8,100 cow intensive dairy proposed for Lincolnshire

[CAFFO]

I live in the village next to this proposed "Super Dairy". I strongly object for many reasons including: health; environmental issues; increased HGVs on our country roads; the impact on the independent dairy farmer. Is this the way we really want to go in the pursuit of ever-cheaper food? Would mums really be happy feeding their family on milk produced in this way? The cows would live indoors, bedded on sand, feed on dried food & be milked 3 times a day. The local villages will be subject to the smell of slurry being spread on a huge area of arable land - constantly. IF THIS IS ALLOWED TO COME TO LINCOLNSHIRE, IT WILL SURELY FOLLOW IN OTHER AREAS OF BRITAIN.
This has been happening in the USA for years, and the tide over there is turning - many respiratory problems have been identified. They have realised their mistakes. Why should we have this huge experiment forced on us, if it is not good enough for America? I URGE YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHERE YOUR MILK COMES FROM - ONLY BUY MILK WITH THE TRACTOR LOGO. Don't let the supermarkets dictate any more. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE if we shop responsibly.

OMG is there any animal that we can't battery farm. yuk yuk yuk.

I agree with you. i don't live in the UK, Switzerland has a huge dairy industry and they seem to cope OK with smaller farms and lone farmers managing their herd. I'd object to it as well in your shoes, not only for the reasons you stated, but animal welfare too. The cows here are wintered in barns although they do get fed through bars suspended outside. A couple of weeks ago it was deemed spring, the cows were taken outside and the joy was evident by the cows jumping around.

Yes, I'm with klu - animal welfare is a stronger aspect for my objection, as 'battery farming' is so unpleasant for the animals.

From what I had heard, automated milking equipment starting to be used means cows can be milked whenever they feel the need, which is probably much better for their welfare, and if it was cheaper, could overcome some of the farming dislike of the suggestions about moving the clocks to stay in line with Europe, which has apparently some benefits in reduction of accidents to road users and pedestrians.

I appreciate there will be other issues considered higher up the scale if one lives in the area.

I can imagine the issue of slurry being a major one (though I guess there may be some anaerobic digestor scheme that could cope with the 'output' of that many cows).

When I was in California in 1997 there was a man making money from taking the slurry and using worms to 'process' it into a really clean compost (from the worm casts left on top) which was then sold on to Japan.

It meant that there was no need for landfill or other methods of disposal in California, and he was more than covering his costs (he employed staff just to deal with the worm farm, and had transport costs for shipping the bags off to Japan). I think he also had some income from the Californian farmers who had no wish to have the slurry on their farms (so not all the cost was borne by the Japanese garden centres/ gardeners).

Unfortunately I've lost contact since they moved to some bigger home, on the outskirts of San Diego, but I dare say there's still a lot of muck to process and the worms mostly bred with each other so long as they had a source of food, so he might be filling barns up with sacks of clean compost if there's been a slump in the market over in Japan

We may get digesters in 2 years time - in the meantime, the slurry will be kept in huge lagoons & then spready on the land. PEW report from America suggests respiratory problems are a result of slurry being spread to the max levels allowed.
These cows will not be milked whenver they feel the need - but 3 times a day.
Calves will be removed from them after 6 hours.
We all need to think very carefully when buying milk - look after the independent farmer, we are about to lose them forever if we let this factory dairy through.

CAFFO - I saw this on TV recently and it made my jaw drop. Just at a time when we're becoming more aware about the provenance of our food they go and start doing this.

I can't beleive they won't start pumping those poor bloody cows full of god knows what like they do in the states to make them produce more milk as well.

Totally agree with you as well as to the impact on the smaller dairy farmers who are only just recovering from what the Foot & Mouth outbreak to them.

It makes me very sad. We're so bloody short sighted.

The guy who is going to be in charge is very dubious . A friend of mine ,who's Dad is a farmer, told me he has already been in trouble for bad practice in other locations .

Caffo - I do agree but intensive farming is much more profitable in this country than extensive/organic farming. I think that the consumer needs to take the blame for this. If we are only prepared to buy the cheapest food then the farmer and his animals suffer. I hate supermarkets and they need to take their share of the blame, but people buy the stuff they sell. If we all only bought UK meat and milk that is what the supermarkets would sell.

(As an aside, I do find it extraordinary that UK bacon is so hard to come by - I refuse to eat anything but British meat and often have to forego bacon because it is all bloody Danepak watery shite).

It's not as if Lincolnshire is a stranger to intensive farming or dodgy chemicals. I grew up there (cough cough wheeze wheeze)

Callisto - I am in full agreement with you. It's the main point I'm trying to raise - if we don't try shopping responsibly, & block this monstrous "super" dairy, we will have no choice whatsoever. The big supermarkets will strengthen their grip over us all. I too only buy British meat - fortunately, I have a butcher a couple of villages away who supplies this (I don't buy meat from the supermarket).

