How Much Does a Glass of Milk Really Cost? The Suffering You Won’t Find on the Label.

For many of us, milk is an everyday staple – a splash in our coffee, part of breakfast, a symbol of health. Yet behind this seemingly ordinary glass of milk lies a story that has nothing to do with care or calm. It is a story of separation, pain, and choices that wound not only animals but also our conscience.

Separated Right After Birth – A Practice That Hurts

In the dairy industry, it is common practice to separate calves from their mothers within the first hours of life – often within the first 24 hours. The official reasons? Collecting all the milk for sale, easier monitoring of calf health, and preventing diseases such as Johne’s disease. Farmers also claim that early colostrum feeding increases a calf’s chances of survival. But does efficiency justify suffering?

The Mother–Child Bond – Broken in the Name of Profit

Within just a few hours after birth, a deep, instinctive bond forms between a cow and her calf. It is expressed through gentle licking, physical closeness, and shared moments of rest. This relationship is not merely biological – it is a strong emotional attachment, which makes sudden separation a traumatic experience for both animals.

Mother and calf call out to each other, become restless, lose interest in resting or playing. For several days after separation, calves show what is known as negative cognitive bias – stress that affects how they perceive the world around them.

The longer the contact with the mother lasts, the stronger the bond – and the more painful the break.

Animal Welfare or Industry Interests? – Difficult Ethical Questions

The livestock industry often justifies early separation with health concerns – pointing to better supervision, lower disease risk, and greater control over feeding. Indeed, quick and proper colostrum intake can reduce the risk of FPT (failure of passive transfer), meaning the calf does not receive enough maternal antibodies.

However, according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), calves that stay longer with their mothers may show higher vitality and lower susceptibility to disease. Moreover, not all studies confirm clear health benefits of early separation – especially under standard care conditions without additional precautions.

There Is Another Way – Farming Models with Heart

Fortunately, there are alternative farming models that balance production needs with animal welfare:

• Half-day contact – the calf spends part of the day with the mother, reducing stress and making weaning gentler.
• Foster cow – calves nurse from a “foster” cow who is not part of milk production.
• Restricted suckling – limited physical contact while maintaining the bond.

These solutions are neither simple nor perfect, but they offer something far more important – relief and comfort for animals who can spend their first days of life with a greater sense of safety. For people, they signal that milk production can go hand in hand with compassion, building trust and a sense that we are choosing more wisely and responsibly.

Your Choice Matters – The Consumer’s Voice Against Suffering

More and more consumers are questioning the justification for early calf–cow separation. In public opinion – especially among people aware and sensitive to ethical issues – this practice is seen as inhumane and deeply wrong. For many, it is not only a violation of animal welfare principles but a breach of a fundamental right: a mother’s right to be with her child.

Separating calves from their mothers is not just a matter of farming technology – it is a decision with serious ethical consequences. In the face of growing public awareness, we cannot remain indifferent. We have the right – and even the obligation – to demand higher standards: from ourselves as consumers, from policymakers shaping agricultural policy, and from the dairy industry, which should take responsibility not only for production but also for animal welfare.

What Can We Do?

• Support farms implementing alternative rearing models.
• Demand greater transparency about practices used in milk production.
• Call for legal changes that protect farm animals from unnecessary suffering.

Every decision at the store shelf is a vote – for or against a system that still treats suffering as a cost of production.

Because a glass of milk costs far more than we think.

Sources

1. de Passillé, A. M., & Rushen, J. (2006). Calves’ behaviour during nursing is affected by feeding motivation and milk availability. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 101(3–4), 264–275. 
   https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228653671_Calves’_behaviour_during_nursing_is_affected_by_feeding_motivation_and_milk_availability 
2. EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW). (2023). Welfare of cattle raised for beef production and dairy calves: Scientific opinion. EFSA Journal, 21(1), e07897. 
   https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/2669 
3. Flower, F. C., & Weary, D. M. (2003). The effects of early separation on the dairy cow and calf. Animal Welfare, 12(3), 339–348. 
   https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal-welfare/article/abs/effects-of-early-separation-on-the-dairy-cow-and-calf/4D4D96B249D94DADDE1073EEFDAB9702 
4. Johnsen, J. F., et al. (2016). Is rearing calves with the dam a feasible option for dairy farms? Current and future research. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 181, 1–11. 
   https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159115003159 
5. Meagher, R. K., et al. (2019). A systematic review of the effects of prolonged cow–calf contact on behavior, welfare, and productivity. Journal of Dairy Science, 102(7), 5765–5783. 
   https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31103300/ 
6. Weary, D. M., Ventura, B. A., & von Keyserlingk, M. A. G. (2016). Societal views and animal welfare science. Animal, 10(2), 309–317. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731115001160 
   https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26206166/ 
7. Wenker, M. L., et al. (2020). The effects of cow–calf contact following early separation on calf learning and affective state (Thesis). 
   https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343944222_Effect_of_cow-calf_contact_on_cow_motivation_to_reunite_with_their_calf 
8. Wenker, M. L. (n.d.). Welfare implications of prolonged cow–calf contact in dairy systems (Doctoral dissertation, University of British Columbia). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360581279_Welfare_implications_of_prolonged_cow-calf_contact_in_dairy_farming 
9. McPherson, S. E., Bokkers, E. A. M., Sinnott, A. M., McFadden, M. C., Webb, L. E., & Kennedy, E. (2025). Effect of weaning and cow-calf contact on the physiological and clinical health, performance, and behaviour of dairy cows and their calves. Animal, 19(6), 101541. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.animal.2025.101541 
   https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731125001247 
10. Pilarczyk, B., Pilarczyk, R., Bąkowska, M., Tomza-Marciniak, A., Seremak, B., Kwita, E., Juszczak-Czasnojć, M., Matusevičius, P., & Miseikiene, R. (2025). The welfare of cattle in different housing systems. Animals, 15, 1972. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15131972 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/393411320_The_Welfare_of_Cattle_in_Different_Housing_Systems 
11. Newberry, R. C., & Swanson, J. C. (2008). Implications of breaking mother–young social bonds. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 110(1–2), 3–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2007.03.021 
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159107001190