Dairy giant Fonterra is now prohibiting its suppliers from killing newborn calves on their farms from June 2023 onwards.
According to the new rules, beginning in the middle of this year, all bobby calves shall be given a “useful existence” – either grown for beef, killed for calf veal, or used for pet food.
Furthermore, calves can only be slaughtered on the farm if there are “humane reasons” to do so.
As a by-product of the dairy business, more than 2 million bobby calves are produced each year. They are conceived so that cows can give milk for human use, then killed – regarded as “poor value”.
“The Meat Industry Association (MIA) and our members are optimistic about the shift,” said Richard McColl, the MIA’s industrial operations management manager. “We are aware of the concerns about reputation risk.”
When the new guidelines were published, however, several farmers stated they couldn’t handle the extra calves due to labour shortages.
“Because of a labour constraint and the limited window in which bobby calves were born between August and October, the meat sector was concerned about its capacity to handle additional bobby calves,” informed Rabobank agriculture expert Genevieve Steven .
Dairy animals also did not generate as much meat as conventional beef cattle. Steven said there may be advantages if the beef and dairy sectors collaborated to make better use of bobby calves.
She said, “First, the business had to figure out how to handle the rising demand for bobby calf processing.
In order to help farmers in meeting the new terms of supply, Fonterra said it has been working closely with meat processors, transporters, pet food producers, and other industry organisations for many months.