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Dairy Cows Head for Slaughter as Milk Prices Sour


Business  (tags: animals, AnimalCruelty, slaughter, ethics, milk, agriculture, cattle, cows, dairy, slaughter )

Echo
- 284 days ago - news.yahoo.com
Hundreds of thousands of America's dairy cows are being turned into hamburgers because milk prices have dropped so low that farmers can no longer afford to feed the animals.Dairy farmers say they have little choice but to sell part of their herds for slau
Comments

De L. (253)
Monday February 16, 2009, 7:26 am
I realize that cows are part of the farming income - but they are still a beautiful animal with feelings. This is why I became a vegetarian/vegan.
 

Joycey B. (693)
Monday February 16, 2009, 2:33 pm
This is so heartbreaking. Sadly noted. Thanks Echo.
 

jerie j. (26)
Monday February 16, 2009, 9:54 pm
No joke here, do vegans drink milk? I know they don't like eggs. This milk thing is so sad. All these cows being slaughtered it's just so aweful. And it's not just cows it's chickens and pigs and turkeys. We just slaughter anything any more. It's heart breaking.
 

Patricia H. (96)
Tuesday February 17, 2009, 9:31 am
Vegans do not drink milk. And we also do not eat eggs or any other product that comes from an animal.

This is very very sad.
 

Joshandjessica Morris (3)
Tuesday February 17, 2009, 10:29 am
This is sad and gross. I'm thinking that the low milk prices are mostly affecticing conventional dairies. The story comes from Turlock Ca a location for mega-dairies. These mega-daires and the ability to turn a cow into a machine are killing the remaining small family-farms that are still run conventionally. The little farms, with farmers that actually know their cows, will be dissappearing from the landscape. Seems also that many organic cooperatives, like organic valley, employ the same sustainable mindset to business as their farmers do to production. Thus they didn't take on more cows, and produce more milk then the market could bear. They are also limited in their ability to "turn on" more milk. Organic farmers can't use the crutches, (antibiotics, cheap grain, cheap hay) available to conventional growers. If an organic grower wants to increase their herd or a conventional grower wants to go organic, this is not a decision to take lightly. Lasitly organic cows have to spend time on pasture. It takes time, skill and commitment to raise animals on pasture A mega-dairy can function, because the cows don't move from the barn. Making them go on pasture is something smaller farms can more easily handle. And by the way, while they're out there eating grass, without any help from fossil fuels, plowing, seeding and in many places watering, the amazing cow
(if raised right) creates a very environmentally sustainable and nutrious meat and milk for us.
 

Michelle R. (20)
Tuesday February 24, 2009, 8:32 pm
After their milk production, they end up being slaughtered still....
 
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