Milk madness: The torment of dairy cows
What suffering is behind your daily glass of milk?
Only a cow that gives birth produces milk
For humans to consume milk, a cow must first give birth. This biological fact underpins the entire dairy industry. A dairy cow’s primary role is to produce large quantities of milk — but she only begins lactating after delivering a calf.
Typically, dairy cows are artificially inseminated for the first time at around 16 to 18 months of age, once they reach sexual maturity. After giving birth, the cow begins to produce milk, which is then harvested for human consumption. To maximize milk production, the calf is usually separated from its mother just a few hours or days after birth — a practice that causes significant psychological distress to both mother and calf.
Instead of receiving their mother’s milk, most calves are fed a substitute: a mixture of skimmed milk powder and water. Deprived of natural suckling and maternal care, many calves become more vulnerable to illness and often develop behavioral disorders. The emotional and physical suffering these young animals endure is difficult to fathom.
However, some farms are proving there’s a more compassionate way. In a practice known as mother-bound calf rearing, calves are allowed to stay with their mothers for extended periods, enabling natural bonding and nursing. These alternatives demonstrate that dairy farming can be done differently.
Once a calf is born, the cycle begins again. To maintain milk production, dairy cows are re-inseminated as soon as possible. As a result, they are often heavily pregnant while still being milked, with only a brief “dry period” of about eight weeks each year for rest and recovery.
Milk yields have increased dramatically in recent years. High-performance dairy cows can now produce up to 12,000 liters of milk annually — over 30 liters every day. To sustain this level of production, cows are typically fed energy-dense concentrate feeds like grain and soy. Yet cows, as ruminants, are naturally adapted to diets rich in fiber from grass and hay. These high-concentrate diets can disrupt their gut flora and lead to digestive and metabolic disorders.
Cows are pushed to produce more and more milk
Over the past few decades, the amount of milk a single cow produces each year — known as milk yield — has increased dramatically. In many European countries, yields have more than doubled in the last 40 years.
This surge in production is not due to natural processes, but rather the result of intensive breeding and management strategies. Until the mid-1980s, most gains in milk yield were achieved through better farm practices, such as improved feeding routines and higher-quality roughage. However, since then, the focus has shifted sharply toward genetic manipulation and high-intensity feeding.
Artificial insemination (AI), the global distribution of semen from genetically selected bulls, and rigorous selection based on offspring performance have all contributed to the rise in so-called “high-performance” dairy cows. These cows have been selectively bred for one primary goal: to produce as much milk as possible.
As a result, the average milk yield per cow has soared. Since 1975, it has more than doubled — from approximately 4,100 liters per year to 8,200 liters today.1 Some cows now produce even more, with top-performing animals giving over 12,000 liters annually.
But this high productivity comes at a cost. These cows face intense physical strain and are often kept on diets rich in energy-dense feed like soy and grains to sustain their unnatural milk output — despite being biologically adapted for high-fiber diets of grass and hay. The consequences include serious digestive issues, metabolic disorders, and reduced overall welfare.
Sick from overproduction
Modern dairy farming pushes cows to their physical and biological limits. Though cows are natural ruminants, designed to thrive on diets rich in grass and hay, they are often fed energy-dense concentrates like grain and soy to support excessive milk production. This unnatural diet, combined with the strain of high yields, has serious consequences for their health.
Metabolic disorders, painful udder infections (mastitis), and rumen acidification are common. These conditions can be life-threatening and are directly linked to the pressure placed on dairy cows to produce more milk than their bodies can sustainably handle.
In the early stages of the milking cycle — when milk output is at its peak — cows often burn more calories than they can consume. This leads to rapid weight loss and constant hunger. At the same time, their oversized udders can make walking difficult and painful.
Their hooves (claws) also suffer. High-concentrate diets disrupt normal hoof growth and health, increasing the risk of lameness and infections. In contrast, cows in more natural systems — such as mother-calf or pasture-based herds — tend to have healthier hooves and overall well-being thanks to roughage-rich diets.
The physical toll on these animals is so intense that many are culled at just five years old — a fraction of their natural lifespan, which can reach 20 years. Despite not even reaching full maturity (which occurs around age five), these cows are deemed "spent" and replaced by younger animals.
Each year, roughly one-third of dairy herds are slaughtered and replaced, totaling over 8.9 million animals in the European Union alone. In the UK, there are around 1.9 million dairy cows.2 While the total number of cows has remained relatively stable, the number of dairy farms has decreased, and herd sizes have grown, further industrialising and intensifying the pressures placed on each individual animal.
What can you do to support animal-friendly dairy cow husbandry?
- Stand against agonising housing conditions
- When buying dairy products, inform yourself about the animals' husbandry conditions and do not use products that involve genetic manipulation and high-intensity feeding practices
- Instead, choose products that are animal-friendly and/or organically produced
- Try to limit your dairy milk consumption
- Buy more plant-based alternatives such as oat or rice milk or products made from them. There is now a large selection of vegan "milk", "yoghurt" or "cheese"
- Ask in restaurants and cafes about the origin of the milk used or would they consider plant-based alternatives. Numerous restaurants already offer plant-based milk instead - with others willing to include them in the supply, if there is a sufficient demand
up to 12,000 litres of milk a year
are given by high-performance cows. This physical performance with inappropriate diet is comparable to a top athlete who must run a marathon every day.
FOUR PAWS calls for...
...a structural change in the whole dairy (milk) production:
- Mother-bonded or fostered calf rearing – the separation of a calf from their mother should be forbidden or at the very least substituted with nursing cows
- Ban on painful management procedures like disbudding/dehorning, castration, tail docking
- Complete ban on tethering of the animals and fully slatted floors, as well as a lower stocking density in the stables
- Lower milk yield and longer calving intervals as that has a very positive impact on the animals’ health and wellbeing
- A shift towards dual purpose breeds
Better financial support of farmers that switch to animal welfare friendly husbandry systems - animal welfare must be considered within the scope of UK legislation and subsidies spent
FOUR PAWS is advocating for fundamental change in the way dairy farming is practiced. At the heart of this mission is opposition to the widespread practice of separating calves from their mothers immediately after birth — a routine that disregards the animals’ natural needs and emotional bonds.
Lasting improvements can only be achieved if the demand for dairy products is reduced. As long as high-volume consumption drives the industry, the pressure to maximize milk production — often at the expense of the animals’ well-being — will persist. That’s why FOUR PAWS also encourages more conscious consumption choices and greater awareness of the hidden costs behind dairy.
