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18/03/2010
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Planning to intensively farm dairy herds
There’s a planning permission application pending in Lincolnshire for the UK largest
intensive dairy farm. Instead of an average dairy herd being 70-
These will not be kept in the same way as a traditional herd. Small herds are grazed on pasture land and brought into milk twice a day. This traditional method has produced acres of long standing grassland and methods which have lasted for hundreds of years. What’s more it is sustainable.
The new proposal means the milking cows will be kept indoors for the majority of the time. Fed on a food mix instead of grazing. They will be milked three times a day in two 24hr a day parlours. They will be kept on sand, and their waste removed to be digested to produce power.
They are Holstein cows which produce more milk, but because of that they will only be useful for three years instead of the normal ten. After that they will be turned into dog food.
The argument for jobs is a poor one. The workers accommodation being built will house some foreign workers. There’s no significant employment gains.
The milk production will be slightly more efficient, but gains in price will only end up in the hands of the large supermarkets who have increased their profit margin on milk fifteen fold in recent years.
What about the small dairy farms? If this gets going, then all companies will have to follow if they are to stay in milk production. Those that don’t will close down. This could have serious impact on the landscape. Pasture land could turn to arable. Small farms could be wiped out in areas where milk production is the main activity.
With intensive chicken farms, the density of birds results in deaths, weakness and disease outbreaks. Antibiotics are pumped into the whole flock at the first sign of trouble. This goes into the finished meat and we basically eat it. Now apply the same to 8000 cows. They are to be kept in 8 barns. That’s 1000 cows each barn. When disease hits it will go through like wild fire. Preventative antibiotics and drugs will be the only hope to keeping the stock healthy. These will end up in the milk you drink.
We think this is not the way forward. It is not right for the cows, not right for the industry and not right for the consumer.
You can find out more by visiting the following web sites:-
Make your views known
Contact your MP
Make a comment at North Kesteven District Council (Planning consent)
Raise the subject in Twitter, Facebook etc