naturalfood,wholecow’smilk,andfedoneofavarietyof
cheaper liquid substitutes.^106
The dairy cow, once seen peacefully, even idyllically,
roamingthehills,is nowa carefullymonitored,fine-tuned
milkmachine.Thebucolicpictureofthedairycowplaying
with hercalf inthepastureis nopartof commercialmilk
production.Manydairycowsarerearedindoors.Some are
keptinindividualpenswithonly enoughroomtostand up
and lie down.Their environment iscompletely controlled:
they are fed calculated amounts of feed, temperatures are
adjustedto maximizemilkyield,and lightingis artificially
set.Somefarmershavefoundthatacycleofsixteenhoursof
lightwithonlyeighthoursofdarknessisconducivetogreater
output.
Afterherfirstcalfistakenaway,thecow’sproductioncycle
begins.Sheismilkedtwice,sometimesthreetimesaday,for
tenmonths.Afterthethirdmonthshewillbemadepregnant
again. She willbe milked until about six or eight weeks
beforehernextcalfisdue,andthenagainassoonasthecalf
is removed. Usually this intense cycle of pregnancy and
hyperlactationcanlastonlyaboutfiveyears,afterwhichthe
“spent”cowissenttoslaughtertobecomehamburgerordog
food.
Inorder to obtain thehighestoutput,producers feedcows
high-energy concentrates such as soybeans, fish meal,
brewing byproducts, and even poultry manure. The cow’s
peculiardigestivesystemcannotadequatelyprocessthisfood.
The rumen is designed to digest slowly fermenting grass.
Duringpeakproduction,afewweeksaftergivingbirth,the
cowoftenexpendsmoreenergythansheisabletotakein.