Discovery of hundreds of dead calves on farm underlines dairy industry’s welfare crisis

News that the remains of up to 400 dead calves were discovered on a farm in Garryspillane, Co Limerick, will shock and dismay but not surprise many people in the dairy industry.

The strong smell from the farm is understood to have prompted a neighbour to contact the authorities.

Word locally is that the farmer has been struggling to cope for some time and their family had been trying to help “get them out of it”.

The Garda said it is currently liaising with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the issue.

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It is understood that very few entire bodies of calves were discovered on the farm. This has made it difficult to ascertain exactly how many calves died and points to the issue being a long-standing one.

[ Investigation after 400 calves found dead on Limerick farm ]

Whatever the reasons behind the latest incident, this is not the first time a huge number of dead dairy bull calves has been uncovered on an Irish farm. Some 270 dead calves were discovered in Galway last year, and many will feel that it was only a matter of time before another incident shook the industry.

Tipping point

Dairy bull calves are viewed as surplus and largely worthless because of their poor ability to fatten for the beef trade, with many selling for as little as ¤5 each at two weeks of age.

Dealing with the dairy bull calf issue is now reaching a tipping point for the dairy industry.

While the sector smashed all its government targets since the abolition of quotas in 2015, the subsequent rise in dairy cow numbers also meant a rise in the number of dairy bull calves. The result of this increase in calves came as a surprise to some industry experts. Teagasc’s Pat Dillon, the head of the animal, grassland research and innovation programme, admitted as much when he told an IFA conference in 2019 that, “believe it or not, we never considered the outcome of the calves in the system – because it was all about how would we get the cow numbers increased, how would we get the milk processed and how would we get enough land for the dairy farmers”.

This issue could cost an industry that prides itself on a clean, green image and high animal welfare standards – main talking points Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue used to promote Irish exports on his recent trade mission to Japan and Singapore.

The main exit route to the continental veal market for these calves is expected to soon be cut off due to a domestic legal challenge from Ethical Farming Ireland and European Commission concerns over animal welfare. This will leave a vast number of low-value animals in the country every year and create a huge political and practical nightmare for farmers, farm organisations and the Department of Agriculture.

There were 247,612 animals exported from Ireland in 2021. Some 75,063 of these were dairy bull calves under six weeks of age. Another 11,591 dairy bull calves died on farms under six weeks and 23,524 were slaughtered. In total, 110,178 dairy bull calves were either exported, killed or died on farms under six weeks of age.

[ Taoiseach vows full inquiry after livestock deaths on Limerick farm ]

Overall, there were 417,852 dairy bull calves born last year, 26 per cent of which were exported or died.

It could be argued that the rise in quotas has exacerbated this problem but is hasn’t created it.

In 2014, the year before quotas were abolished, just under 240,000 animals were exported, some 98,000 of which were under six weeks of age. However, just 1,022 dairy bull calves were slaughtered that year.

Killing calves is seen as PR disaster for the Irish dairy industry but there has been little to nothing put forward as an alternative solution to the looming crisis. Farmers do not want to keep the calves and fewer farmers want to take the risk to rear and attempt to fatten them.

An additional 200,000 animals on the market will likely dilute the already poor price even further, without even starting to consider the additional impact those animals will have on trying to reach a 25 per cent reduction in emissions from the agriculture sector by 2030.

Following the discovery in Limerick this week, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association said it would wait for full details of the case to make an official comment while other farm organisations have voiced their condemnation.

But in terms of providing a viable solution to the looming crisis, there has been silence from the industry, with the countdown already on to the spring calving season and the birth of another half a million dairy bull calves on the horizon.