultural systems through a variety of direct and indirect effects (Walthall et al. 2012). Changes in temperature and other climatic conditions will have numerous impacts on agricultural systems (Pryor et al. 2014; Horton et al. 2014). Systems may already be performing poorly because of stressors like insect pests, pathogens, or competing species, which can make agricultural commodities more susceptible to impacts from climate change. Reducing stressors of agricultural commodities that are presently unaffected or indirectly affected by climatic stressors will often increase the ability of the system to cope with future changes in climate.