Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 6/16/15


Factors that affect the welfare of cows on small-scale dairy farms are the same as those in larger, more intensive farming systems, the European Food Safety Authority has concluded.

The recent opinion followed an assessment on production diseases on small-scale dairy farms and proposed a methodology for assessing the welfare of cows.

The study comes in response to increasing consumer interest in buying food produced locally or regionally “directly or under farm certification schemes whereby acceptable animal welfare conditions play often an important role,” EFSA experts said.

The EU Commission also is mulling voluntary animal welfare guidelines for dairy cow farmers and asked EFSA to do the study.

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