Battery Farming Cows - I despair

[PAULW]

My simple little brain sees it as just a way to carry on providing cheap huge plastic bottles of milk,quarter of which will probably end up down the drain.
I don't think there's so much a need for the country to produce more milk but to encourage people to buy/waste less.
t.

If this was true we wouldn't be importing tanker loads of milk in from Poland to make up the shortfall.
Taken from Warmwell dot com
Parlimentary debate
Forty thousand cattle with TB were lost or slaughtered last year; I think it was 41,000 the year before. And so it goes on. And so it will go on this year. Some of those animals and herds have been totally decimated. One can therefore understand the reaction. What is the cost to the taxpayer of dealing with the problem? Furthermore, what is the cost to the nation of the loss of production of both milk and dairy products that could be produced in this country, when we are in fact importing millions of litres of milk which would be totally unnecessary if only this disease could be got under control?"

[Nicos]

Hmm...well...I reckon there's a shortage in the UK cos so many small farms had to sell their milkers because of EU regs about stainless steel milking areas ( which I've yet to see appear over here!!)
Our UK farming friend had about 10 milkers and decided to borrow the money to install what was required to carry on milking ( 15 year ago ish) and then the following year was told by the peeps who collected his milk that he wasn't producing enough milk to make it viable to collect. So having spent all that £ - and still owing the bank, he ended up selling his cows.
Absolutely stupid - after 100 years of milking the same number of cows too!
Oh yes- and to carry on selling dressed ducks, chickens and guinea fowl he had to convert a room into a cold storage. So bang went his small profits at Xmas

Perhaps the farmer should be paid a better amount for each litre of milk produced- and we should be charged more in the shops.
I have to pay well over £1 for a litre of fresh milk here. I just make sure it doesn't go to waste!!

[di]

My simple little brain sees it as just a way to carry on providing cheap huge plastic bottles of milk,quarter of which will probably end up down the drain.
I don't think there's so much a need for the country to produce more milk but to encourage people to buy/waste less.
t.

If this was true we wouldn't be importing tanker loads of milk in from Poland to make up the shortfall.

I'm not doubting there's a high demand for milk...I just wonder how much of it is consumed and how much of it ends up down the drain.
People are taken in by the 'buy a six pinter for the same price as four'.When it goes sour and they're forced to throw the last of it down the drain they don't think twice about buying another six pinter cos the wasted two pints were/are free...right?
Like I say,my brain's a simple one but I'd have thought it better to tackle how much goes to waste as opposed to finding ways to produce even more.

[PAULW]

ANDI&DI
The most stupid thing IMO is that we have the best land the best animals and farmers and the worst goverment in the world it is a government of the town and know nothing of the countryside, we have been running for the past 13 years with the idea that this is a rich country and we can buy all our food in we dont need to produce anything, there has been no thought or care in to the welfare or conditions the food is produced unless it is produced at home then it has rules regulations and redtape ad infinitum making the local food to dear for local consumption compared with the imported stuff .

[Alison]

Cows bedded on deep sand for "unparallelled levels of hygiene and comfort".

Hmmmm, cows those well known beach dwelling animals..............

ANDI&DI
The most stupid thing IMO is that we have the best land the best animals and farmers and the worst goverment in the world

The worst government in the world eh? Whilst they are by no means perfect, I'd take ours any day over some of the tyrants and dictators who impose daily government oppression in their countries in other corners of the world...............

[PAULW]

Hmmmm, cows those well known beach dwelling animals..............


.

ALISON the reason the cattle are on sand is to stop them damaging thier feet if they were on concrete this would be abrasive if they were on straw/shavings this would be damp and cause rot sand would allow the wet to soak away.


The worst government in the world eh? Whilst they are by no means perfect, I'd take ours any day over some of the tyrants and dictators who impose daily government oppression in their countries in other corners of the world...............

At least tyrants and dictators have an idea of what they are doing.

[Alison]

ALISON the reason the cattle are on sand is to stop them damaging thier feet if they were on concrete this would be abrasive if they were on straw/shavings this would be damp and cause rot sand would allow the wet to soak away.


The worst government in the world eh? Whilst they are by no means perfect, I'd take ours any day over some of the tyrants and dictators who impose daily government oppression in their countries in other corners of the world...............

At least tyrants and dictators have an idea of what they are doing.

I would shout your name back but can't as you're already in capitals.......

To be honest, the first comment was more a tongue in cheek comment and I fully agree that cows shouldn't be stood on concrete but I still think that grass is better when feasible and would prefer cows to be farmed humanely and not grown in a factory.

Re the second comment re tyrants, I'm hoping that you make your comment above either as a misplaced joke or to get a reaction. No idea which but rather unnecessary.

[PAULW]

Re the second comment re tyrants, I'm hoping that you make your comment above either as a misplaced joke or to get a reaction. No idea which but rather unnecessary.

No joke deadly serious

[zazen999]

Could we stick to the topic in hand; and debate that without getting into generalisations.....

Cheers

[HayleyB]

I think Nicos about got it right, when the UK 'had' to abide by EU rules on dairy standards, the rest of the EU ignored them.

Grass is a natural food for cattle and I'll bet Jersey cows (in Jersey) producing the best milk/cream in the world don't end up in these sorts of places.

Me I buy my bottle from the milkman, from a local dairy supplied by local farmers.

[Alison]

Me I buy my bottle from the milkman, from a local dairy supplied by local farmers.

Me too . Works really well for us too, don't have to store as much in the fridge as it turns up every day and is fresher so we don't end up throwing it away due to it going off. And can reuse the bottles which is better than recycling the plastic ones.

[JanieB]

Sorry, but as an ex farmers wife can I stick my oar in? If you read the article it says "open sided sheds" and that the cattle will be out in the fields in the summer. This is the same farming that has been in force for several thousand years. Open sided sheds mean that the cattle can access a yard (not a concrete one) and also be under a roof in bad weather.

As I recollect our domesticated cattle are descended from aurochs. They would not have over wintered on grassy plains but more probably in forests which "open sided sheds" would replicate.

I can remember occasions when our cows were released back out in the fields too early. I've been out there in my nighty, dressing gown, wellie boots and rollers trying to rescue a calf born early, out of a stream. Did the the bl@@dy mother think it was a birthing pool?

You cannot keep cattle on grass over winter. The grass doesn't grow and the cows hooves churn the fields up so much that they sink into the mud and get stuck. They get distressed and break their legs.

All the townie, veggie will in the world, get real.

[zazen999]

All the townie, veggie will in the world, get real.

Again; stop with the generalisations please.

[Nicos]

JanieB
Yup- I can understand what you say- I hadn't thought of that aspect.
What concerns me most is overcrowding and the feeding of non natural products.

I really find it hard to come to terms with all this cheap food production, when 1/3 of what we buy goes in the bin.

[PAULW]

JanieB
As one of the now three people on this thread that have had dealings with farm animals I totally agree with your comments.