Issue link: https://htpgraphics.uberflip.com/i/464860
voiced concerns about animal welfare. One MP used an Early Day Motion to compare the potential impact of super farms with the effect that the arrival of supermarkets had on local corner shops. The first and biggest proposed UK super dairy was at Nocton, Lincolnshire, which originally planned to manage a dairy herd of in the region of 8000 cows. Following public opposition, the plan was reduced to a herd of 3770. The plan was eventually shelved after the Environment Agency raised a number of concerns about the application. The agency's concerns focused on pollution risks to a nearby aquifer, rather than the impact on small-scale producers or animal welfare. The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) produced a briefing that listed both the benefits and the disadvantages of large-scale intensive livestock farming. The POST document said the current size of the average dairy herd was in the region of 120 animals. While proposed herds of 1000 animals would be significantly larger, it was still relatively insignificant when considered on a global scale. For example, a Saudi Arabia super diary houses 37,000 animals. Currently, the majority of dairy farmers operate a 'traditional' system. In the summer the cattle are 'turned out' to graze grass and brought in twice a day to be milked. During the winter months, and at times of grass shortage or high temperatures, cows are housed indoors. When the cows are indoors they are fed forage (grass/maize silage) and a mixed concentrated ration. Super diaries operate a fully housed system, in which the cows are housed indoors all year round. This approach is the primary reason behind animal welfare concerns voiced by opponents, such as the animals being unable to express natural behaviour as they would if they were in allowed to graze in fields. As the number of UK dairy farmers continues to fall amid the global downward trend in milk prices and rising fodder prices, the pressure to establish super farms is set to remain on the political agenda for the foreseeable future. THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW Highlighting best practice 14 | REVIEW OF THE YEAR Animal welfare concerns have been voiced about super diaries, in which cows are housed indoors all year round