(h/t Charlie)
The article, PETA wants dairy farmers to breed genetically modified cows, seems like it will be an opportunity to rail against the AR group people love to hate. Actually, it’s an honest discussion about dehorning and what validates genetic modification of cows (money producing traits, and that’s about it.)
I included a hopeful quote below, but I encourage you to read the whole thing.
N.B. The article does include detailed descriptions of dehorning, which could be triggering to some.
“There wasn’t an incentive to use them [polled cows] before because you couldn’t make money off of them. But right now they are very comparable. You don’t see a difference (in production), in the Holsteins especially,” Crull said.
Crull believes farmers will rapidly change toward milking polled cows once they see proof there is no decrease in production. “When a farmer has to make a choice about anything that is similar, they’ll always choose what is most convenient. And the polled cow is most convenient because they won’t have to deal with the dehorning anymore,” Crull said.
