Info About Agriculture
Dairy Cattle
Dairy cattle are made up of female adult cows which are bred in order to produce a large amount of milk which dairy products can then be made out of. Cows used for dairy products have in the past been also used for their meat as there was little and almost no difference between them and beef cattle. However this is no longer the case with dairy cattle now being a special bred allowing them to produce a mass amount of milk without much regard for their meat.
Dairy cows are bred on farms known as dairy farms where the farmers manage and collect their milk, the amount of cows on one particular dairy farm completely depends on the farmer, whether it's only a small farm of 5 to large farm of 30 cows or more. In the UK the average amount of cows to have in a dairy herd is around 100, but this is different for every country, for example in America it varies from state to state with the average herd in California being 800 to less than 80 in the North East states.
On dairy farms in order to keep a consistent and high level of milk being produced cows are bred to produce calves from around 14 months old meaning they give birth around the age of 2, who farmers get their cows to breed with varies from a dairy or beef bull. The calves that then grow to show they are able to produce the amount of milk needed are kept on the farm and eventually take over from the older cows; those who don't show this ability are taken to the market to be sold on.
The calves which are taken to market tend to be sold for veal or other forms of beef, and around about two weeks old, the amount a farmer gets for the animals varies dependent on their size and bred, for example bull calves tend to get more over traditional calves.
In the past farmers took the young cattle away from their mothers preventing them from bonding as they believed it was better for them. However there have since been research into this which has shown this is in fact not the case and that calves left to bred with their mother for up to 14 days showed three times more weight gains than those who had been taken away after as little as a day. They also found that they were better at having social relationships with other calves.
Bull calves on the other hand can be kept for breeding purposes if they show a high genetic potential as during the breeding season a bull can service up to 60 cows. The length of time a bull is keep can vary but it is normal around one season as over two years their temperament can become far too unpredictable and too much to handle.
The amount of milk that a cow can produce varies from cow to cow and from breed to breed with some being able to produce up to 10,000kg. The amount of milk produced peaks at different stages through out the breeding process, for example it is high around 50 days after calving but they starts to decline until around 305 days where the cow is said to have dried off' then around 6 months later, a year after her last calve the cow will breed again, starting the circle off again.
Agriculture & Farming
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The production of food and goods through farming and forestry.