Animal Welfare

[smcgrath76]

This site contains an interesting documentary. This may be where we are heading as an industry. In any case I think it is an important issue for good managers to be aware of.

http://www.calgary.cbc.ca/features/farmsfront.html

[pandiana]

Yes, I agree that 'Friendlier Farms' are something we should be aware of and of course, humane treatment of animals is something that should be accepted as a given. My problem is as follows: Why should farmers be forced to accept all of the cost involved with meeting these standards without having the ability to charge more for their product to cover the expense of upgrading?
Ranchers who are restricted from branding face an increase in lost cattle, either from rustling or the inability to identify strays. If they brand they lose their market. Or, the chicken farmer who must increase the size of his enclosoures for 19,000 hens or lose their market. As always, the primary producer/farmer is expected to absorb whatever the industry wants to pass on to them. Consumers who are demanding change (rightly so) should be willing to help in defraying the extra cost involved in producing food more humanely.

[Deb]

I think that the consumer should help defray the costs of animal welfare and reduction of pesticides as well. In fact the multifunctionality idea of farmland and countryside is a good idea. This is where society pays the farmer to keep his "countryside" looking nice. They do this in Europe.

There was an interesting comment in the Rural Issues forum about a farmer in England with 80 acres and I think only 28 cows and he is being subsidized for all kinds of things like not cutting down his hedgerow. He was making a very good living. In my mind it is one way that consumers could help pay the true costs of food production. If you want to read it, go to the Rural Issues Forum and look for the letter from Cowman which was posted Nov 30/01.

[cowman]

Pandianna: This is just a personal thing but I never liked branding cattle and when my Dad died I just quit. I think it is one of the most inhumane practices we have. Some of the practices in the beef business can be pretty ugly. Dehorning calves when they are older is another one. I only use polled bulls and if I get some horns they get taken care of right away. I was probably one of the first people in my area to go to rings instead of the knife for castrating calves. We have a duty to be humane to the animals we own and to treat them well. If you don't want to do this, get out of it! I'm not speaking to you personally as I'm sure you do the right thing.

[Deb]

I'm so glad I discovered this Town Hall thing as it allows people like me to learn more about cattlemen, like they don't ALL like to brand or burn horns off their cattle. If any of my city friends ever say that ranchers are cruel because they brand cattle and burn horns off, I will be able to tell them about you. Thanks!

I have a big capacity for empathy and when I used to brand cattle at a finishing feedlot (why did they bother, I wonder now) I imagined it burning into my flesh. There are nerves under the thick hide and they wouldn't bawl if it didn't hurt. Sure they get out of the shute and run away and don't die, and still gain weight as the days go by....but still, why hurt them when it isn't necessary. But what would cattlemen do to identify their cattle on grazing lease land with hundreds of other cattle to sort through? Dairy farmers with registered cattle draw in the black and white markings on the papers, maybe that would work since not every beef animal is alike either. I could just imagine a cowboy on a horse with a wad of paper trying to sort things out (and the lovely chinook wind blowing the papers away and scaring the horse). Don't think he'd go for that idea, eh?

You are correct about the chickens, especially the laying hens. My neighbour went to the local egg farm and bought a dozen white hens that were half way to quiting their laying cycle. The poor things couldn't walk! It took about a week or two for their legs to strengthen so they could walk. I also feel sorry for sows that are confined in those little farrowing pens for most of their gestation. They only need to be in there for a week or two before, I don't know why they'd put them in earlier. I heard some sows legs get so atrophied that sometimes a sow's legs break under her weight.