Shoppers have driven the move to UK super-dairies
THERE has been much media comment about the proposed Nocton "super-dairy".
I have no knowledge of, or connection with, the syndicate proposing this venture, but as a veterinary surgeon (retired) I am particularly interested in the welfare of the dairy cow.
Mostly, there has been fear of anticipated problems. But large dairy units are not new and unknown.
Over the years, the size of dairy herds has been getting larger in the UK. But they have not been getting worse.
Nor is it fair to brand this as simply a money-making venture, because it has evolved by necessity in response to continual demand by shoppers and supermarkets for lower prices.
People who are quick to be critical have themselves contributed because they have supported the demand for low-priced milk.
Most of the comment has been about the potential for smells and traffic; and fears about animal welfare for the cows.
A modern, purpose-built dairy unit will be planned to take account of all these factors and could, in fact, be less obtrusive then a traditional dairy farm.
In recent years, the supermarkets, with the full support of the buying public, have reduced the price of milk to a level at which conventional family dairy farms cannot make a living.
Literally thousands have already been forced out of business.
These were the farms which treated cows as individuals. Dairy farms, to live with the economic pressure of supermarkets and shoppers, need the economies of scale with much larger herds where the cows have to be treated more as numbers.
They are still treated humanely. Farmers are farmers because they have a real regard for their animals and their very hard and demanding way of life.
Milk at the price demanded by the shopper can only be provided by large herds. This is already the case, although most people do not realise it and it is too late to go back to family-run dairy farms; they are gone for good.
Organisations, businesses and suppliers associated with farming are well aware of those changes.
There is legislation to ensure standards of environmental hygiene and animal welfare. Large numbers of cows can be handled in humane, convenient and economical ways.
Specialised units can provide correct rations and diet for individuals, comfortable and clean living conditions for the cows and convenient methods of milking large numbers efficiently.
New large-scale units are designed to keep conditions clean and hygienic and use large-scale industrial methods to process waste without polluting the environment, the air and the locality.
Commercial digesters can convert dung and straw to methane gas to provide energy (spreading raw dung on fields is not an option).
Cows do not need to be always under roofs; they can be turned out to grass in batches in rotation to graze pasture efficiently. The buildings are usually placed well away from the public.
In this country, there is control of these things and it would be wrong to believe that pictures and images imported from units in other countries would be repeated in Britain.
The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC), an independent advisory body, has recently tackled this very question in a letter to Jim Paice, the Minister for Agriculture and Food. The letter is available to read on the FAWC website.
It gives a very clear and unbiased review of factors surrounding very large herds, for and against.
DR IAN M. YOUNG Nettleham.
4 Comments
by Nephew of Sam, Slovenia
Tuesday, September 14 2010, 6:06AM
“This letter does not contain enough twaddle for the Echo and specifically does not mention any plans for fluoridating milk.
Would all vets please write letters full of twaddle asking someone like Andy Burnham to fluoridate milk.”
by John, Lincoln
Thursday, September 09 2010, 5:52PM
“Must learn to type better, clammer should read clamour.”
by John, Lincoln
Thursday, September 09 2010, 4:56PM
“"It is a sad fact that, if Delia, Hugh, Gordon or Jamie (all of whom I admire greatly) got behind the campaign against this industrial dairy and urged the consumer to choose milk from local, independent dairy farmers, the supermarkets would stock it" But that is the whole point of the letter, it is simply not sustainable and they could never provide the amount of milk required in the way.
"Unfortunately, the humble shopper has very little say in the matter" yes you do, don't buy the items you don't agree with.
If it wasn't for more intensive farming the price of a pint of milk would be significantly higher. This constant clammer for going back to the good old days is far more "a retrograde step" than preventing progress.”
by Julie, Potterhanworth
Thursday, September 09 2010, 3:57PM
“Dr Young: leaving aside your comments about the welfare of the cows, please can I ask where you have gathered your evidence for the comments "continual demands by shoppers . . . " and "they have supported the demand for low priced milk"?
Who has? Where are the shoppers, marching on Tescos demanding cheap milk? I've never seen them.
The supermarkets must shoulder the blame - it is they who have forced down the price of milk, squeezing the farmer as tight as possible.
It is a sad fact that, if Delia, Hugh, Gordon or Jamie (all of whom I admire greatly) got behind the campaign against this industrial dairy and urged the consumer to choose milk from local, independent dairy farmers, the supermarkets would stock it. Unfortunately, the humble shopper has very little say in the matter. No-one's ever asked me if I demand buy-one, get-one-free cheap & nasty cheddar, yoghurts and other sub-standard products, yet I am bombarded with them every time I shop.
At the moment, consumers have no choice - why is milk labelled so confusingly? Why aren't we allowed to know where it has come from? My strawberries might as well arrive with a passport, I am given so much information about their origins. Most food now is clearly labelled - milk seems to be the exception.
As a member of a group of local residents vehemently opposed to the Nocton Dairy, can I also correct your information about our objections. Yes, we object to potential, smells, flies and increased transport (and rightly so, if evidence from similar set-ups is anything to go by). However, other objections include the impact on the environment - particularly our drinking water, the spreading of slurry over a huge area around our homes and schools, employment opportunities for local people and - very importantly - the demise of the independent dairy farmer.
Pressure from local people forced the applicants to withdraw their original application. It is us (along with animal welfare organisations) who have raised awareness of what might be coming our way. The applicants kept very quiet.
Only now, because they have no option, are they attempting to consult the people affected.
I am dismayed that at a time when we are being encouraged to buy local, seasonal produce - quality rather than quantity - when people have worked so hard to raise awareness of the plight of factory farmed pigs & chickens, that we are on the brink of such a retrograde step. Where will it all end?
As a nation, we are fatter and unhealthier than we have ever been. Why do we need cheaper & cheaper food?
You may well have been a very good vet, but you are very out of tune with people!”