#dairy farming profitability

[farmerstrend]

How Much Feed Does a Cow Need to Produce 1 Liter of Milk?

“Discover how much feed a dairy cow needs to produce 1 liter of milk. Learn about feed efficiency, dry matter intake, and strategies to optimize milk production for profitable dairy farming.” “How much feed does it take to produce 1 liter of milk? Explore the science behind dairy nutrition, feeding practices, and tips to maximize feed efficiency for higher milk yields.” Dairy farming is a…

[bisquid]

I mean I can't speak to the specific incident mentioned in the screenshot but generally farmers are very much not the fucking bourgeoisie, good fucking christ. For the vast majority of human history, 'rural' has had very strong links to 'poor'.

I don't know about France but every British farmer I've met lives on incredibly tight margins and partially or entirely dependent on subsidies just to survive and perpetually staring down their growing mountain of crippling debt. Time and time again I've heard stories of small family farms being absolutely fucked over by policy changes that haven't taken into account the financial impact of things like minor changes to pasteurisation requirements that mean dairy farmers suddenly need access to a machine worth tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds.

'Farmers' and 'rich urbanites moving to the countryside to cosplay the pastoral ideal' are two circles on the Venn diagram of 'rural' that just barely overlap, if at all.

Some farmers might own their land (although PLENTY are tenant farmers renting from someone else) but even they are probably in turn effectively 'owned' by the big farming conglomerates that buy their products for pennies, sell it on to consumers at extortionate prices, and pocket the difference.

There's also the fact that farmers are exploited and lied to all the fucking time by the agricultural lobby and associated industries. Monsanto, anyone? I've seen screenshots of PowerPoints at farming conferences where fertilizer and insecticide companies have straight up fabricated statistical analysis to persuade farmers to buy their insecticide or whathaveyou.

This is crazy. I wonder if there’s some sort of historical basis for the rural landowners in America being wealthy reactionaries who just make other people do their work for them

[umangharyana]

रेणु सांगवान: हरियाणा की 'डेयरी क्वीन', जिन्होंने पशुपालन से रच दी नई मिसाल

हरियाणा के खामान गांव की रहने वाली रेणु सांगवान ने अपनी मेहनत, लगन और दृढ़संकल्प से वह कर दिखाया जो बहुत कम लोग कर पाते हैं। पति के सपने को पूरा करने और अपनी अलग पहचान बनाने की इस कहानी में एक संघर्षशील महिला की दृढ़ इच्छाशक्ति झलकती है। रेणु सांगवान ने न केवल अपने परिवार को एक नई दिशा दी बल्कि पशुपालन के क्षेत्र में भी खुद को स्थापित किया। उनकी मेहनत और समर्पण का नतीजा है कि उन्हें राष्ट्रीय…

[tfnewfarm]

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Invite friends to enjoy gifts, copy the invitation link or copy the invitation code to share and publicize with friends, register, deposit and invest to start making money, and you can get corresponding bonuses.

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[acti-veg]

Leather vs. Pleather: 8 Myths Debunked

Since we are all beyond tired of seeing the same regurgitated leather posts every day, I've compiled and briefly debunked some of the most common myths peddled about leather and pleather… So hopefully we can all move on to talk about literally anything else.

1) Leather is not sustainable.

Approximately 85% of all leather (almost all leather you'll find in stores) is tanned using chromium. During the chrome tanning process, 40% of unused chromium salts are discharged in the final effluents, which makes it's way into waterways and poses a serious threat to wildlife and humans. There are also significant GHG emissions from the sheer amount of energy required to produce and tan leather.

