I took a class in agriculture science that had a lot to say on all of these subjects, and most of what I learned really changed my mind about them. With little over 2.4% of the population involved in agriculture we need bigger farms with a higher production rate, and that will not happen with organic and free range.
Any organization stating that the agriculture business as a whole is abusive does not really understand that the farmers/ranchers livelihoods depend on their product. Better health means better production, it decreases overall cost of the product and decreases mortality rates. With a high nutrition these animals are not suffering.
Two things that really make me mad (now that I know the truth) is the hormone free milk, people say that it is what is causing girls to mature faster, but in truth it is not. The protein that is given is much to large for our bodies to absorb and utilize and is broken down in the stomach so that it no longer can be used by our bodies. Plus people are not given bovine growth hormone when they need to grow, the are given human because the BHG is to big.
Another thing that gets me riled up is veal production. Almost all of the veal production is male dairy breed bovines, heifers are just to valuable to go to slaughter. If you did not know, all dairy calves are taken from their mothers before they can get colostrum because the cows have no maternal instinct at all. They are more likely to step on them then to let them feed. The calves are then drenched with stock colostrum and taken to a hutch where they will live until they are ready for butcher.
Veal calves are actually not treated any diffrent then those replacement heifers, kept in the same size pen and fed the same amount. Only difference is that the veal calves will be taken out at 3 months of age and taken to slaughter, the replacement heifers will stay longer until they are old enough to be bred and go onto the milking string (usually 12 months).
So, your thoughts?



CRA









