In truth, last night’s RTÉ Investigates programme did not quite pass the ‘history test’ in explaining to viewers why the Irish dairy industry has expanded so quickly over the past decade.
Only a passing reference was made to the Food Harvest 2020 strategy, first published back in 2010, which laid down the clear vision of increasing Irish dairy output by 50%.
In the Food Harvest 2020 strategy it stated: “The abolition of EU milk quotas in 2015 presents a real opportunity for the Irish dairy sector, with a significant potential for increased milk production.”
We are talking here about a very specific mandate from the Irish government of the time to dramatically increase the scope of milk production throughout Ireland.
The clear reality is that no one can condone the mistreatment of young calves, or any other animal for that matter.
Irish calves
Courtesy of last night’s RTÉ programme we now know that the road haulage of Irish calves that are still on milk to veal units on mainland Europe is causing these animals untold stress and harm.
This practice has to be stopped and the sooner this happens the better.
It is also to be hoped that the relevant authorities will now carry out a forensic examination of the video footage produced by RTÉ.
All breaches of current welfare regulations must be identified and those responsible – individuals and organisations – exposed to the full rigours of the law.
In moving this matter forward, I sense the Irish government – for the reasons given above – must step in and take control of the situation.
I accept that the RTÉ exposé of the calf trade has done little to enhance the image of our dairy sector.
But the fundamental issue is this: How do we act as a farming industry to improve the welfare of the calves born in this country. We must be seen to be taking care of an issue that is of our own making.
The first step, I would propose, is for the Irish government to join forces with Teagasc, the various farming bodies and other stakeholder groups to establish a calf welfare forum.
The core focus of this body is to come up with an updated calf welfare code, which would take these young animals from birth up to 12 weeks of age.
In my opinion, calves should not be allowed to leave their farms of birth until they have been weaned. This provision should be made part of the milk licensing criteria enforced by the dairy processers.
In addition, no calves should be allowed to leave Ireland until they are at least 12 weeks of age. By that stage they would be on meals and better capable of withstanding the rigours of long journeys by road.
Dairy bull calves seem to be at the heart of the current problems. So, I see no reason why the Irish government can’t mandate the artificial insemination (AI) companies to sell sexed dairy semen only.
In addition, dairy farmers should also be expected to use sweeper bulls of a beef breed only.
A combination of these two suggestion would very quickly whittle down the number of dairy-bred bull calves produced in this country.
Calf rearing facilities
Making all of this happen will require substantial, on-farm investment. Most milk producers, for example, will need to build additional calf rearing facilities to keep all their calves for that longer period of time.
But the money is available to fund investments of this nature. Ireland is set to notch up a 2023 national budget surplus of some €50 billion.
The bottom line to all of this is that Ireland must be seen to be reacting proactively to the issues exposed in the RTÉ Investigates programme.
Our calf rearing and trading practises must no longer be seen as the Irish dairy industry’s “dirty little secret”.