Before we even get the cow's hide, you first need to get them to slaughter weight, which is a hugely resource-intensive process. Livestock accounts for 80% of all agricultural land use, and grazing land for cattle likely represents the majority of that figure. To produce 1 pound of beef (and the subsequent hide), 6-8 pounds of feed are required. An estimated 86% of the grain used to feed cattle is unfit for human consumption, but 14% alone represents enough food to feed millions of people. On top of that, one-third of the global water footprint of animal production is related to cattle alone. The leather industry uses greenwashing to promote leather as an eco-friendly material. Leather is often marketed as an eco-friendly product, for example, fashion brands often use the Leather Working Group (LWG) certificate to present their leather as sustainable. However, this certification (rather conveniently) does not include farm-level impacts, which constitute the majority of the negative environmental harm caused by leather.

2) Leather is not just a byproduct.

Some cows are raised speciifically for leather, but this a minority and usually represents the most expensive forms of leather. This does not mean that leather is just a waste product of beef and dairy, or that it is a completely incidental byproduct; it is more accurate to call leather a tertiary product of the beef and dairy industries. Hides used to fetch up to 50% of the total value of the carcass, this has dropped significantly since COVID-19 to only about 5-10%, but this is recovering, and still represents a significant profit margin. Globally, leather accounts for up to 26% of major slaughterhouses’ earnings. Leather is inextricably linked to the production of beef and dairy, and buying leather helps make the breeding, exploitation and slaughter of cows and steers a profitable enterprise.

3) Leather is not as biodegradable as you think.

Natural animal hides are biodegradable, and this is often the misleading way leather that sellers word it. "Cow hide is fully biodegradable" is absolutely true, it just purposely leaves out the fact that the tanning process means that the hide means that leather takes between 25 and 40 years to break down. Even the much-touted (despite it being a tiny portion of the market) vegetable-tanned leather is not readily biodegradable. Since leather is not recyclable either, most ends up incinerated, or at landfill. The end-of-life cycle and how it relates to sustainability is often massively overstated by leather sellers, when in fact, it is in the production process that most of the damage is done.

4) Leather is not humane.

The idea that leather represents some sort of morally neutral alternative to the evils of plastic is frankly laughable, at least to anyone who has done even a little bit of research into this exploitative and incredibly harmful industry. Cows, when properly cared for, can live more than fifteen years. However, most cows are usually slaughtered somewhere around 2-3 years old, and the softest leather, most luxurious leather comes from the hide of cows who are less than a year old. Some cows are not even born before they become victim to the industry. Estimates vary, but according to an EFSA report, on average 3% of dairy cows and 1.5 % of beef cattle, are in their third-trimester of pregnancy when they are slaughtered.

Slaughter procedures vary slightly by country, but a captive bolt pistol shot to the head followed by having their throats slit, while still alive, is standard industry practice. This represents the “best” a slaughtered cow can hope for, but many reports and videos exist that suggest that cows still being alive and conscious while being skinned or dismembered on the production line is not uncommon, some of these reports come from slaughterhouse workers themselves.

5) Leather often involves human exploitation.

The chemicals used to tan leather, and the toxic water that is a byproduct of tanning, affect workers as well as the environment; illness and death due to toxic tanning chemicals is extremely common. Workers across the sector have significantly higher morbidity, largely due to respiratory diseases linked to the chemicals used in the tanning process. Exposure to chromium (for workers and local communities), pentachlorophenol and other toxic pollutants increase the risk of dermatitis, ulcer nasal septum perforation and lung cancer.

Open Democracies report for the Child Labour Action Research Programme shows that there is a startlingly high prevalence of the worst forms of child labour across the entire leather supply chain. Children as young as seven have been found in thousands of small businesses processing leather. This problem is endemic throughout multiple countries supplying the global leather market.

6) Pleather is not a ‘vegan thing’.

Plastic clothing is ubiquitous in fast fashion, and it certainly wasn’t invented for vegans. Plastic leather jackets have been around since before anyone even knew what the word vegan meant, marketing department have begun describing it as ‘vegan leather’ but it’s really no more a vegan thing than polyester is. Most people who wear pleather are not vegan, they just can’t afford to buy cow’s leather, which remains extremely expensive compared to comparable fabrics.

