Deborah backs campaign against mega-dairies
Deborah is supporting the World Society for the Protection of Animals in their Not in my Cuppa campaign to prevent the spread of factory dairy farms in Britain.
The British dairy industry is in crisis. Ten years ago there were around 30,000 dairy farms in the UK. Now, every day across Britain, one of the 11,000 remaining dairy farmers turns their back on dairy farming and sells off their herds.
Applications for massive farms, such as last year’s controversial Nocton Dairies’ application which could have held up to 8,100 cows indoors for the entirety of their short, hard lives, are being seen as the answer.
Deborah said: “One day we will look out of the window and ask what happened to our countryside, where our cows went and why we only have a few hundred massive factory dairies instead of thousands of dairy farms, shaping our landscape and rural life.”
There is no denying that the British dairy industry is in desperate need of an economic turnaround. WSPA believes it is possible to secure our farming future without resorting to mega-dairies and sacrificing Britain’s farming heritage and our cows’ welfare.
Dairy farmers often hear they have to ‘get big or get out’, but WSPA’s Not in my Cuppa campaigners are suggesting a third option.
Their business model is radical in its simplicity and their latest briefing Weighing up the Economics of Dairy Farms , shows that WSPA’s vision is achievable.
It is possible to turn a profit from a farm that allows robust, healthy cows out on to grass, rather than keeping them cooped up in concrete sheds. And it is possible to make money from cows that live longer, because they have less pressure on them to keep up with mega-dairy demand.
Vitally, a reliable income can be made without all the noise, pollution, devastation to rural communities, and environmental and human health impacts that are linked to industrial dairies.
Contrast this with the high risk mega-dairy, where a £50,000 profit can turn into a £50,000 loss in a single year. Industrial milk producers in the USA have lived with a ‘boom and bust’ cycle of milk prices for many years and rely on making profits when the price is high to see them through the leaner times.
Deborah added: “I suggest that our dairy industry deserves the chance to try something truly economically sustainable rather than going through a financial ‘groundhog day’ and wondering where all the dairy farms went, ten years from now. I’m saying not in my cuppa to factory milk from battery cows, because I don’t think it is the right path to secure the future of Britain’s dairy industry and it certainly isn’t the right choice for the cows within it. I hope you’ll join me.”
To find out more visit www.notinmycuppa.com
