Tag: Nocton Dairies

Nocton’s super dairy plans withdrawn

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Dairy cows
The plans for nearly 4,000 cows at Nocton Heath have been withdrawn. Photo: CETFA

The plans for nearly 4,000 cows at Nocton Heath have been withdrawn. Photo: CETFA

Nocton dairies today announced that it had withdrawn it’s plans for the US-style mega dairy at Nocton Heath.

The plans have reportedly been abandoned because the Environment Agency said that the farm would create an unacceptable risk to pollution of groundwater.

According to an article in the Guardian “the company said in a lengthy statement that the Environment Agency’s “precautionary stance and requests for new information reflect uncertainty with agriculture in general and the design of the modern dairy farm in particular”. It claimed that despite its best efforts to address the agency’s concerns, a “lack of relevant research” meant the company had been unable to provide the reassurances required.”

The withdrawal of the plans is a great relief for those who had been campaigning against the dairy but Nocton Dairies still own the land and their applications for a pipeline and reservoir are still in place.

Where do you stand on the mega dairy debate?

Sour milk? Cows have feelings moo

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Cows. Photo: Samantha Viner
Cows enjoy wide open space, something super dairies may be unable to provide. Photo: Samantha Viner
Cows enjoy wide open space, something super dairies may be unable to provide. Photo: Samantha Viner

The proposal for a super dairy to be built on the out-skirts of Nocton, a small Lincolnshire village, sparked wide opposition throughout the country let alone the county.

The site is planned to house 8,000 cows and would be the first mega dairy in Europe.

There are surrounding issues with farming on this scale including environmental concerns, impacts on small local dairy farmers and the welfare of the cows.

Unfortunately, the concern over the cows welfare has received minimal attention.  People have been voicing opinions over the smell that comes from farming 8,000 cows, the attraction of flies, pollution of ground water with nitrates and the downfall of the local economy.  With all this in mind people have seemingly forgotten that living animals are in the middle of this debate.

Nocton Dairies told the BBC that the cows would be free to roam in open-sided sheds when they were being milked, and would otherwise be out to graze in dry weather, some are sceptical after observing some of America’s mega dairies.

Local butcher Kenny Roberts prides himself on free range produce, but when it comes to the super dairy proposed for Lincolnshire he surprisingly blasts claims about the cows welfare suffering. He said: “They’ve been done in America for long enough, nothing wrong with them cows, they’ve got the pastures, got fresh air, got grass, they got good food and they deliver good milk.  Not plastic milk what you buy in supermarkets, I believe it should happen, but that’s Lincolnshire for you”.

Animal welfare groups have slammed mega dairies over cows being kept inside for most of their lives whilst being pumped full of growth hormones and excessive feeding. They’ve basically become cow robots machined for milk production. They have also warned that the system of intensive farming would produce cows suffering from lameness, poor body condition and infertility.

Can 8,000 cows all on one farm receive the same care and attention that small dairy farms give to their cattle? Small farmers hand-rear calves, know each cow individually and can tell immediately if one falls ill. How long would it take for someone to notice such behaviour at Nocton Dairy?

How many cows does it take for a farm to turn into a factory? 

Video: Countryfile researches mass farming

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Fair Oaks Farm
Fair Oaks Farm in Wisconsin, USA. Photo: Countryfile

Fair Oaks Farm in Wisconsin, USA. Photo: Countryfile

Adam Henson from Countryfile went to America to learn about intensive dairy farming.

He visits Fair Oaks Farm where 32,000 cows are milked for 22 millions pints a day. This type of intense mega dairy is similar to what is being planned for Nocton but what could the impact be for residents near the farm?

If the video has not loaded please follow this link.

Lincolnshire to be home to US style mega dairy

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Dairy cows
There are plans for nearly 4,000 dairy cows at the factory farm. Photo: CETFA

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?