The way large scale cattle farming is done is very similar to chicken farming in many ways. Dairy cows tend to be smaller than meat cows, so they breed a larger breed for meat. It's a bit baffling to me, because a cow in any form is a big animal with plenty of meat on it!
As with chickens, unless they're using them for breeding, male dairy cows are generally disposed of early on. There is a veal market, but in Britain it became unpopular with many when they realised it was baby cows. Then they ended up disposing of them in other ways, so abstaining from eating veal didn't end up helping matters.
The cattle industry probably trumps as being the worst of the meat industries going as it's not only renowned for animal cruelty it creates a lot of greenhouse gas causing further environmental problems.
Personally, I'm not much of a beef eater, but many people are so there will always be any industry there. The question is, can that industry change to a more humane one? I do think it will be harder to change than the chicken farming industry, but that doesn't mean it's not doable.
Here are some interesting facts. When Europeans first arrived in America there were about 60 million buffalo living wild there, in balance with nature and the ecosystem. Today there are an estimated 90 million domestic cattle. That's certainly an increase, but not as drastic as I originally imagined. Let's be honest, many people consume way more beef than they need to, so reducing the amount of cattle being farmed is not going to leave us with a hungry world. It's also possible that these figures could include the dairy calves that get slaughtered early on. So if they were raised as meat, maybe that could counteract the stocks needed for the meat industry.
There is no reason why male dairy calves can't be raised to adulthood for meat. Okay, there are going to be those who demand things like Angus beef and that will create a market for that breed of cattle. Perhaps there could be a higher price to keep it more of a niche market though. Is there also the possibility that some of the milk industry could come from them, effectively dual purposing both sides of the industry? Of course they wouldn't be as productive as the dairy cows, but that's to be expected.
There are farmers who have found that pasture rotation means that cattle can actually bring fertility back to the land and their cattle then feed how they were designed to feed. Once they are feeding on a grass based diet instead of grain based they are finding that they don't produce nearly as much in the way of greenhouse gases as cattle in feedlots do.
I don't know enough about cattle farming to know if there are any easy solutions so I'd love to hear any thoughts anyone else has on how cattle farming can be done more humanely, with less pollution on a large scale at low cost. I add at low cost, because as terrible as it is to put a low price on the life of an animal, if there is a demand for low cost meat then someone will try and meet it however they can and that's what's led us to this situation.
You can read previous posts in this series here:
#1 @minismallholding/taking-back-control-of-our-food-production-what-s-already-being-done
#2 @minismallholding/taking-back-control-of-our-food-production-sharing-the-growth
#3 @minismallholding/taking-back-control-of-our-food-production-the-chicken-and-egg-problem
