ABC's Nightline makes a direct hit at dairy farmers
Just last night, if you stayed up past your local news and turned on the TV you would have seen a disturbing negative report about the dairy industry on ABC. Before the piece even ran, we were led to believe the piece would be about milk quality, but it was nothing more than an attack on how dairy farmers care for their animals. ABC has posted the story online and has already received 529 comments as of this morning.
Undercover videos were shown of tail docking, as well as dehorning (did you notice the PETA stamp in the corner of the video?). The videos weren't pretty and were undeniably damaging to the dairy industry. You and I may know this is not the status-quo on dairy farms, but, for the average consumer, this may be as close as they ever get to a farm. There needs to be a zero-tolerance for this disappointing animal care shown in the Nightline "investigation."
Tail docking is an unnecessary practice and is not recommended by the American Veterinary Medical Association. To see AVMA's stand on the practice, visit them here. AVMA also suggests disbudding along with a local anesthetic for dehorning — not the practice shown in the undercover video.
Chris Galen of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) was interviewed during the report, as well as the dairy farm owner. While the dairy farm owner relayed his belief that tail docking is a standard practice on dairy farms, we believe it is the contrary. Tail docking is now banned in California; however, prior to its ban, a survey of over 200 California producers (average herd size of 2,500) revealed that 89 percent of dairies did not dock tails. Comments from Chris Galen of NMPF were kept to a minimum — likely because he only had positive things to share about dairy farms.
A representative of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) also was interviewed and had the last word when the representative ended the piece with "Got ethics?" as a direct jab at the "Got Milk?" campaign. To answer her question, we say yes. Farms across the country work very hard to produce a safe, and humanely produced product. Let's work together to enforce a zero-tolerance standard for poor animal care.
What did you think of the piece? We'd love to hear your take on it.
Labels: ABC, animal welfare, HSUS, NMPF
posted by Hoard's Dairyman at
8:18 AM
4 Comments:
As a dairy farmer who formerly was against docking tails, I now understand the need for it in some circumstances. We moved from a farm that we spread manure everyday, and bedded the gutters heavily, to a farm with a manure pit. This did not allow me to bed the gutters as heavily as I was accustomed to, as the pipe would plug. The cows tails would soak in the manure and I would get hit in the face, (mouth, eyes) continually! Also the barn and cows would get filthy.(remember "old Mac Donald" fed a much higher fiber diet ie. lots more dry hay than we do now, which would result in firmer manure than we have now) It didn't take me long to realize why some dairy farmers dock tails. By the way, I let my cows out daily, and pasture them in the summer months. The argument that tails somehow help control flies is a joke! The tail can't even reach two thirds of the animal. The fly control on this farm is sustantially better than in "old MacDonald"'s time, as a child on a dairy we couldn't hardly open our mouths for fear of a mouthful of flies, and the cows were tormented by them. Now, our barn has hardly any flies due to the tunnel ventilation and a fly control program. On hot summer days and late summer (when flies are at their worst) we leave the cows in the barn during the day, and let them out at night. All of these things work against flies better then the cow tail! It is disappointing to me that Hoard's substantiates these animal rights groups. And although we do not use the tail docking method seen on the video, (we binder the cow's tail after their first calf, they barely stop chewing their cud when it is done!) farmers wouldn't be spending the time, money and labor doing something that is unnecessary. So many more things to say!
How about when "investigator" Brian Ross talks about cows being "perpetually pregnant"? It seems to me that "Old MacDonald" had a shorter calving interval than the average cow does today. Look into that Hoard's! Don't be afraid of these people, that only makes us weaker to fight, when they win this battle they will come after us with another one!
It is important for people to realize that when it comes to dairy, they have a choice. Organic dairy offers a positive alternative to the picture painted in the ABC Nightline program.
Under the U.S. National Organic Program, organic farmers are required to provide healthy living conditions and animal welfare practices that are good for the well-being of the animals being raised.
Livestock health care practice standard (Section 205.238)
Producer must establish and maintain preventive livestock health care practices
• This includes providing appropriate housing, pasture conditions, and sanitation practices to minimize the occurrence and spread of diseases and parasites.
• Conditions must be provided allowing exercise, freedom of movement, and reduction of stress appropriate to the species.
• Performance of physical alterations as needed to promote the animal’s welfare and in a manner that minimizes pain and stress.
Livestock living conditions (Section 205.239)
The producer of an organic livestock operation must establish and maintain livestock living conditions which accommodate the health and natural behavior of animals, including:
• Access to the outdoors, shade, shelter, exercise areas, fresh air and direct sunlight suitable to the species, its stage of production, the climate and the environment.
• Access to pasture.
• Appropriate clean, dry bedding.
Prohibited by the U.S. national organic standards
• Synthetic growth hormones
• Plastic pellets for roughage in feed
• Urea and animal waste in feed for organic livestock.
• Antibiotics
• Use of genetic engineering
• Use of toxic and persistent pesticides
• Use of sewage sludge on fields.
Of Note:
During 2009, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which advises the National Organic Program at USDA, adopted a recommendation for rulemaking to make the animal welfare provisions of U.S. national organic standards more prescriptive (see http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5081490). Among the additions:
*All surgical procedures shall be undertaken in a manner that employs best management practices in order to minimize pain, stress and suffering, with the use of anesthetics, analgesics, and sedatives.
* Tail docking of cattle is prohibited except when necessary for veterinary treatment of injured animals.
Information on health of dairy cows
(Source: Health of dairy cows managed organically, by Dennis Johnson, Dairy Production Systems, WCROC, Morris, MN, www.extension.umn.edu/dairy/dairystar/01-13-07-Johnson.htm)
*University of Wisconsin researchers Pol and Ruegg studied herd health on 20 organic farms and 20 conventional dairies. Results showed only 20% of cows in the organic dairy herds had problems with mastitis, compared with 40.9 percent of those in the conventional dairy herds. Respiratory problems (0.8 percent on organic farms compared with 3.3 percent on conventional farms) and metritis (9.3 percent on organic versus 15.3 percent on conventional farms) were less on organic farms. Bovine whey products and garlic tincture were the most frequently used medications for clinical mastitis on organic farms. Cephapirin was the drug used most frequently for clinical mastitis on the conventional farms. Satisfaction with treatment results were 40 percent on conventional farms and 74 percent on organic farms.
*Organic dairies treat mastitis with a range of tactics varying from frequent milk-out to homeopathy to utilization of a variety of organic medications such as garlic or antibody blends.
For dairy operations, organic certification requires a record of:
Implementation of an Organic Livestock Plan
Mandatory outdoor access
Access to pasture
No antibiotics, growth hormones, or GMOs
100% organic feed and approved feed supplements
No rotating animals between organic and non-organic management.
Organic. It's worth it.
I would disagree that organic milk is the way to go. I drive by a herd of organic cows that are thin and always looking for feed. These cows also have very rough hair coats and look like they need to be wormed. I am appalled that the consumer feels milk from an organic dairy is better for them when I see cows that look like they are barely staying alive. If the consumer toured this farm, I feel they would think twice about where there organic milk comes from.
I agree about organic not being the way to go. I have neighbors who are organic that have mastitis trouble, horrible crops, and high feed bills (it's hard to find organic feed). They are organic on principle, but won't be for long, it comes down to the economics. I know farmers would not be spending their time and resources on doing something that isn't an overall benefit to either the cows or to the people working with the cows.
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