4 ms·

Thank you, I didn't know that so I learned something today! This seems like quite a ridiculous problem since surely hormones could induce lactation. I did a qu

Thank you, I didn't know that so I learned something today! This seems like quite a ridiculous problem since surely hormones could induce lactation. I did a quick search and stumbled onto this from 1994 where they had cows that lactated without being pregnant: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/milking-the-cattle-31995 https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/milking-the-cattle-31995 So milk without killing calves has been available for quite some time. This probably coincided with bans on hormones in milk though (which I was all for) that happened in the 90s and early 2000s maybe? But people were never given the full story. Maybe this could be a long-term sustainability/awareness project. Give cows hormones to simulate pregnancy and birth, then stop and sell the hormone-free milk for as many months as milking typically lasts.

rsynnott 5y ago
This is definitely something that has been and continues to be investigated, and if it was workable the industry would definitely be keen on it. As of now it’s experimental, tho.
- zackmorris 5y ago
  I did a quick search and here are the first 10 results I found about using hormones like progesterone to mimic pregnancy (similarly to how birth control pills work) going back to at least 1975. From quickly skimming them, it looks like dairy cows on hormones cost about 1.5 times normal and the biggest side effect is hormones in the milk, which seems like something that could be bound to and removed by another compound. I haven't had time to read them all yet though, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(86)80570-7/pdf https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(86)... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030204734657 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002203020... https://www.publish.csiro.au/bi/pdf/bi9750183 https://www.publish.csiro.au/bi/pdf/bi9750183 https://www.scielo.br/j/rbz/a/qqDfVHKjYcRS7w43zpC5m4t/?lang=en https://www.scielo.br/j/rbz/a/qqDfVHKjYcRS7w43zpC5m4t/?lang=... https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(78)83794-1/fulltext https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(78)... https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/33721/final1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/33721/f... https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/opinion/111492644/artificially-inducing-cows-to-produce-milk-has-big-benefits-for-farmers-and-cows https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/opinion/111492644/a... https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316230842_Artificial_Induction_of_Lactation_in_Bovines_Scope_and_Limitations https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316230842_Artificia... https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal-science/article/abs/milk-production-and-reproductive-performance-of-cows-induced-into-lactation-and-treated-with-bovine-somatotropin/7C0C1A531B226791956B552397F7EA94 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal-science/artic... https://www.pashudhanpraharee.com/protocols-for-artificial-induction-of-lactation-in-dairy-cattle/ https://www.pashudhanpraharee.com/protocols-for-artificial-i... If someone wanted to throw some investment money at a real problem, this is it. I would gladly pay the organic milk price (about twice normal) to know that the dairy products I'm buying don't have the collateral damage of killing countless calves.
  - rsynnott 5y ago
    I think it’s probably a limited market, honestly, unless it’s cheaper. The cow still only produces milk to an efficient level for about five years; after that you kill it. People concerned with the ethical issues won’t want it, generally; they’d continue to use either plant ‘milk’ or just no milk. And the startup costs would be high; getting it approved for human consumption would not be cheap, and there’d be a risk of it being barred on animal welfare grounds anyway. Notably, the reason, at least officially, that hormones can’t be used on farm animals in the EU is animal welfare, not safety (you could speculate that it’s actually about safety, but animal welfare is an easier one for governments to win on). Ultimately you’d be looking at a high risk of never getting it approved, and even if you did it’s unclear who’d want it.

rsynnott 5y ago

This is definitely something that has been and continues to be investigated, and if it was workable the industry would definitely be keen on it. As of now it’s experimental, tho.

zackmorris 5y ago
I did a quick search and here are the first 10 results I found about using hormones like progesterone to mimic pregnancy (similarly to how birth control pills work) going back to at least 1975. From quickly skimming them, it looks like dairy cows on hormones cost about 1.5 times normal and the biggest side effect is hormones in the milk, which seems like something that could be bound to and removed by another compound. I haven't had time to read them all yet though, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(86)80570-7/pdf https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(86)... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030204734657 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002203020... https://www.publish.csiro.au/bi/pdf/bi9750183 https://www.publish.csiro.au/bi/pdf/bi9750183 https://www.scielo.br/j/rbz/a/qqDfVHKjYcRS7w43zpC5m4t/?lang=en https://www.scielo.br/j/rbz/a/qqDfVHKjYcRS7w43zpC5m4t/?lang=... https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(78)83794-1/fulltext https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(78)... https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/33721/final1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/33721/f... https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/opinion/111492644/artificially-inducing-cows-to-produce-milk-has-big-benefits-for-farmers-and-cows https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/opinion/111492644/a... https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316230842_Artificial_Induction_of_Lactation_in_Bovines_Scope_and_Limitations https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316230842_Artificia... https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal-science/article/abs/milk-production-and-reproductive-performance-of-cows-induced-into-lactation-and-treated-with-bovine-somatotropin/7C0C1A531B226791956B552397F7EA94 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal-science/artic... https://www.pashudhanpraharee.com/protocols-for-artificial-induction-of-lactation-in-dairy-cattle/ https://www.pashudhanpraharee.com/protocols-for-artificial-i... If someone wanted to throw some investment money at a real problem, this is it. I would gladly pay the organic milk price (about twice normal) to know that the dairy products I'm buying don't have the collateral damage of killing countless calves.
- rsynnott 5y ago
  I think it’s probably a limited market, honestly, unless it’s cheaper. The cow still only produces milk to an efficient level for about five years; after that you kill it. People concerned with the ethical issues won’t want it, generally; they’d continue to use either plant ‘milk’ or just no milk. And the startup costs would be high; getting it approved for human consumption would not be cheap, and there’d be a risk of it being barred on animal welfare grounds anyway. Notably, the reason, at least officially, that hormones can’t be used on farm animals in the EU is animal welfare, not safety (you could speculate that it’s actually about safety, but animal welfare is an easier one for governments to win on). Ultimately you’d be looking at a high risk of never getting it approved, and even if you did it’s unclear who’d want it.