‘Cow With Calf’ dairy farm welfare project wins £60k boost
A project which aims to keep calves with their mothers for longer has been awarded over £60,000 to make Scotland a leader in high animal-welfare dairy.
Farmers David and Wilma Finlay have ambitions to turn the high welfare dairy system into a successful, commercial operation.
At Rainton Farm, in Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway, dairy cows and their calves are kept together for five months.
Standard modern practices involve separating the cow and calf within 24 hours of birth.
But the Finlays’ ‘cow with calf’ project aims to use the ‘ethical dairy’ as a model to characterise the cow with calf system and on-farm rearing.
The project’s overall purpose is to improve environmental and social aspects of farming.
Their farm will now be used as a model with the intention of extending this to farmers wishing to make Scotland a leader in ethical dairying.
Source: Farming UK


