Nor is it in the interest of a farmer to mistreat an animal say Willet defenders.
"A cow is going to make milk according to her comfort. Now if that cow is uncomfortable having her tail docked, for several days, they're going to lose that milk production from the cow," says Robbins.
Jessica Ziehm of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets agrees with the Plantation Defense -- Cows are farmers' "livelihood and they do all they can to make their cows comfortable, happy and healthy," she says in the Post-Standard -- and takes it a step further.
Farmers, "provide special bedding, in the summer they have misters and fans to keep them cool, they put in special floors to prevent slipping, they have regular pedicures, they are checked routinely by vets, they have nutritionists who formulate special diets." Right.
Chris Gallen of the National Milk Producers Federation is similarly off message, not even understanding the case against Willet.
ABC's "thesis was that the U.S. has inferior milk quality," he says about the Nightline segment in an article in the ag weekly, Feedstuffs which shows a photo of the grazing cows in pasture that Willet does not have.
"We were able to convince them that milk quality is not an issue here in the U.S," he concludes. Case settled.
While Cayuga County officials drag their heels in prosecuting the Willet case and the dairy industry rolls out a we-can-police-ourselves initiative called the National Dairy FARM (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) program, two unanswered questions loom.
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