Considerations for Cooling Dairy Cows with Water.

Heat stress results in substantial economic losses to the dairy industry and is problematic for animal welfare. Soaking cattle with water is an effective form of heat abatement. This technique cools cattle when water evaporates from the skin and drips from the animal, and cools the microclimate. To evaluate cooling effectiveness and make appropriate adjustments to heat abatement, animal-based indicators should be recorded in addition to environmental measures. Ideally, heat abatement should be provided to all life stages of dairy cattle and soakers should be combined with shade.