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Welfare gap between dairy and beef cows

Which is happier – a beef cow or a dairy cow? The perception in most people’s minds is the latter but that’s not the reality, according to experts from the UK, Germany, Denmark and The Netherlands. “Moral and political decision-making about dairy production may need to be revisited,” they said.

The team of researchers interviewed 70 welfare experts from 23 countries and asked them to rate the welfare risks of dairy and beef cattle. Their assessment included everything from inadequate diets and disease, to pain resulting from management and their inability to move freely or perform natural social behaviours.

They found that welfare is worse for cattle in the most common dairy production systems. The findings contradict a very long and widely held belief in our society, said Roi Mandel from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, who led the study.

One of the reasons is the “higher degree of intervention” in dairy systems, with cows providing milk for human consumption. This can be one to three times per day over a period of 305 days per lactation. Early separation of the calves also has an impact, so keeping them with their mothers for longer could help close the welfare gap between dairy and beef, the experts said.

The study, published in the journal Animal, also notes that long-term genetic selection for high milk yield in dairy cows is recognised as a major factor causing poor welfare. In particular, it results in health problems such as lameness, mastitis, reproductive disorders and metabolic disorders.

The findings suggest that consuming food products derived from common dairy production systems (dairy or meat) may be more harmful to the welfare of animals than consuming products derived from common beef production systems (from animals solely raised for their meat). Labelling of meat products to indicate which system – beef or dairy – they come from might be appropriate, they said.

“Raising awareness about the linkage between dairy and meat production, and the toll of milk production on the welfare state of animals in the dairy industry, may encourage a more sustainable and responsible food consumption,” they wrote.

The researchers emphasised that the results don’t necessarily mean that animals born in dairy herds are, at any given point in time and in every type of system, worse off than animals born in beef herds.

But “a revision of the current image of the dairy sector compared to the beef sector”, may be needed, said Mandel.

Animal welfare consistently tops consumer concerns relating to food and the choices people make.