Selective breeding led to cows with a particular shape of leg, a high udder, a high fertility rate and strong milk production. The farm is neither tidy nor picturesque but worked hard and profitably. Of the eight people working the farm full-time, five are family. Since the 16th century in Holland, the Ooms have been dairy farmers. They have few vacations, and usually see only one day off every three weeks.
Their cows only occasionally graze. Eric Oom, a heavyset man with close-cropped strawberry-blond hair, whose father, Adrianus, began the farm, finds keeping track of nutrients a drag. In the barns, cows have a place to eat and a place to sleep.
Eric dreams of being more industrial. He would like to get an expensive robot that can milk 65 cows at once and is programmed to know the udder shape of each animal. Maybe our kids will do it. But he also realizes that there is a movement toward more artisanal dairies. Not all farmers can make conventional farming work. So he gradually switched to a herd of 23 Dutch Belted cows, which are entirely fed on grass. He no longer buys grain and is training horses to replace tractors, which will reduce equipment and fuel expenses.
He now has less than half as many cows and his cows produce less than half as much milk. His farm, Bwlchwernen Fawr, just celebrated its 40th anniversary, making it the longest-established organic dairy farm in Wales. Holden currently buys some oats and peas to supplement the grass, clover and grains he grows. In the milk business, popular perception is more important than science.
Will consumers pay for organic milk? The answer seems to be yes. He maintains that the low price of industrial milk is an illusion. Large industrial farms pollute the area with too much manure from too many cows. Something as simple as cows farting, when multiplied by thousands of cows, becomes a significant cause of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Now they are waking up. Dairies came late to the organic food movement in America, but once organic milk hit the market, it sold faster than any other organic food.
People wanted to know that their milk was produced with special care. In order for milk to get organic certification, the cows producing it could not be treated with hormones or antibiotics, nor could they be fed grains from genetically modified crops. Consumers also objected to the use of hormones, although farmers themselves curtailed their usage because promises of increased milk production turned out to be exaggerated. Horizon milk, originating at large and small farms, is mixed in tanks and packaged as Horizon.
Large national companies may not be what enthusiasts of the organic food movement had in mind, considering that the organic movement is tied to the locavore movement and the belief that quality food comes from small local farms who know their customers. Most farmers respect cows as the source of their income and often feel affection for them. The problem is that harsh treatment has become an inherent part of dairy farming, but a cow should not be driven so hard that after three or four years she is only good for hamburger meat.
In fact, Sweden passed a law requiring farms to let cows graze. A newborn calf is separated from its mother within days, if not hours. According to some farmers, the mothers moan with big, sad eyes, sometimes for days.
Although some dairy producers claim that not all cows are natural mothers. According to Ronny Osofsky of Ronnybrook Farm, one of the most sustainable milk and yogurt producers in upstate New York, some cows are maternal and some are not. The economic reality is that if a calf was free to suckle on her mother for a few months, as nature intended, the cow could well be happier and the calf healthier, but most farmers would lose what little profit there was from their farms.
For the cow, a high percentage of milk production comes from this period. Many farmers do what they can to treat their cows well. Some have experimented with playing their animals music; others name them. A number of studies indicate that cows have a preference for classical music. At Hawthorne Valley Farm in Ghent, New York, musicians are invited to sing Christmas carols to the cows every year, which is more of a Christmas celebration than a lot of working farmers get.
Dan Gibson, a former New York City business executive, wanted to start a different kind of farm. In , he bought a acre dairy farm in the Hudson Valley. At first, he let the occupant continue his dairy. He knew that milk produced in a different way would have to be more expensive but believed people back in New York City would be willing to pay for a better, more humane product.
The AWA label, started in and now recognized by the USDA, is intended to assure consumers that meat and dairy products are produced on farms that are kind to animals. The animals must be grazed and grass-fed and have practices that minimize environmental impact.
Not all AWA farms can be organic because one of the requirements is that sick animals receive antibiotics when needed, while organic rules prohibit antibiotic use. The emphasis is on quality: Ooms produces as much milk from two of his large Holsteins as Gibson can with his herd of 50 small brown Jersey cows 13 of which are being milked.
