News from The Soil Association

The Soil Association recently announced that it's decided to end the culling of male dairy calves in organic farming.

The Soil Association is by far the largest organic certification body in the UK and has lead the way in raising agricultural standards in the sector. It's standards go beyond those stipulated by the government.

Although this is at a very early stage (it will be five years before they are implemented), it represents a major cultural change.

Generally, dairy cows are bred to produce as much milk as possible and so the male calves tend to be too scrawny to be suitable for being reared for their meat. This leaves no option than for the male calves to be culled.

The new measure will force farmers to rethink what they do with their male cows.

Traditionally, male cows were used to plough the fields, however, they became redundant in this function with the introduction of tractors.

Link to corresponding Soil Association press release: http://www.soilassociation.org/News/NewsItem/tabid/91/smid/463/ArticleID/256/reftab/57/t/Organic-sector-moves-to-end-culling-of-male-dairy-calves/Default.aspx
(Text PAMHO:18861328)