India’s Small Dairy Farms Play Key Role in Emissions Reduction
India’s smallholder dairy farms—responsible for the majority of the country’s milk supply—are critical to reducing global dairy-related greenhouse gas emissions. However, their low productivity makes Indian dairy among the most carbon-intensive worldwide. The average milk yield per cow in India is just 1,700 kg per year, which is only 16% of North America’s and 25%…
Animal welfare standards: from large to small dairy farms
Evidence has shown that larger dairy farms have better welfare than smaller units, although the effects were small. The structural change towards larger dairy holdings is often criticised as being detrimental to animal welfare. This prompted researchers to carry out a study of data from 3,085 German dairy farms involving 376,415 cows. The 3-year project…