The Dark Side Of Milk Production

The cow that once roamed the hills peaceful, even idyllic, is now a machine to produce milk under control. The bucolic image of the dairy cow with her calf playing in the meadow has no place in the commercial milk production. Many dairy cows are raised indoors. The cows live almost permanently in individual pens on concrete floors, they live in individual stalls with just enough space to stand or lie down. Your environment is completely controlled: they are fed measured amounts of feed, temperatures are adjusted to maximize milk yield and the lighting is artificial. Some farmers have found that a 16-hour cycle of light and 8 hours of darkness provides better performance.

After removing the first calf, the production cycle of the cow begins. They are milked twice a day, sometimes three, for ten months. After the third month, the cow is pregnant again. It will be milked until about six or seven weeks before the next delivery and over again as soon as it is deprived of the calf. Typically, this intensive course of gestation and hyper-lactation may last only five years, after which the cow "worn" is sent to the slaughterhouse to become hamburger or dog food.

In order to achieve maximum production, the producers feed cows with high energy concentrates such as soybean, fish meal, distillers’ by-products and even poultry manure. The unique digestive system of cows cannot properly process the food. The purpose of rumination is fermented slowly by digesting grass. At the time of increased production, a few weeks after the birth, the cow tends to spend more energy than they can eat. Since its ability to produce is beyond their ability to metabolize their food, the cow begins to lose control and uses its own tissues.

Dairy cows are sensitive animals that show physiological and psychological disturbances resulting from stress. They have a great need to identify with their 'carers'. In the present system of dairy farming, it is not allowed to be more than five minutes a day with each animal. In an article called "dairy farms that do not need prairies", one of the largest "dairies" boasts an advance that "allows a worker to feed 88 calves in 45 minutes-a task that would normally cost several men to do all day.