Dairy farming has been part of agriculture for thousands of years. Dairy cows are bred specifically to produce large quantities of milk.
Dairy cows are required to give birth to one calf per year to continue producing milk. They are usually artificially inseminated within three months of giving birth.
These high milk producing cows are only productive for an average of 3 years, after which they are culled and the meat is normally used for beef.
Footage from a zero grazing system in the UK
COMMERCIAL DAIRY SYSTEMS
Commercial dairy cows are kept in herds that can vary in size from fewer than five cows to several thousand in large commercial farming systems.
Saturday 24 December 2011