No megadairies: help prevent factory farming

Celia is right the way to to ensure that animals are farmed in a more acceptable way is for the supermarkets and the consumers being prepared to pay a fair price.

I spoke to a pig farmer a few years ago who at the time was losing £30 on every animal he was selling. it is no wonder that farmers are forced into more intensive farming methods.

If supermarkets paid farmers a fair price there would be more dairy farmers producing products for home consumption. Just as battery hens are being given more space please dont let us see cows cooped up in huge barns. This is ot the way forward.

Are you planning a similar campaign re. the proposed pig prison in Derbyshire?

'Britain is not short of milk;' that is why so much is imported from abroad.

Milk used in this country is not just what appears on supermarket shelves but what is also used in manufacturing.

You are right if farmers were paid a fair price for their milk many would not be leaving the business. Currently the only why to make a living in dairy is by economies of scale

Britain is not short of milk; supermarkets compete against each other to drive the price of milk down for the consumer. It is not the consumer that demands cheaper milk despite what supermarkets say.
When supermarkets pay a fair price to the conventional dairy farmers there will be no demand for factory dairy farms.
These farms will use vast amounts of imported protein further increasing the UK's dependence on developing countries who should be making land available to their own farmers instead of the multi-national companies.

Mega diary??? that is all very well and good but lincolnshire is a rural area with very few jobs or prospects, the employment and revenue that this farm will bring in to the area far outweighs the downsides!

Plus also the farms are not inhumane for the cows they provide a long term sustainable way for the cows to be housed and milked and the welfare of the cows is much higher in an intensive farm (three times daily milking) environment than an open field with twice daily milking.
The cattle are much more closely monitored for infection as an outbreak of bse or other virus would decimate the cattle and the output of the farm..
Not only that, But the cows will have to be fed and milked and calved somewhere in the country or we will have to import milk and beef into the country.. so why not in lincolnshire and why not now.

The people purchasing the land and proposing to build the farm are already ploughing money in to the surrounding area and are already supporting a number of small business in the lincolnshire county.. Me being one of which, along with a number of other smaller businesses who would be going bankrupt or other wise at this point in time due to the recession.

The investors are bringing a number of smaller once derilict farms, tied housing and associated properties up to scratch in anticipation of this "mega Diary" going ahead. The amount of associated jobs, infrastructure and potential investment that this diary will provide is invaluable to this area, and besides if we start to import milk and beef in to the country the cost will be exponentially bigger and the damage to the environment will be four times bigger than this farm being given the go ahead...

Then in the Uk the support that the diary will provide to local amienties and companies will be massive.. employment for vets and associated services, massive amounts of "fertiliser" for the surrounding fields to help with crop growth, Lorry drivers, packaging companies, bovine feed companies, cattle transport companies, slaughter houses, Builders carpet fitters electricians etc in the maintenance and up keep of the farm and its associated buildings, Mechanics, engineering companies, fuel companies, etc etc etc, the list is in exhaustable.

As for the welfare of the cattle, strict guidelines are set by defra, and the cost for breaking such guidelines are massive, and a farm of this size will be monitored constantly.

these animals are bred for milk production and meat, it is better to have this diary in our country where know it is being subjected to such strict testing and standards than inport expensive milk and beef from a country with lower standards, at a massive cost to the environment..

People need to look at the bigger picture and not just see it as fields of corn being replaced by fields full of cows. The crop rotation system will beneifit from this system also as the rotation of fields will result in greater crop yield over the following year as well. The picture is much bigger and wider than your video even considers!

To see why this farm needs the go ahead, just walk round your local town and count up all the places where you can buy milk or beef, then consider how it got there? and then do it the next day to and the day after that and every day of the year!, this farm is an essential part of the modern day food chain to support the countries need for substinance.. (alright it might not be perfect solution but it is a very very good and essential one)

Please just consider that the next time you reach for a milky latte, a white tea, a milkshake or pour some milk on ya cereals.