Fonterra, the sole exporter of New Zealand dairy products, has decided to curb the practice of eliminating new-born male calves, but meat packers said they don’t have enough capacity to handle them.
The policy goes into effect in June and applies to all of Fonterra’s suppliers. New Zealand’s dairy exports are the backbone of the nation’s agriculture.
Fonterra said all bobby (male) calves should be given a “useful life” – either raised for beef, slaughtered for calf veal or used for pet food.
And it said calves will only be allowed to be killed on farm when there are “humane reasons” for doing so.
“The meat industry was concerned about its ability to process more bobby calves because of a shortage of workers and the short timeframe in which bobby calves were born between August and October,” said Rabobank agricultural analyst Genevieve Steven.
Furthermore, dairy cattle did not produce as much meat as regular beef cattle. Steven said there could be benefits if the beef and dairy industries worked together to use bobby calves better.
“The industry first needed to find ways to manage the increased need for bobby calf processing,” she said.
Fonterra said it has been working closely with meat processors, transporters, pet food processors and other industry groups for many months on changes that can be made to support farmers to meet the new terms of supply.
In Ontario, there is a shortage of cattle for beef feedlots so they import from elsewhere. There is a demand for bob calves, both for veal and for beef feedlots. There is some supply of calves from dairy cows that have been mated with beef sires.
