THE DAIRY INDUSTRY
THERE ARE 264 MILLION DAIRY COWS WORLDWIDE, PRODUCING NEARLY 600 MILLION TONNES OF MILK EVERY YEAR
SOURCE: COMMONOBJECTIVE
THE LARGEST PRODUCER OF MILK IS THE USA WITH 87 MILLION TONNES PER ANNUM
INDIA HAS THE GREATEST NUMBER OF DAIRY COWS WITH OVER 40 MILLION
THERE ARE 22.6M DAIRY COWS IN EUROPE
THERE ARE 22.6M DAIRY COWS IN EUROPE
COWS HAVE TO BE PREGNANT TO PRODUCE MILK. DAIRY COWS ARE REQUIRED TO GIVE BIRTH TO ONE CALF ANNUALLY IN ORDER TO PRODUCE MILK FOR 10 MONTHS OF THE YEAR.
THERE’S BEEN A GENERAL MOVE FROM SMALL FARMS TO LARGE SCALE, INTENSIVE PRODUCTION.
ECONOMIC PRESSURES ON THE DAIRY INDUSTRY HAVE LED FARMERS TO SEEK GREATER EFFICIENCY AND INCORPORATE TECHNOLOGY, RESULTING IN SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN DAIRY HUSBANDRY WHICH MAY COMPROMISE WELFARE.