More cows in the UK might soon be kept indoors for their entire lives, animal welfare groups have warned, after the BBC discovered an increase in large “megafarms.”
According to the BBC’s Freedom of Information requests, the number of large-scale beef and dairy farms in Britain has grown from 756 to 802 over five years, now housing over 915,000 cows.
Campaigners from Compassion in World Farming (CiWF) are concerned about the rise of these massive farms, fearing that many will keep cows indoors all year, which they believe is harmful to the animals’ welfare.
However, the National Farmers Union (NFU) argues that the welfare of animals depends more on how they are managed than on the size of the farm or whether the cows are kept indoors or allowed to graze outside.
The BBC’s investigation revealed that there are currently 802 farms in England, Wales, and Scotland that house over 700 cows, with some farms capable of holding up to 12,000 cows across different locations. In Northern Ireland, there are 141 such farms, collectively holding more than 141,000 cows.
The UK government’s most recent survey, published in 2019, found that 8% of large farms with at least 150 cows kept their cattle indoors all year, and up to 3% of smaller farms also used no-graze systems.
Some farmers, like Fraser Jones, who has 5,000 cattle across multiple sites in Wales, defend indoor systems, claiming they protect cows from extreme weather and allow for better health and nutrition management, leading to higher milk production. He emphasized that good animal welfare depends on proper management and staff training, not just farm size.
Critics, however, worry that these intensive no-graze systems can lead to health issues, including the spread of diseases and the overuse of antibiotics, which can contribute to antibiotic resistance.
Despite these concerns, the NFU insists that “megafarms” are still rare in the UK, with less than 20 farms having more than 5,000 beef cattle and only a few with over 1,000 milking cows. They argue that proper animal care, not farm size, is key to good practices.
Experts like Professor Liam Sinclair from Harper Adams University point out that economic pressures have been pushing dairy farms to grow larger for decades, often leading to indoor-only systems due to the lack of available grazing land.
The UK government and its devolved administrations say they are committed to maintaining high standards of animal welfare, but they did not comment on the business decisions of farms choosing to operate on a large scale.
This information was gathered by the BBC, who also pointed out that many of these large farms operate out of public view, raising serious concerns among animal welfare advocates.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4ldkpz1klo