Adorable Herd Of Limousin Cows Running In Field

Dairy farming has a wholesome ring to it. After all, it’s not about the unnecessary slaughtering of innocent animals. Or is it?Show more

What you don’t know about dairy farming can hurt you.

Not only are dairy farms dangerous for the animals who produce dairy products, but they’re also dangerous for humans. Ordinary products you pick up at the supermarket could have a nasty impact on your health.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s talk about what dairy farming is and what it means for your diet, lifestyle, and commitment to animal safety.

Dairy farming is the practice of raising cows for the purposes of obtaining their milk. We most associate a dairy farm with the milk itself, but this agricultural practice also produces butter, cheese, yogurt, and other common household staples.

Just like with humans, female mammals produce milk to nourish their young. The milk contains lots of fat, certain proteins, bacteria, and other elements to help baby animals reach their greatest potential. In terms of consumption, cow milk is intended for baby cows. And when I say intended, I mean as in evolved over millions of years to be the nutrition of baby cows.

The same goes for goats’ milk, which is often used to produce cheese and other dairy products.

Dairy farming can only operate because animals like cows give birth to young. When cows have calves, they begin to lactate. Dairy farmers extract the milk from lactation for the purposes of creating milk, yogurt, cheese, and other dairy products for human consumption. A little later we’ll get to what happens to the calves that their mothers’ milk was intended for.

The image you may sometimes see of a young man or woman manually milking a cow into a pale is extremely outdated. Modern dairy farmers use vacuum tubes and milk vats to streamline the process of collecting and processing milk.