Intensive production? This cow needs grass
Trust the Greens on animal rights
Too much milk and meat protein is grown on concrete. It is natural to see cows grazing in fields. But in intensive beef and milk production, animals are cooped up in concrete stables the whole year round and fed on maize silage and compound power feed. They are fed and then milked till they drop. Farmers feel forced into this situation as milk prices decreases. At the same time cheese producers complain that milk from intensive production is no longer good enough for quality cheese. Salmon are increasingly raised in sea cages under similar conditions.
EU transfers for farmers and farming investments must now respect environmental and animal welfare standards. Meat and bone meal has been banned and compound feed has to be fully labelled. These are major Greens achievements.
In order to promote more sustainable farming methods - especially in less favoured areas - we must phase out subsidies for intensive animal husbandry (i.e. that based on corn silage) and replace them with premiums for extensive and environmentally friendly grassland pasture. Financial support for factory farming methods, including caged hens and intensive poultry, must disappear. And we should withhold support for farm investments that do not increase animal welfare.
