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Most U.S. Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just Two Bulls

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Re: Most U.S. Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just Two Bulls

#71

Post by rapnie »

vfc1 wrote: post #63

This is large scale Matrix-like exploitation at its finest like only humans can do. Copying the genes of a single animal hundreds of thousands of times, killing the males at birth, plugging the females to a milking machine, feed them corn and soy which is totally not their natural diet and injecting them with tons of antibiotics, hormones and god knows what else. I wonder what could possibly go wrong? All completely…

> feed them corn and soy which is totally not their natural diet

Yesterday I saw a documentary (Zembla) about the veal industry in The Netherlands (largest in EU, which exists mostly for export, also to US and China).

Terrible conditions for the calves, but what most surprised me is that the farmers only feed them with milk! This way their meat will have the light color associated with 'fresh, young' veal.

From the 1,500 veal producers, only a single one is biological, giving the calves proper food. Result is their meat is red in color.

Re: Most U.S. Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just Two Bulls

#72

Post by miffy900 »

leadingthenet wrote: post #67
vfc1 wrote: post #63

This is large scale Matrix-like exploitation at its finest like only humans can do. Copying the genes of a single animal hundreds of thousands of times, killing the males at birth, plugging the females to a milking machine, feed them corn and soy which is totally not their natural diet and injecting them with tons of antibiotics, hormones and god knows what else. I wonder what could possibly go wrong? All completely…

You're going to have to pry my homemade kefir from my cold, dead hands!

Well Kefir is a good example of a fermented milk drink that more people should consume, instead of regular milk, really. It's got a nice bonus that any one can ingest it, including lactose-intolerant people.

Re: Most U.S. Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just Two Bulls

#73

Post by tapland »

rapnie wrote: post #71
vfc1 wrote: post #63

This is large scale Matrix-like exploitation at its finest like only humans can do. Copying the genes of a single animal hundreds of thousands of times, killing the males at birth, plugging the females to a milking machine, feed them corn and soy which is totally not their natural diet and injecting them with tons of antibiotics, hormones and god knows what else. I wonder what could possibly go wrong? All completely…

> feed them corn and soy which is totally not their natural diet Yesterday I saw a documentary (Zembla) about the veal industry in The Netherlands (largest in EU, which exists mostly for export, also to US and China). Terrible conditions for the calves, but what most surprised me is that the farmers only feed them with milk! This way their meat will have the light color associated with 'fresh, young' veal. From the 1…

Live in another EU country and have never thought of veal as paler. I have to go check the super market.

Re: Most U.S. Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just Two Bulls

#74

Post by Moru »

vfc1 wrote: post #68
rimliu wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Milk is a very good source of calcium and it has nothing to do with lactose.

Calcium can be easily obtained from plant foods without any problem as well, and in a better form better managed by the human body - https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/calcium/ > "A meta-analysis of cow’s milk intake and hip fracture studies showed no significant protection" > "milk may sometimes increase bone and hip fracture rates" Milk and all it's derived products have lactose, so they should be avoided by people…

And growing green things is in general more efficient than cows. There was a lot of lobbying going on to get the milk industry to what it is now in western countries.

Re: Most U.S. Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just Two Bulls

#75

Post by anonymousDan »

vfc1 wrote: post #69
londons_explore wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its also pretty similar to human milk, which has evolved to be a close-to-perfect source of nutrition.

For babies, not for adults. Adult animals in most species can't even drink milk, they can't digest it anymore past infancy. Biologically this means that the infant would release the mother so that they could have another child, so there is biological adaption on most species to not drink milk past a certain age. And we have it too via lactose intolerance, which is normal. However, some relatively small percentage of…

Sorry you're completely scaremongering here. Can you point to any actual evidence to back up your claims?

Re: Most U.S. Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just Two Bulls

#76

Post by arethuza »

teh_klev wrote: post #14
mc32 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For beef they don’t use milk cows (dairy cows) they use beef cattle such as angus and herford. Also there are other dairy cows like guernsey, jersey, etc.

That isn't strictly true (not in the UK anyway). I was out for a beer tonight and serendipitously bumped into the secretary for the Aberdeen Angus Cattle Society[0] and proceeded to have a discussion about the Society, cattle, beef production etc. You'd (and I was) be surprised to know that Aberdeen Angus sires impregnate dairy cattle for offspring that end up as prime steak. And this isn't just for burgers, it's for…

I was in Spain recently (in the Picos de Europa) and had probably the best steak I've ever had - from an Asturian Mountain beastie - we had seen (and heard) a lot of them walking in the Picos:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asturian_Mountain_cattle

Re: Most U.S. Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just Two Bulls

#77

Post by paganel »

jcampbell1 wrote: post #34
beambot wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So... How do account for the swine problem in Asia? Disease can still have tremendous global impact.

About 2/3rds of China’s pork production is not modern. Too many humans involved and they roll out vaccines in 6 months rather than 3 weeks. For now it is just slow and uncoordinated problem solving.

Raising cows was still a pretty modern thing in the UK in the ‘80s and ‘90s but nevertheless they got hit hard by the Mad Cow Disease.

Re: Most U.S. Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just Two Bulls

#78

Post by cariaso »

anonymousDan wrote: post #75
vfc1 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For babies, not for adults. Adult animals in most species can't even drink milk, they can't digest it anymore past infancy. Biologically this means that the infant would release the mother so that they could have another child, so there is biological adaption on most species to not drink milk past a certain age. And we have it too via lactose intolerance, which is normal. However, some relatively small percentage of…

Sorry you're completely scaremongering here. Can you point to any actual evidence to back up your claims?

Most of the statements there are reasonably well founded. The specifics of 'Turkey' may be a bit off, but broadly I'd agree with the comment you're replying to.

https://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Lactose_intolerance and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase_persistence

Re: Most U.S. Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just Two Bulls

#79

Post by pjc50 »

jedberg wrote: post #39

This seems like the kind of thing a functioning USDA would come in and help fix. The could subsidize losses of farmers who choose genetically diverse semen and then get cows that underproduce compared to average. It's like the perfect case of encouraging something that isn't profitable for the common good.

You'd first have to convince them that this is a problem.

Re: Most U.S. Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just Two Bulls

#80

Post by nwellnhof »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #28
daveslash wrote: post #7

What really caught me off-guard in the I didn't see that coming sort of way was that someone named their Bull " Round Oak Rag Apple Elevation " -- that strikes me as an oddly long and specific name. Everything else is, perhaps, bothersome, but not terribly " surprise! ".

Animals for show and stud often have bizarre names. Because I like German Shorthair Pointers, take a look at the names in this list: https://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/breed-results?id=GSP&s... Slipstream Kismet Wedding Jitters

I always found this one funny: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potoooooooo
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