Page 30 - The Welfare of Cattle

IntroduCtIon 7

As an example of the problem, I live in a college town with an extraordinary farmer’s market.
I can purchase vegetables, fruits, meats, and baked goods from independent vendors all of whom
claim to be providing fresh and wholesome food. I note that almost all of the items avoid USDA
inspection for pesticides, or USDA slaughter inspection, rarely have labels with the date they were
packaged, and almost never have a country of origin label. Many are certified organic but that’s dif-
ferent than an inspection system. Food safety is a real concern and farm-to-table and farm-to-school
programs that by-pass USDA inspections remove one of the important safety nets associated with
assuring a safe food supply. As we create more stringent requirements for our food systems we need
to financially reward that system in order for producers to survive.
So, we as a society can have whatever kind of animal production system we want; we just have to
be willing to share in the costs required to pay for it. Larger herds are able to provide some benefits
to their cattle that are not feasible in smaller herds just as smaller herds are able to provide some
benefits that are not feasible in larger herds. Consumers need to decide what benefits they will sup-
port with higher prices to the farm.
Every cattle producer I know would love to have a viable alternative to castrating and dehorn-
ing calves. Thankfully Angus cattle carry a dominant allele that codes for polled offspring, and the
beef industry has made major strides in using breeding cattle that pass on this allele so their calves
do not require dehorning. It’s a problem in dairy breeds, however, because using Angus semen will
produce offspring without horns AND with less milk. There is an answer, gene editing, which can
insert the Angus polled allele into a dairy breed’s genetics and produce dairy calves that will not
require dehorning. The technology is precise and makes use of a natural allele without significant
alteration to other genes. It’s also possible to control the sex of calves using genetic technology
thereby avoiding the need for castration, but at this point society has not demonstrated any willing-
ness to use these kinds of technologies to improve animal welfare. More thoughtful dialogue about
the appropriate use of technologies like gene editing is needed if society wants to seriously address
animal welfare issues.
Do you like cheese? More than 80% of our cheese is produced using a product produced by a
GMO microbe that has been modified to manufacture an enzyme that clots and solidifies cheese.
Before this GMO product became available naturally occurring rennet was used to accomplish the
task. Rennet is an extract from the stomach lining of nursing calves. Much of this rennet came from
the slaughter of veal calves and as that industry largely disappeared based on societal concerns,
the GMO product became the dominant method for today’s cheese production. Similarly, many
effective and safe medical therapeutics are produced using GMO technology today, including: most
of the insulin in use to treat diabetes; blood products and clotting factors; allergens; monoclonal
antibodies; immunoglobulin’s; antivenoms; some vaccines, and more. If you’ve had a serious illness
and been hospitalized, or had surgery, you’ve probably received products that have come from a
GMO. An exploration of the acceptable use of GMO and associated technologies would be useful
and could play an important role in animal welfare tomorrow, but only if thoughtfully contemplated
today by an informed society carefully considering benefits, disadvantages, and consequences asso-
ciated with their use.
For more than 20 years, six or seven days a week, you’d find me in rubber boots and coveralls,
called to a dairy or beef operation because the producer cared enough about his or her animals
to provide regular and preventive medical services. In my personal experience, I found the over-
whelming majority of owners were proud and respectful of their animals and did all they could to
care for them. To most of these producers their animals were family. Differences in the quality of
care provided were primarily associated with the economic limitations of the enterprise and not the
lack of concern of the producer. Regardless of herd size, dairy and beef producers were proud of
the genetics they’ve invested in their herds, often representing a family legacy that spans multiple
generations of effort to produce the best animals possible. Dairy cattle require care seven days
and nights a week, 365 days a year, and want to be milked every day, preferably at the same time,