Can this sustain a business? Gibson believes so, though he has only been producing milk for two years, making it too soon to know for certain.
Ronny Osofsky, who owns the farm with his brother, Rick, prides himself on being good to his animals. If you are nice to them, they are nice to you. Ketosis Higher somatic cell count Delayed uterine involution Metritis Depressed feed intake Reduced milk yield 3. Optimize feed intake immediately after calving Provide 10 to 15 gallons of warm water with drinkable drench. Allow access to fresh total mixed ration.
Keep the feed bunks clean and fresh. Optimize cow comfort To optimize cow comfort in the fresh cow group: Use a stocking rate at 80 to 85 percent of capacity. Keep cows in a fresh cow group for 14 to 21 days. Provide 30 to 36 inches of bunk space per cow. Reduce social stress especially for first calf heifers.
Prevent cows from separating from the normal herd mates. Invest in cow cooling for dry and lactating cows. Maintain fiber mat with consistent feed intake and avoid empty bunks. Provide free choice buffer, and monitor buffer intake. Identify cows with a history of metabolic or health problems Cows with a history of milk fever, ketosis or mastitis are likely to face these problems again. This provides a safety margin to avoid overweight cows that: Have a higher risk for ketosis and fatty liver.
Are often more difficult to breed back. Position feed additives Fresh cow groups are most likely to offer a return on investments for feed additives. Studies support the following additives: Ionophores increase glucose availability. Rumen-protected choline improves liver health and function. Protected amino acids meet amino acid requirements without overfeeding protein.
Supplemental protected fat increases energy intake. Yeast culture stabilizes rumen fermentation. The conditions dairy cows endure on factory farms can cause pain, ulcers, and even bone fractures.
Psychological pain also appears to be prevalent on farms. Mothers have been known to cry for days at a time after their calves are removed from them at birth, a cruel practice that is standard in the industry.
Cows have evolved to produce enough milk for their calves, amounting to about one gallon of milk per day. Modern dairy farming has resulted in the drastic increase of milk production to seven and a half gallons per day. Cows are trapped in an endless cycle of pregnancy which forces their bodies to produce the largest amounts of milk possible. These practices, combined with the conditions on factory farms, give rise to numerous physical problems in cows that often result in chronic and debilitating pain.
For a dairy cow on a factory farm, infertility can be a death sentence. Because cows must give birth to produce milk, an infertile cow becomes a financial liability and will quickly be removed from the herd and killed. Even a decrease in fertility can be lethal. Some cows experience reproductive issues, requiring them to be bred less frequently.
But decreases in production are something most factory farms will not tolerate. Low-producing cows are often the first to be sent to slaughter. Lameness in dairy cows is often attributed to the conditions on factory farms, which see thousands of cows crowded into cramped, indoor spaces. Conditions such as ulcers in their hooves result from standing on concrete for prolonged periods, or a lack of opportunities to exercise.
Lameness is also triggered by infections, such as foot rot and digital dermatitis, which occur when cows are forced to stand in feces. Mastitis is an infection of the mammary gland in mammals caused by a bacterial infection.
The condition is one of the most common reasons for reduced production in cows, costing the industry billions of dollars every year. Infections are triggered by unsanitary conditions in barns, where cows lie on soiled bedding, or when they are exposed to contaminated equipment. Mastitis is a painful condition for cows but is only fatal if farmers see production levels drop. While the natural lifespan of many cows can reach 15 or even 20 years of age, the vast majority of dairy cows are not permitted to live more than years, at which point they're sent to slaughter, usually after their production levels drop.
Their death represents an inglorious and unfair end to a life of exploitation. In the US, both dairy cows and beef cattle are processed by the same slaughterhouses. By the time dairy cows arrive, their bodies are often so damaged and diseased that they're unable to make the short walk from the transport truck to the killing floor. As a result, downed cows are often pushed into slaughterhouses through side doors using bulldozers or other means of prodding.
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