Milk Production: A Cause for Concern

It comes as rather a shock to see New Zealanders in the news, arguing amongst themselves about the missing chapter of a report - questioning their very own green credentials. The chapter in question is unfortunately number 13.

(Not overly unfortunate that it was chapter 13, granted, but it allows me to clumsily shoehorn the word triskaidekaphobia into a piece of writing for the first - and hopefully - last time.)

Included in a statement by the country’s Green Party is the following:

“Chapter 13 states some inconvenient truths about the causes of environmental decline in New Zealand – causes such as dairy intensification, increased car use, and consumption. And it makes some inconvenient recommendations for action such as national environmental regulation and more public transport. Moreover it warns our economy is threatened by our poor environmental performance.”

The Green Party’s reaction has been thorough as the accompanying YouTube video shows.

But I’d like to just concentrate for now on dairy farming. It isn’t perhaps at the forefront of many people’s minds when we think of environmental decline. Conjure up the word “cattle” and more often, it is intensively reared beef rather than milk production that causes a reaction.

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But in a report I’ve unearthed here in the UK, one gets the distinct impression that we should be equally wary of our milk comsumption. In the report, the following concerns regarding the environment are raised:

• Dairy cows produce large quantities of slurry and manure. Both can be highly polluting if mismanaged;

• The effluent from grass silage is highly corrosive, so it’s difficult to manage safely and highly polluting if it enters water courses;

• Autumn harvesting of forage maize can lead to soil compaction if the soils are wet, and this can cause excess run-off and soil erosion;

• Dairy and parlour washings and rainfall on extended yard areas greatly increase the total volumes of effluents that require careful management;

• The daily movement of dairy cows from field to parlour, and outdoor grazing in inappropriate field conditions, can lead to soil compaction, poaching and run off.

But what bothers me about the report is not so much these environmental factors, but the lack of money available to farmers to ensure conditions around farms are improved.

UK milk prices have not kept pace with inflation while costs of production have. This has to change surely, with either an increase in the price we pay or increased government funding.

Is this the situation on a global scale? Are dairy farmers elsewhere struggling to break even and perhaps having to cut environmental corners as a result?

And how cavalier should we be about the huge quantities of water used at every stage of the process, including the cooling of the milk itself? Couple this with pollution concerns from run off into streams and rivers and things don’t look too special down on the farm.

I don’t think we can afford to pour milk over our cereal or flavour our tea or coffee until these questions have been answered.

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