Page 29 - The Welfare of Cattle

6 the WeLfare of CattLe

lactating that is similar to that of a marathon runner in the middle of a race. They may look placid
and calm standing or lying around, but they are metabolically working very hard. They naturally
lose weight after birthing and into the first quarter of their lactation, during the time their ability
to consume feed increases but doesn’t yet equal the demands associated with making milk. These
cows require diets carefully formulated and balanced to provide the high-density nutrients required
to support their milk production and get them ready to become pregnant. Like all athletes, they are
in a delicate balance between health/well-being and performance.
A historical policy to provide USA citizens with inexpensive food has resulted in very low
margins of profit for farmers in good years, and losses in bad years. As a result, those farms pro-
ducing products with highly regulated prices and “on the fiscal edge” have had to apply the same
process and outcomes controls to their production systems as we’ve experienced in manufacturing
of durable goods, thereby lowering the costs of production, keeping retail prices low, and improving
quality control.
The farmer assumes the highest risk relative to return-on-investment in our food system that
spans from production to consumption, including assuming the risk of market fluctuations and
adverse weather. At the same time the farmer receives a very small portion of the money society
spends on food. In 2015 every dollar we spent on all food items included only 8.6 cents to the farm
of origin. Compare that to 15.6 cents for food processing, 15.3 cents for packaging, transportation,
and wholesale trade, 34.4 cents for food services (eating out or buying prepared foods), and 13.5
cents for energy, finance, Insurance, advertising, and other food-associated expenses (source USDA
ERS Food Dollar Series). Comparing prices in the 60 years between 1946 and 2006, tuition at
Harvard University increased 70+ times; average home prices increased over 50 times; the cost of
rental housing or purchasing a new car went up ~25 times; gas per gallon, postage, a loaf of bread or
a movie ticket went up ~10 times; the price of milk went up ~5 times and the price of eggs went up ~2
times (Signal Magazine 09/06 from US Government, professional, and trade association sources).
Today consumers spend just less than half their food dollar on food prepared outside of the
home. As a society, we’re spending the lowest percentage of our income on food in history, much
lower than the citizens of Europe and third world countries. Restaurant prices have increased from
about double retail (grocery store) prices in 1990 to about four times retail prices in 2014 and the
amount of our diet that comes from foods we don’t prepare is at an all-time high.
I think we all agree, producers and consumers alike, that we want the animal to be the major
point of concern in our food production systems. To assure that reality the producer needs help.
While it is not possible to feed the world’s population by using organic production methods, and
there are serious concerns about the welfare status of animals in organic production systems, the
increased income to the farm from consumers willing to pay more for organic products is a model
that may help change role of animals used for producing food. The retail costs of organic products
are significantly higher than similar foods produced in conventional systems because it takes more
land, inputs, and in some cases, time, to produce the same amount of conventionally produced food.
Without consumers willing to pay those higher costs, organic producers could not economically
survive.
Surely consumers of domesticated animal products also share with the producer the solemn
responsibility for the animal’s care. If consumers will pay more for their dairy and beef food prod-
ucts producers can do more to promote animal welfare, environmental stewardship, and other
important elements of sustainable agricultural production. Basing one’s food purchasing decisions
on the lowest retail price can only result in a less animal-centered food production systems.
An unresolved question exists about how a “preferred food production system” sustains itself in
the face of global competition from foreign producers who are often free to use banned chemicals/
drugs, may have no or smaller environmental costs of production, may pay non-living employee
wages without housing or health care, and often escape the welfare considerations we’re discussing.
Welfare expectations are very different around the world where laws, cultures, and ethics differ.