Central Valley, California: I’m inside the world’s largest cheese factory. It’s huge; complete with security guards, visitor centre and restaurant. White-coated workers are busy making orange-coloured cheese. It’s the culmination of my journey through California.
The drive here was along a road littered with mega-dairies; industrial dairy farms with thousands of cows crowded in one place. I passed a livestock auction market where young cows are bought and worn-out ‘cull’ cows sold for their final journey.
Earlier, I flew out in a small plane. I asked the pilot whether we would fly over any mega-dairies; he was concerned he might not find one for us. He needn’t have worried. Within minutes of take-off, we flew over our first. Then came another, and another; thick and fast. They were like angry scars on the face of this regimented countryside; muddy-brown blots amongst vast fields of uniform crops.
Thousands of cows stood crowded on dirt; not a blade of grass in sight. This was ‘zero-grazing’. Lagoons the size of Olympic swimming pools, some like small reservoirs, captured the inevitable outpouring of liquid manure from so many cows. A thousand cows produce as much muck as 50,000 people. There were far more than a thousand cows on each farm.
These lagoons are said to be poorly lined, allowing muck-slurry to seep out, often contaminating ground water. They sometimes overflow, polluting precious waterways in this arid State.
I also visited a local school surrounded by mega-dairies; five within a three-mile radius. Between 3,000 and 6,000 cows on each; that’s 30-60 times more cows than the average dairy farm in Britain.
The march of the mega-dairies is the target of fierce opposition. Residents and public health experts concerned about farm dust and gas emissions and how they affect people. Fishermen, environmentalists and local communities worried about water pollution and what it does to wildlife and drinking water. I also spoke to farmers. As the dairies get bigger, more and more farmers lose their livelihoods.
I scanned the shelves of cheese in the factory shop. I tried some. It was fairly tasteless and rubbery. The visitor centre painted a picture of how cows are kept. It was unrecognisable from the reality of the mega-dairies just along the street. Where cows never see grass and are pushed to produce so much milk that they quickly become worn out. A poster at the nearby auction mart showed photos of happy-looking cows beside the words of a Beach Boys song; “I wish they all could be California girls”. I couldn’t help thinking that the cows would disagree.
It’s easy to feel hopeless when faced with what seems like an onslaught. It’s also inspiring to connect with the growing movement for change, both here in the USA and in Europe.
We should remember what we’ve already achieved. Extreme confinement crates for dairy veal calves – banned in Europe; the use of the GM milk-boosting hormone, BST – banned in Europe; and the 8,000 cow mega-dairy proposal in Nocton, England – ripped up at the planning stage.
We are making a difference. And by joining hands with the mega-dairy protest movement in the USA, we can do so much more.
Dear Mr. Lymbery,
Please read the whole story before getting…
I have an Environmental Cleanup Engineering firm using a safe and natural bioremediation technology. I want clean air, clean water and clean soil.
You will find that the Mega Dairy Farm operations are run well with the animals getting the best of care, with some exceptions. The main reason has to do with economics.
The dairy cow (female bovine) is an amazing milk factory in her own right. The dairyman has a goal to maximize the amount of milk she produces by giving her a specific diet where she will keep her weight up and still make a good quantity of milk. The cows get very good medical care so they can continue to have calves and continue to produce more milk.
The cows actually line up for milking when it becomes there turn. They have a routine and specific time for milking each day. The better operations provide good bedding for the cows to rest – some even have water beds to lay on as they sleep away 10 to 14 hours a day. You commented that the cows were all standing together – they are herd animals and they enjoy the company of others for security.
The comment you made – “pushed to produce so much milk that they quickly become worn out” – about the cows is not correct. Many of the large operations cows live beyond 10 years and some are in the 15 years old range. The oldest known age is 48 years old and she had 39 calves during her lifetime.
Another way to say this is “the dairyman is not going to kill the goose that is laying golden eggs.”
Your view from the air is correct about the “not a blade of grass in sight” because there is not any grasses that grow in the irrigated desert unless the farmers put the water to the field in central California. There is some rain during a few winter months though.
The yellow cheese has food coloring and is made fast in large batches. This is not an optimum way to make a good tasting cheese but many kids get food value from that yellow stuff. You will pay more for an aged cheese and some of those places can be found about a 30 minute drive from where you had the yellow stuff.
The water pollution is an issue all over the world. There is currently no way to easily and economically clean the water. Keep in mind, most of the dairymen live on the ranch with their families. They do not want polluted ground water for drinking, either.
The spread of disease is actually less because of the way the operations are run in central California.
Everyone involved with the livestock industry is affected when something adverse happens to the animals. Wild animal can pass diseases to free range animals easier than confined animals. The MC disease began in UK is you know the history.
Based on your interview video above, you may not be old enough to have learned in school back in the 1960s that there was going to be mass starvation because of the expanding population. New technology and confinement animal operations are keeping the billions of humans eating every day.
There have been some tremendous advances in agriculture and the production of food to feed humans around the globe. Keep in mind that the United States exports and donates a giant amount of food at no cost to millions of people.
I would say that you are correct in some cases where animals are not well taken care of by some “less than professional” farmers and dairymen but for the most part, the animals are fine for their function on earth – to feed us humans – but in turn, the animals can be treated with care through the process.
Remember, whether the animals are confined or free range, all the animals that are packaged for us humans to enjoy at the dinner table go through the same ending at some point. Only a very strange type person would mistreat an animal (or another human being) in the first place.
For one final note, my children are married adults that have pet dogs at there homes. These dogs have a life better than some humans here on earth. I would hope that every human would have a perfect life with 3 to 5 meals a day but life is not fair for everyone and it will never be fair on this earth. (That happens when we pass into heaven because of Christ).
I know you will probably edit or delete this comment but the facts are facts and they should not be dismissed. You have some valid points and this is how you make your living. If you come to central California near Visalia or Fresno again, just email me and I will try to take you to see the inside story of these operations. You should see the “rest of the story.”
Sincerely,
DP Bar
P.S. My daughter and her husband (and Moxie the German Shepard) are in UK for a few years near Molesworth, Cambridgeshire. And even Moxie was placed in the belly of the aircraft for her trip from California to UK. The airline does provide an area that is heated for her. (What a life).
Very late and I have rambled enough – over and out from USA…