Lincolnshire to be home to US style mega dairy
There are plans for nearly 4,000 dairy cows at the factory farm. Photo: CETFA
As you may have heard, Nocton Dairies are planning to introduce a mass dairy farm at Nocton Heath, Lincolnshire. Originally the company planned to have 8,100 cows, which has since been reduced to 3,770 to apparently “address environmental concerns”.
Nocton Dairies however plan to eventually raise this starting figure to the original 8,100 according to Compassion in World Farming.
Compassion in World Farming are one of the many organisations battling against the proposed plans, believing that “cows belong in fields”. They argue that the cows are being expected to produce 43% more milk than the national average, at a stunning 10,000 litres of milk per year. The energy required to yield this much milk is equivalent to a human running half a marathon every day for 10 months.
Celebrity chefs are also getting involved in the argument. Raymond Blanc, owner and chef at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons in Oxfordshire, has written a blog post slamming the plans. In the post he says “The quality of milk produced so intensively is not as good as milk from grass-fed cows. There’s no need to argue about this – just do the comparison yourself.”
“But the real reasons for opposing these huge industrial dairies is the welfare of the animals, for which the consumer has to take some responsibility.”
If the plans went ahead then the price of milk would be driven down to such a level that smaller farmers could not compete; thus changing the whole system of farming in the UK.
The plans are certainly controversial, and for the time being nothing has been approved, but where do you stand?