This summary was prepared by Hamed Kioumarsi, EBM at Springer Nature, in collaboration with Zary Shariman Yahaya (School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia) and Makario Sarsozo (Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, USA).
Citation: Kioumarsi, H., Shariman Yahaya, Z., & Sarsozo, M. (2026). Goat farming and climate change. Springer Nature Communities. https://go.nature.com/4fPkojs
Abstract
Climate change continues to pose greater danger to the agriculture sector globally, and the livestock sector remains among the most susceptible sectors within the food value chain. Climatic changes like temperature increases, precipitation changes, and the frequency of extreme weather events affect the intricate link between feed supply, animal physiology, and profitability. The present article reviews the links between nutrition, growth, and market feasibility of livestock production in the face of climatic changes. Climate-induced heat stress and feed shortages limit the growth of animals and negatively affect carcass quality and market feasibility. New literature indicates that there is reduced feeding by animals under warming environments. By combining climate-smart feeding approaches, adaptation, and resilience to the markets, this paper explores the wider picture of livestock production in a warming environment.
Introduction
The livestock industry is very important in terms of food security, employment opportunities, and agriculture. Not only does livestock provide protein from animals, but it also employs millions of people through different livestock production systems. However, the industry is increasingly becoming vulnerable to climate change impacts as climate change is changing the environment where animals are kept. Increased temperatures, floods, and erratic weather patterns are already impacting the productivity and viability of livestock.
In order to understand this problem, one should consider not only single biological and economic indicators. The process of raising livestock involves a combination of processes wherein nutrition is involved in growth, growth influences the time and costs needed to achieve the ideal weight for sale, and performance on the market affects the revenue of the farm. All these processes are impacted by climate change. Climate changes influence the yields of pasture and its quality, and the heat reduces the amount of feed intake.
Nutritional bottleneck
Livestock production is based, in part, on nutrition, but nutrition is one of the sectors that are affected by climate change in its early stages. This includes drought, unpredictable rains, and high temperatures, which all affect forage availability, particularly in semi-arid and arid environments where livestock owners have small margins to begin with. In such cases, small changes in feed availability will have drastic effects on body condition and reproduction.
Climate change has impacts on feed quality in addition to feed availability. Elevated CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere might promote growth of plants in certain cases, but generally lead to a reduction in the crude protein content and an increase in the fiber content of forage plants. It follows that animals will need to eat more but receive less energy from what they are eating.
Heat stress further compounds this problem of nutrition for animals. Heat stress causes animals to decrease voluntary intake of dry matter since it is associated with increased body heat generation. In the IPCC report summary, it is stated that for each degree of warming, the animal will decrease its feed intake by about 3 to 5 percent.
Growth rate disruption
When the process of nutrition becomes affected by temperature stress, animal growth will begin to decline. Heat stress affects the growth of the animals through various interrelated physiological effects. The increased temperatures require that animals use more energy in regulating body processes such as sweating, panting, and cardiovascular regulation, leaving little energy for muscle and tissue development.
There is also a change in the functioning of the endocrine system. Increased temperatures are related to low amounts of growth hormone, thyroid hormones, and insulin-like growth factor-1 in the blood of animals. Such hormonal changes lead to slower growth of animals and slower development towards market weight because the mentioned hormones are responsible for protein synthesis and tissue accumulation.
This means that producers will require more time for feeding animals and reaching market size and, therefore, incurring more costs in terms of feed, labor, and water supply.
Market viability
The biological impacts of climate change ultimately translate into economic costs. Reduced productivity lead to higher costs of production per animal. Additionally, the instability of feed markets becomes a concern since drought conditions and abnormal weather events affect grain and forage production.
Lower carcass quality may also be observed. Under heat stress, animals produce dressing rates that are substandard, as well as modified fat composition and poor meat quality. In beef production, one known issue is dark, firm, and dry meat that is unattractive to customers and leads to discounts on pricing.
Furthermore, climate change creates instability of supply conditions. During droughts, many farmers have to sell off their livestock, which increases market supply and lowers prices. Then, when livestock numbers become replenished more slowly than demand, supply gaps occur, and prices start to rise. Thus, this cycle of supply gluts and deficits impacts producers, processors, retailers, and consumers negatively.
Strategies for resilience
Livestock systems require climate change adaptations that incorporate nutrition, genetics, management, and policy measures in order to be sustainable. Single interventions are not enough in dealing with this challenge. The interdependence of all aspects of climate threats necessitate an integrated approach.
Interventions that relate to nutrition include precision feeding and the use of drought-resistant forage in order to compensate for decreasing nutritional value and shortages of feed resources, and additives for reducing heat stress. Genetic interventions involve selective breeding for heat tolerance and cross-breeding with more adaptable native breeds. Management interventions include the provision of shelters for protecting livestock from stress and losing their productivity and improved access to drinking water. Finally, policy measures like insurance against climate risks, better coordination within the value chains, and producers' education are important.
An efficient strategy for adapting livestock systems to climate risks should include all the above types of interventions in order to create a program that would tackle both short- and long-term challenges. It is necessary to coordinate efforts across disciplines and work together with producers.
Nutritional interventions
One such direct action is through the better formulation of diets. Feeds rich in energy content, bypass protein sources, and fat supplementation could serve to make up for low dry matter intakes of cattle due to high temperatures. In addition to this, there could be use of feed supplements like vitamins E and C, selenium, yeast culture, and electrolytes.
Sources of feed from alternative sources are also of significance. The need is for drought-resistant forages, spineless cactus, crop residue, and agricultural by-products for securing the feed supply in conditions where traditional pasture-based and grain feeding systems come under strain. Recent research emphasizes the need for climate-appropriate feed sources.
Genetic and management adaptation
Breeding efforts must also consider the increasing need for both productivity and resilience. Those animals that are able to withstand heat, disease, and still perform under adverse conditions will be increasingly important in the years ahead. There are many tropical production systems where breeds adapted to local conditions. However, management is also very important. Factors such as shade, ventilation, fans, sprinklers, and ready access to water can help alleviate heat stress and enhance animal welfare. While these may seem relatively simple, they can make a tremendous difference in productivity in extreme heat.
Market and policy support
Adaptation needs to happen outside of the farm as well. Weather-indexed insurance is one way that the impact of drought can be reduced economically, and the need to resort to emergency destocking may be lessened. Better cooperatives, improved storage, and better cold chain logistics are some other ways that this can be achieved.
Conclusion
The relationship among livestock feeding, growth rate, and the market is extremely vulnerable to climate disruption. The consequences of feed shortages and heat stress will swiftly affect the physiology of the animals and the economic fortunes of farmers and markets. For this reason, an adaptation strategy needs to be holistic.
A robust livestock industry will require climate-friendly feeding practices, better genetics, improved heat management, and sound market policies. All these can help keep the livestock industry productive and profitable.
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