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Recent dairy expansion has resulted in a shortage of adequate winter housing on some farms, which can lead to welfare issues, speakers at the Cattle Association of Veterinary Ireland (CAVI) conference said.
Assoc Prof Finbar Mulligan from UCD said that “every cow should have a cubicle for winter”.
He cited a Department of Agriculture report that found that one-third of farmers didn’t have one cubicle per cow.
"We still have less cows than 1984 but our production has gone up.
— Hannah QuinnMulligan (@hqmulligan) October 18, 2019
"What we're going to see is herd size going up and farmer numbers going down," says @MunsterBovine's Doreen Corridan #CAVI2019 pic.twitter.com/fnXUryW1RP
He gave an example where he himself had come across a farmer who had expanded to 140 cows but only had 70 cubicles.
Mulligan said that while it wasn’t currently checked by the Department, he felt that it should be compulsory to have adequate shed space and a cubicle recorded for each cow.
Zero-tolerance approach
The focus on animal welfare was also highlighted by Dairygold CEO Jim Woulfe, who pointed out that customers had a higher sensitivity to animal welfare and that there was a “zero-tolerance” approach from Dairygold on the issue.
Woulfe said the dairy industry "had been slow to respond and defend our territory" against an increasingly strong anti-dairy agenda.
"We have a good story, we must get better at defending it," Woulfe said.
Health and safety
The issue of health and safety and adequate handling facilities was also flagged – farming has one of the highest fatality rates of any industry in the country.
Doreen Corridan of Munster Bovine pointed out that better on-farm facilities and equipment reduced the level of stress on the farmer and improved safety standards.
She said that the lack of handling facilities was one of the biggest issues facing their AI technicians on farms.
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