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Farmers need to “mind” dairy bull calves this spring and ensure they don’t fall foul of social media campaigns run by animal activists.
This was the message to farmers from UCD professor Patrick Wall at a Roches Feeds event in Limerick, where he warned farmers that Ireland’s clean, green image could be destroyed if something was filmed and posted online out of context.
We’ve a big issue with the bull calves coming and we have to take care of them
“Ireland has become very divided. There’s a huge disconnect between urban and rural,” he said, highlighting that what might be considered normal practice on farms could be construed as cruel by people from non-farming backgrounds.
“We have to be so careful about everything we do.”
Cherbourg
He referenced footage of Irish dairy bull calves being beaten in Cherbourg last year and the undercover investigation into Fairlife in the US where cows and calves were also shown being abused.
“We’ve a big issue with the bull calves coming and we have to take care of them,” he said.
“If people want to be vegans let them be vegans. But you don’t want to give them anything to work on.”
"If you double the size of your herd, you double the amount of grass you have to grow and the amount of shit you have to spread." ???? Professor Wall telling it like it is.
— Hannah QuinnMulligan (@hqmulligan) January 15, 2020
He defended Ireland’s animal welfare position, but pointed to the fact that misinformation could be spread quickly online.
He said people could make a film on their phone and post it online. If that film was out of context, it could be challenging for the farm community.
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