A Look Into The Dairy Industry
Is cruelty an ingredient in your milk?
The dairy industry has been subject to much scrutiny throughout the past several years. Because of the rise of social media, PETA, and the vegan movement, a lot of misinformation has been received by consumers who, if they’ve never been to a dairy farm themselves, might take it as the truth. However, many practices that are perceived as cruel are actually done for animal welfare. What a lot of people don’t realize is that, if animals actually lived in conditions that caused chronic stress, they would not be productive. Consequences of cruelty to dairy cattle include decreased milk production, higher susceptibility to disease (many medicines used to cure diseases make the cow’s milk unsellable, and it would have to be dumped), dangerous behavior, and, if severe enough, even infertility (no more milk for the rest of that animal’s life). The first and foremost thing for people to realize is that the beef cattle industry and the dairy cattle industry are completely separate. Beef breeds are very different from dairy breeds, and have very different characteristics that make them suitable for their respective purposes. Although figures suggest that 1 in 5 cattle at slaughter come from dairy farms, dairy cattle are genetically designed to put all of their energy into milk production. For this reason, they do not have much meat, and farmers rarely make a profit off of their slaughter.
Because dairy farming is such a misunderstood topic, I have decided to not just devote one blog post to it, but many. I am beginning a series that will go myth by myth, and explain the reasoning behind each practice in its own post. If you have any specific practices you are curious about or a myth you would like to see busted, go on over to my social medias (linked at the bottom of this page) and tell me about it. Also, if any of my information conflicts with what you do on your dairy farm, come and tell me about that, too. As I will be discussing, every farm is different, and there are many dairies that don’t use certain methods.
Because dairy farming is such a misunderstood topic, I have decided to not just devote one blog post to it, but many. I am beginning a series that will go myth by myth, and explain the reasoning behind each practice in its own post. If you have any specific practices you are curious about or a myth you would like to see busted, go on over to my social medias (linked at the bottom of this page) and tell me about it. Also, if any of my information conflicts with what you do on your dairy farm, come and tell me about that, too. As I will be discussing, every farm is different, and there are many dairies that don’t use certain methods.