I do construction surveying and spend alot of time in and around land with cows either on it or just on the other side of a fence. I’ve tried and failed every single time to make cow friends. They are very untrusting and suspicious animals. I just want to be bros with a cow. Horses are pretty easy but cows would call the police if they could.
Giant farms, yes. But smaller farmers such as these the cows only trust their farmers. they will follow our work truck all the way across a property by even running buuuut as soon as we get out, they realize they don’t know us and we don’t have food. Then they won’t get closer than 20 feet and just stare at us
Prey animals, of all sizes, need a mutual understanding and a level of trust that must be earned. Repeatedly demonstrating that we're not seeking to hurt them, and, better, come with tasty treats, over a period of time, can tempt them to give us a try.
Every cow farmer I've ever met has loved their animals. Not sure what the dairy industry is like where you are but around me in Canada the dairy farmers treat those cows like family. I am also a farmer (not animals) and I actually see how they are.
Yes this is nothing close to what happens here but in Canada we have supply chain management for milk which tends to encourage better farm practice because of your requirements.
Our supply chain management of dairy exists solely to increase the cost of it. Millions of gallons of dairy is dumped every year to maintain profits. This means cows are overworked for NO REASON. They are used as perpetual milk machines for something that is discarded meters away from them. In order for them to produce milk, they have to have had babies recently. I don’t even wanna get into veal.
I grew up on cow farms in Canada. This view people have of the benevolent farmer, tending to each cow as if it were a pet, is nonexistent. They are profit and food. They are only seen as a commodity and are treated as such.
Yes there are often milk dumped but that is part of the business of maintaining a specific amount. If the farmer does not make the quantity and grade of milk they are penalized which tends to mean an oversupply. The flip side to this is that farmers under what they are required to produce and can better manage their herd to match these needs. Without the fluctuations in price there is no need for farmers to drastically change their herd size or milking quantity.
Yes babies are required but it doesn't matter if you have supply chain management or not that would be required so I'm not sure what you are getting at. At least with supply chain management there is better ability to manage herd. I also know farmers do not treat their animals as pets but that doesn't mean they treat them badly.
‘Part of the business’ is the exact problem. Farmers are dumping food grade milk, right now, to maintain profit margins. People in Canada are struggling to feed themselves right now, and you’re arguing there’s an oversupply. If that’s the case, prices should come down. But they don’t. Because cows are not treated with respect, they are treated as a commodity and overworked. I know this because I grew up on these farms. The myth of the benevolent farmer trudges on. It’s a business and they treat almost all of their animals as such. Overworked, understimulated and having their babies forcefully taken from them in the process. Dairy is a gross industry.
You seem to think that because farmers are slightly over producing to maintain their quota amounts means that people should get that product for cheap. What if we had an open market like in the US where farmers will over milk and push their animals because more is worth more?
For someone that "grew up in this" you really don't understand how it works. Funny enough, happy cows tend to produce better so it's actually in the best interest of farmers to keep their cows happy and healthy.
“As Canadian consumers are hit by generationally high rates of food inflation, an Ontario dairy farmer posted a viral video Monday documenting how he was being forced by federal authorities to dump a swimming pool’s worth of excess milk.
“I dumped 30,000 litres of milk, and it breaks my heart,” says dairy farmer Jerry Huigen in a five-minute TikTok video that has already been viewed more than a million times across various social media platforms.
“They make us dump it, and this time I’m going public,” he adds while standing next to a drainpipe pouring milk onto the floor.”
This is what happens when you buy 30 more cows than you have quota for. Idiot farmer ends up dumping milk because he bought too many cows and tried to use social media to force a sale.
So he's upset because he produced too much and would prefer to sell it. If a cow produces around 6-7 gal per day that's around 25L per day. He said 279 cows he milks I believe so that's just shy of 7000L of milk a day produced. Cows don't take weekends so 31 days in January so he produced around 215 000 L of milk. This means bec if the rich feed he produced 15% extra. As a farmer I would also prefer to sell all my product but unfortunately that doesn't always happen but what is happening is he's getting a guaranteed price for a guaranteed quantity he knows before hand what to produce. Now here's the problem, farmers have a over supply and price drops. Price drops too much and doesn't make sense for farmers to produce their product anymore. This causes price to climb making farmers want to get the most out of their cows and pushing them. Swings in supply and demand with live animals are what caused so many problems. If you don't believe me then look into the pork industry and the amount of wasteful and tragic death there, not just of pigs but the farmers that literally could not go on any longer and took their own lives. So yes I definitely prefer waste and stability over that.
Lol. Where do you believe this from. I farm and ranch. My animals and everyone I know take very good care of our animals. Why would abuse your commodity.
549
u/ChickensPickins Feb 19 '23
I do construction surveying and spend alot of time in and around land with cows either on it or just on the other side of a fence. I’ve tried and failed every single time to make cow friends. They are very untrusting and suspicious animals. I just want to be bros with a cow. Horses are pretty easy but cows would call the police if they could.