Of the bovine ilk: quantifying the welfare of dairy cattle in history, 1750–1900

Abstract The costs, benefits, and ethical considerations regarding animal welfare are a central element in modern capitalist agriculture, yet systematic quantitative historical insights are lacking. To overcome this, we seek to understand animal welfare in the Danish dairy sector from 1750 to 1900, a period marked by significant agricultural development and industrialization. By applying contemporary animal welfare metrics to historical data, we uncover a complex pattern of both improvements and declines in welfare over time, influenced by largely economically motivated changes in farming practices such as feeding, housing, and health management. Our work thus contributes to a deeper understanding of the nexus of economic progress and animal welfare, and invites the field of economic history to focus more on externalities in the development process.