EP - I don't think anywhere is a stranger to intensive farming, nor dodgy chemicals. However, nowhere in this country has anything on this scale. Is this the route we want to take - because you can be sure that if it is allowed here in Lincolnshire then it will follow elsewhere.

Where do you think the milk that you buy at the moment comes from?

The majority of it is imported from Holland, Denmark and Ireland and I would imagine that that sort of intensive farming is whats generating milk at the moment.

Farmers cannot afford to farm in this country.. they price they get is too low and the price they have to pay for fertiliser, maintenance etc is too high. Also they do not get enough yield per animal to make enough revenue.

I agree its not pleasant, this type of farming and yes supermarkets are completely to blame for driving the price down but I don't see the British consumer accepting a rise in prices.

At least if we had that type of intensive farming here it would be activley monitored by all the relevant welfare agencies which aren't as common in the rest of Europe and we could have some reassurance over teh welfare of the animal

I never knew about the tractor logo but always buy organic milk these days - is that OK?
It's not much dearer than normal milk tbh.

What a horrible thing they are planning.

Is there going to be a protest? Can we come and chain ourselves to something, just to get some publicity?

The more I think about this (particularly as I drive past bucolic cows) the more it repulses me. I really don't think that the british public will accept it. Will they? [naive lived out of the uk for far too long emoticon]

Wil the tractor logo actually help if this goes ahead? I thought it just represented that the milk was 'british' whicch presumerably this would be? (Might be missing the point here?)

I tend to buy 'supermarket own' branded organic milk, i would love to be able to afford 'rachels dairy' or whatever but i can't. I will also buy cravendale when its on offer.

Is that good or bad? Am going shopping today, so will have a good look at all the bottles on offer to see if country of origin is available to see on bottles.

Much prefer sainsbury milk as is normally two big bottles for £3 and are organic, whereas its two big non organic bottles at tesco.

I can and am willing to change my milk buying habits if i get the right info about what i should buy. I'm sure i'm not the only one, this needs to be better publisced.

Eve - I agree with you. This is about awareness. It is not too late to do something. People should know where their food comes from. The supermarkets rely on us not knowing enough. I don't think milk comes from Holland, though - the milk on our supermarket shelves is from the UK.

Fliight - a group of us here in the local villages are getting together. We are about to sort out a website "caffo.co.uk" but not sure how long 'til it's up and running. The application has been withdrawn, therefore we think all the objectsions (over 700) will also be void but we are waiting for confirmation. Once the application goes in again we would urge EVERYONE to voice their concerns to NKDC (North Kesteven District Council) through their planning portal.

The more I look into this, the more complicated it gets. However, I can tell you that Waitrose & Sainsburys have issued statements saying that they source their milk from independent farmers who meet their high standards of welfare.
The applicants for the factory dairy are not in favour of organic milk - which tends to make me think that we all should be!!!

The tractor logo does mean that the milk produced meets British welfare standards. However, as you say, if this dairy goes ahead, it could well bear this logo. Well-informed people have told me that any product from such an intensive system should not be classified as "milk", but relabelled as "white water".
The problem we all have with the proposed dairy is the scale of it - what chance is there for the independent farmer?
Incidentally, the Women's Institute were instrumental in achieving an extra 2 pence per pint for the dairy farmer a couple of years ago.
Never underestimate the power of the consumer.
We can make a huge difference.

A few things I forgot to add: that there are major health issues associated with the spread of slurry from these dairies. The ICU consultant at Lincoln Council Hospital has written to our local paper raising his serious concerns (based on the PEW report on intensive dairy farms in the USA).
INCIDENTS OF RESPIRATORY DISEASE INCREASE GREATLY AROUND THESE FARMS.
Compassion in World Farming object, as do Friends of the Earth & the Soil Association - David Bellamy was also on the front of our paper speaking out against it. 172 MPs object. Over 1,200 people signed our ePetition (this has now been suspended until after the election)

'White water'? Wtf?

There is cheap milk imported from Poland and the old Eastern Bloc which is undermining British farmers, but the worst culprits are the British consumer. Most people don't care where their milk/meat/veg comes from or any human or animal welfare issues associated with it. Who cares if battery hens have a life of the utmost misery if we can buy 2 chickens for a fiver? Who cares that pig and dairy farmers are going under at a terrifying rate as long as we get the cheapest pork and milk? It drives me mad. And the government seems to actively want to erase all agriculture from the British Isles.

Littleducks, the best you can do is buy from small, local dairies or M&S, Waitrose or Sainsbos organic. I'm very lucky that my local farm shop has a herd of milkers so I can buy very local and organic for not much more than Sainsbury organic. The red tractor is a trustworthy logo if you just want to stick to British.