The Dark Side of Dairy

Fundamentals of Dairy & Dairy Farming

Like us, cows have to give birth to produce milk; a liquid which is made by the body to nourish the baby. Dairy cows are kept in a cycle of pregnancy and birth so she will lactate.

Calves

So that the maximum amount of milk is collected for human consumption calves are removed from their mothers an hour, a few hours or a few days after they are born. Separation of mother and calf is highly stressful for both – the calf needs protecting and the cow’s strong maternal behaviour is denied. Females become part of the milking herd, males are useless for dairy so will become veal, low quality meat or ‘disposed of’ (shot).

Milk Yield

Milk is what it’s all about. Through selective breeding cows used for dairy farming now produce 10 times what they naturally would for a calf. This takes a toll on their health – a huge udder makes walking and lying difficult and the metabolic stress on her body is so intense it often causes health problems (such as lack of calcium, ending in ‘milk fever’).

Housing

Most dairy cows in the UK spend time in fields for six months of the year – but what most people don’t realise is that they are housed indoor in large sheds for the other six months.

Ill Health

Almost constant pregnancy and lactation, unnatural housing and unnatural feed takes its toll on the over-worked cow. Mastitis (a painful infection in of the udder) and lameness (an excruciating foot infection) are common conditions that dairy cows suffer.

Zero Grazing

Zero-grazing means feeding cattle with pasture plants or other food in a system that does not involve any time at pasture. Essentially zero-grazing and intensive dairy farming are extensions of the winter period where all cows are kept indoors, or in a yard. The cow is completely deprived of her natural environment and often kept in even larger groups, causing stress. A number of dairies in the UK are zero-grazing farms.

Culling and Slaughter

Cows are physically exhausted after a fraction of their natural life expectancy from the exploitation of their bodies. Once they are no longer economically viable they are culled or sent to the slaughter house.

Read our report on the dairy industry.