treatment of dairy cows on a good dairy farm

[Guest guest]

Greetings all,

 

This is a post from the vegan e-mail list I to. Someone

corresponded with an organic dairy farmer to see how their animals

were treated, and here is the result.

 

Warmly,

Emily in Boulder, Colo.

|

| -

| " Automatic digest processor " <LISTSERV

| " Recipients of VEGAN digests " <VEGAN

| Thursday, April 12, 2001 11:42 PM

| VEGAN Digest - 11 Apr 2001 to 12 Apr 2001 (#2001-100)

|

|

| | Thu, 12 Apr 2001 19:48:41 -0500

| | Steve Weigand <weigand

| | Milk

| |

| | All,

| |

| | A few days ago, I posted a message in response to a list member

who

| | said she/he still drank milk, but that she/he only bought

| cruelty-free

| | items. I responded by saying that even the most compassionate,

| | free-range dairy farms will kill their cows off after they become

| | inefficient at producing milk. And they need to impregnate their

| | cows once per year to ensure the cows continue to produce milk

| | efficiently, which causes the birth of 4-5 baby calves. Those

| calves

| | get sent to the veal auction, and only one female calf lives to

| | replace her mother. This understood, it's not possible to have

| | cruelty-free dairy. There is no such thing.

| |

| | Well, the list member denied it and told me to look at the

| | web site www.strausmilk.com to be corrected. I looked at that web

| | site, but nothing on it contradicted what I said. So I emailed

| | the Straus Milk owners and asked them point-blank questions. I

| wanted

| | to share the reply I got with the rest of the list. I hope you

will

| | all find it enlightening.

| |

| |

| | > " Straus Family Creamery " <family

| | ><weigand

| | >Re: Questions

| | >Thu, 12 Apr 2001 08:06:20 -0700

| | >

| | >Hi Steve,

| | >

| | >We're happy to answer these questions....which reminds me that

we

| get asked these questions so often, I ought to put the answers on

our

| website.

| | >

| | >Once cows are no longer being milked (for reasons from age,

slower

| | >production, inability to get pregnant, chronic illnesses or

| infections, etc.) we sell them to the auction house. We assume,

though we

| don't know for sure who buys them, that they are bought for beef or

something

| similar. I believe 20-40% of beef comes from " retired " dairy cows.

This

| practice is the same as on a conventional dairy. Basically, it is

financially

| | >unfeasible to keep cows after they no longer are able to produce

| since they eat 90 lbs. of food a day.

| | >

| | >We do not raise any veal.

| | >

| | >We keep the female calves and sell the males at the auction -

| where someone else may raise them for beef or veal.

| | >

| | >One big difference between our farm and a larger conventional

| dairy (and most dairies in California are HUGE) is that our cows

| graze in the fields (only 11% of U.S. dairies allow the cows to

| graze). They are also healthier since they are less stressed

| (they don't like being crowded and they like

| | >grazing and having room to move) and stay in our herd

| longer than a conventional dairy. Our cows stay in the herd

| til they are an average age of 6 or 7. Some of the cows in our

| herd are 10 years old.

| | >

| | >And yes, on our dairy, just like other dairies, cows are bred

| about once every 13 months. They usually get 2 months rest

| before being impregnated again.

| | >

| | >Aaah, the realities of dairy.

| | >

| | >But actually, our cows (except for what I hope is a quick end)

| have a good life. And we really, really like our cows a lot.

| | >

| | >Thanks again for asking.

| | >

| | >Vivien Straus

| | >Straus Family Creamery

| | >

| | >

| | >-

| | >Steve Weigand <weigand

| | ><family

| | >Wednesday, April 11, 2001 8:50 PM

| | >Questions

| | >

| | >

| | >>

| | >> Hello,

| | >>

| | >> I'm curious and was wondering if you could answer some

| questions

| | >> about the treatment of the animals at your dairy farm. I'm

| being

| | >> sincere, I'm not a " troll " . You can contact me at this email

| | >> address or at my home phone number in Houston, XXX-XXX-XXXX

| | >>

| | >> My first question is this. I was wondering if it's true

| | >> that the cows you own, when they become inefficient at

| producing

| | >> milk (at around 5 or 6 years of age?), do you kill them or

let

| | >> them live until they die of natural causes?

| | >>

| | >> Also, it's common practice in most commercial dairy farms

to

| | >> impregnate cows at a rate of once per year so that they will

be

| | >> more efficient at producing milk. Do you do the same with

your

| | >> cows? If so, what happens to all of the calves that are

born?

| | >> Are they allowed to live on? Or do they go to the veal

auctions

| | >> or get rendered into protein for feeding other animals?

| | >>

| | >> If you could answer my questions, I would be very grateful.

| | >>

| | >> Sincerely,

| | >> - Steve Weigand