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While comprehensive, this reporting is very shortsighted -- I don't see how one can ignore the horrifying image of hundreds of cows locked in mechanical milk-ex

While comprehensive, this reporting is very shortsighted -- I don't see how one can ignore the horrifying image of hundreds of cows locked in mechanical milk-extraction machines, while only reporting on the very narrow Wisconsin industry. Clearly health, animal-rights and environmental awakening is also a factor pushing more consumers to prefer plant-based milk (soy, almond, etc.) which influence the cow-based industry.

jetrink 7y ago
That's not an accurate image of dairy farms, at least based on the large farm I visited. Cow productivity is strongly influenced by the quality of life of the cow. Stressed, stick or otherwise unhappy cows produce less milk and as a consequence, farmers put a lot of effort into keeping them healthy and happy. The particular farm I visited used milking robots produced in the Netherlands. Cows spent their days outdoors and would visit the milking robot on their own when they decided to. The robot would also clean the cow, give it a snack and record some some basic health data. The only thing that seemed inhumane to me was how calves would be separated from their mothers so early. Just a few weeks (days?) after being born, they were shipped off to a separate location a thousand miles away.
- puttycat 7y ago
  95%-99% of farm animals in the US are born, raised, and die in factory farms [1], i.e. they are born into constant unimaginable suffering and die a gruesome death. These stats are about the same throughout the Western world. Cows and other farm animals who are raised in relatively "humane" captivity, like the one you're describing, are an anecdote. [1] https://sentientmedia.org/u-s-farmed-animals-live-on-factory-farms/ https://sentientmedia.org/u-s-farmed-animals-live-on-factory...
  - mattlutze 7y ago
    The analysis behind that link suggests 70% of US cows live on factory farms. They use a cut-off of >150 cows on a dairy farm or >225 cows on a beef/veal farm = factory farm. The supporting sheets indicate that they take a simple 75% of the Small farm (300 head or 200 head for beef or dairy) maximum size as their cutoff for a factory farm. It doesn't explain why they use such an unsophisticated metric to define many small farms, and all medium- and large-sized farms, as factory farms. That lack of sophistication makes me skeptical of these numbers.
  - RHSeeger 7y ago
    While it's entirely possible that's a reasonable article, my first impression is to ignore it - "amimal rights think tank Sentience Institute" - popup that asks "do you love animals" - image a a crying cow It reeks of an extremely biased article to me. I mean, that doesn't mean it is such, but my "links from shitty news on facebook" meter certainly labels it that way.

jetrink 7y ago

That's not an accurate image of dairy farms, at least based on the large farm I visited. Cow productivity is strongly influenced by the quality of life of the cow. Stressed, stick or otherwise unhappy cows produce less milk and as a consequence, farmers put a lot of effort into keeping them healthy and happy. The particular farm I visited used milking robots produced in the Netherlands. Cows spent their days outdoors and would visit the milking robot on their own when they decided to. The robot would also clean the cow, give it a snack and record some some basic health data. The only thing that seemed inhumane to me was how calves would be separated from their mothers so early. Just a few weeks (days?) after being born, they were shipped off to a separate location a thousand miles away.

puttycat 7y ago
95%-99% of farm animals in the US are born, raised, and die in factory farms [1], i.e. they are born into constant unimaginable suffering and die a gruesome death. These stats are about the same throughout the Western world. Cows and other farm animals who are raised in relatively "humane" captivity, like the one you're describing, are an anecdote. [1] https://sentientmedia.org/u-s-farmed-animals-live-on-factory-farms/ https://sentientmedia.org/u-s-farmed-animals-live-on-factory...
- mattlutze 7y ago
  The analysis behind that link suggests 70% of US cows live on factory farms. They use a cut-off of >150 cows on a dairy farm or >225 cows on a beef/veal farm = factory farm. The supporting sheets indicate that they take a simple 75% of the Small farm (300 head or 200 head for beef or dairy) maximum size as their cutoff for a factory farm. It doesn't explain why they use such an unsophisticated metric to define many small farms, and all medium- and large-sized farms, as factory farms. That lack of sophistication makes me skeptical of these numbers.
- RHSeeger 7y ago
  While it's entirely possible that's a reasonable article, my first impression is to ignore it - "amimal rights think tank Sentience Institute" - popup that asks "do you love animals" - image a a crying cow It reeks of an extremely biased article to me. I mean, that doesn't mean it is such, but my "links from shitty news on facebook" meter certainly labels it that way.