Padang (ANTARA) - Climate change is often discussed in terms of rising sea levels, extreme weather, and devastating floods. However, one important consequence has received far less attention: its growing impact on food production. Every increase in temperature, every prolonged heat wave, and every shift in weather patterns quietly affects the animals that supply milk, meat, and other essential food products.
For tropical countries such as Indonesia, this issue deserves greater attention. Unlike temperate regions, tropical dairy farming operates under relatively warm environmental conditions. Even small increases in ambient temperature can place dairy cows under physiological stress, reducing their productivity while increasing production costs. Therefore, climate adaptation in livestock farming is no longer a future agenda but a present necessity.
This realization became even clearer during discussions at the 7th International Conference on Environmental Engineering (ICOEE) 2026 in Bali, where researchers, engineers, policymakers, and industry representatives exchanged ideas on environmental resilience. Despite representing different scientific disciplines, many discussions converged on one central message: societies must move from reacting to environmental crises to anticipating them through science, innovation, and better management.
This shift in thinking is particularly important for dairy farming.
Heat stress has long been recognized as a major constraint in dairy production. When the environmental temperature and humidity increase beyond the comfort zone of dairy cattle, the animals consume less feed, experience physiological stress, and gradually produce less milk. Most farmers are familiar with these phenomena. However, an important question remains largely overlooked: Does milk production decline immediately after cows’ experience heat stress, or does the response occur later in the lactation period?
Understanding this timing may appear to be a technical scientific question, but it has significant practical consequences.
My recent research on tropical highland dairy farms examined the influence of environmental heat stress on milk production over time. Instead of assuming that the effects occur instantly, this study investigated the possibility of delayed responses using a time-lag approach.
The findings revealed that dairy cows do not always respond to heat stress in the same manner. On one farm, milk production decreased on the same day that the environmental heat stress intensified. However, on another farm, the greatest decline occurred approximately 24 h later. Although the timing differed, the overall pattern remained consistent, with prolonged exposure to heat stress reducing milk production.
These findings challenge a common assumption in dairy management.
Many farmers respond only after noticing a decline in milk production or visible signs of heat stress. Unfortunately, by this stage, the physiological burden had already affected the animals. Waiting until production declines is similar to treating a disease only after severe symptoms have appeared. Prevention is always more effective than treatment.
This is precisely why climate adaptation should be viewed as a predictive strategy rather than merely a corrective one.
Currently, affordable environmental sensors can continuously monitor temperature and humidity. Internet of Things (IoT) technologies allow these data to be transmitted in real time via wireless communication. Early warning systems can alert farmers before heat stress reaches dangerous levels, enabling them to activate cooling systems, adjust feeding schedules, improve ventilation, or increase water availability before milk production declines.
These technologies are no longer futuristic concepts. They are increasingly becoming practical tools for precision livestock farming, including smallholder dairy systems.
However, technology alone cannot solve this problem.
Climate adaptation also requires stronger collaboration among researchers, government agencies, universities, industries, and farmers. Scientific discoveries must move beyond journal publications and conference presentations to become practical innovations that farmers can apply in their daily operations to improve their productivity. Simultaneously, policymakers should recognize climate adaptation as an investment in national food security rather than merely an agricultural issue.
Another important lesson emerging from the ICOEE is that environmental sustainability cannot be approached sector by sector. Discussions on water resilience highlighted the importance of safe water reuse, while sessions on the circular economy emphasized the transformation of waste into valuable resources. Other presentations explored environmental biotechnology, wastewater treatment, advanced materials and green technologies. Although these topics may seem unrelated to dairy farming, they share a common principle: resources must be managed efficiently in a changing climate.
The livestock sector should embrace this philosophy.
Future dairy farms cannot rely solely on better genetics or improved feeding practices alone. They must also become smarter in managing environmental conditions, more efficient in using water and energy, and better prepared for increasingly unpredictable weather patterns. Climate adaptation is no longer simply about protecting cows from heat; it is about building resilient production systems capable of sustaining food supplies for future generations.
Indonesia possesses many ingredients required to achieve this transformation. The country has dedicated researchers, expanding technological capacity, and dairy farmers who continue to innovate despite the numerous challenges. The next step is to strengthen the connection between scientific research and practical implementation so that the knowledge generated in universities can directly benefit farming communities.
Climate change is already altering the environment in which dairy cattle live and are produced. The question is no longer whether adaptation is necessary but whether we are willing to adapt before the consequences become irreversible.
Waiting is no longer an option for tropical dairy farming.
Eli Ratni is a lecturer in the Faculty of Animal Science at Universitas Andalas, Indonesia. Her research focuses on heat stress adaptation, precision dairy farming, and climate-smart animal husbandry systems. This opinion is based on research presented at the 7th International Conference on Environmental Engineering (ICOEE) 2026, Bali, Indonesia, and supports Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2 (Zero Hunger) and 13 (Climate Action).
“This activity is funded by the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) on behalf of the Indonesian Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology and managed under the EQUITY Program (Contract No. 4304/B3/DT.03.08/2025)”