Dairy Cooling in Humid Subtropical Climates

This guide is a climate-specific extension of the summary article “Dairy Cooling: The Benefits and Strategies,” which describes heat stress, its costs and consequences, and several strategies for its mitigation. Herein, we focus on the special challenges faced by dairy producers seeking to prevent heat stress in regions with hot and humid summers and warm winters. We discuss the various facility design options and the pros, cons and costs of the ventilation and cooling systems most commonly used in freestall barns located in these regions.