Replies

"OTOH, cows on an organic dairy are generally healthier than cows in non-organic dairies. The reason is that most dairy cows are kept in confinements. Many of these confinements use concrete enclosures. Cows standing on concrete are more prone to develop mastitis, an infection that causes pus to get into the milk. At an orgainc dairy, the cows are kept on pasture. As a result, they almost never get mastitis or other infections for that matter. So, they are generally healthier and don't need medical treatment."

Cows are not kept in confinements...They are MILKED in stall-like concrete enclosures and then they are sent back to the pasture after being milked.
According to http://www.case-world.com/caw.lumast.html mastitis is caused by micro-organisms such as e-coli, staph, etc. Mastitis is also known as bluebag which means the udder is hot, sensitive and more often than not, not producing milk which leaves calves and lambs orphanned.

Well Ol' Bean, I gotta disagree with you. I son't know everything about dairy production but I know that in some parts of the country, cows are still pastured between milkings.

However, in other areas, such as in Texas, New Mexico and parts of California, the countryside is unable to support pasture, even under the best condition. Even so, many dairyman in other parts of the country have abandoned traditional production practices, because they do not think they are getting enough for their product. As a rule, they are moving to much larger herds without expanding their acreage.

In many of these "modern" operations, the cows are actually kept enclosed in an open-air enclosure with a concrete floor. Feed and bedding are provided within the structure. Because the concrete floor is kind of hard on the hooves of a cow, they spend alot of time off their feet. Several times a day, the floor is flushed with water, washing off the manure.

Sometimes the cows are allowed to go out into a paddocked area or actually kept outside, but there are so many cows kept in such a confined area, the cows denude whatever acreage they've got and there is generally no pasture to speak of.

All of this puts alot of stress on animals that are kind of high strung to begin with under the best of conditions. This stress among other factors generally leads to higher levels of mastitis. In addition, the cows are pumped up with alot of chemicals and hormones which no doubt cancontribute to the higher incidence of mastitis in these large herds not kept on pasture.

Producers with these large herds can lower their per unit cost of milk and thereby increase their bottom line in the short term. However, they have really high cull rates. In other words, alot of their cows just die of exhaustion and get sold for hamburger.

By the way, the largest buyer of culled dairy cows are large buyers such as McDonalds. None of the dairymen I know of would dare eat a McDonalds hamburger cause they know whats in it.

As a result, the missus and I try to get our milk from local folks who either milk goats or milk a family cow and have excess milk. We usually end up spending less on a gallon of milk than you would spend at the store for a gallon of processed. The taste and quality are unparalleled. And we NEVER eat at McDonalds.