It is striking how anti-vegans consistently talk about how ‘not everyone can afford to eat plant-based’ and criticise vegans for advocating for veganism on that basis, yet none of them seem to mind criticisms directed at people for wearing a far cheaper alternative than leather. You can obviously both be vegan and reduce plastic (as we all should), but vegans wear plastic clothing for the same reason everyone else does: It is cheaper.

7) Plastic is not the only alternative.

When engaging in criticism of pleather, the favourite tactic seems to be drawing a false dilemma where we pretend the only options are plastic and leather. Of course, this is a transparent attempt to draw the debate on lines favourable to advocates of leather, by omitting the fact that you can quite easily just buy neither one.

Alternatives include denim, hemp, cork, fiber, mushroom fiber, cotton, linen, bamboo, recycled plastic, and pinatex, to name a few. Alternatives exist for everything from materials designed to ensure sub-zero temperatures and specialist motorcycle equipment. There are exceptions in professions like welding, where an alternative can be difficult to source, but nobody needs a jacket, shoes or a bag that looks like leather. For most of us, leather is a luxury item that doesn’t even need to be replaced at all.

If you'd like to see a detailed summary of the comparison between leather/wool and plastic, as well as the available alternatives, you can find that here.

8) Leather is not uniquely long-lasting.

The longevity of leather is really the only thing it has going for it, environmentally speaking. Replacing an item less often means fewer purchases, and will likely have a lower environmental impact than one you have to replace regularly. Leather is not unique in this respect, however, and the idea that it is, is mostly just effective marketing.

As your parents will tell you, a well-made denim jacket can last a lifetime. Hemp and bamboo can both last for decades, as can cork and pinatex. Even cotton and linen can last for many years when items are looked after well. While some materials are more hard wearing than others, how long an item will last is mostly the result of how well made the product is and how well it is maintained, not whether or not the item is leather.

[champawattigress]

I have personally witnessed so many instances of pet owners forcing beloved animals to continue living far beyond the point of their quality of life hitting zero that the whole "Deux Face" situation was absolutely nothing new to me, except for the wave of genuine nausea I experienced at the social media reaction to her existence.

I can honestly say that I feel a palpable sense of relief, knowing that that calf is no longer being forced to live in that condition, and there's no amount of "well, she had vet care!" or "it doesn't seem like she's in pain!" that would have mollified me. I have been in hundreds of QoL consults with clients who parrot the exact same sentiments while their animal lies, completely recumbent and unresponsive, on the examination table. It's the exact same thing, except compounded by the ghoulish addition of the calf's value as a sideshow act.

Any normal presenting newborn calf that failed to thrive as she did would have been euthanized on welfare grounds long before the 26 day mark. A dairy calf is literally supposed to be able to walk away from its birthing site, a calf whose only developmental milestone was that it "can kinda lift its head" is a calf that has something inherently wrong with it. If Deux Face wasn't deformed in a way that makes well-meaning assholes spout that stupid poem, then she probably would have been put out of her misery ages ago. I keep thinking of the grotesque congenital deformities that domestic cattle can present with, twisted spines and fused joints and extreme hydrocephalus and cleft palates, and how, if Deux Face had presented with QoL reducing examples of any of those conditions, people wouldn't have even batted an eye at her euthanasia. She was literally forced to keep on living, just so people could keep "consuming" her continued existence. She was forced to live, not because it was to her benefit, but for the benefit of the farm, who romanticised and profited from her, and the benefit of idiots who think a goddamn newborn calf should be a source of inspiration in their own lives.

The people on this site who mourned that we didn't get to gawk at this animal a little longer disgust me. The only difference between you and the woman who keeps her 19 year old constant DKA, cushingoid, and severely arthritic Shih Tzu alive is that she, at least, has the excuse that this is an animal she has loved and cared for for decades. She's blinded by love, and needs to be counselled towards the realisation that the dog's existence is now more for her benefit than his. You're just upset that there are no more juicy pics of a recumbent, half-dead calf that you can caption with "TWice aS MaNY STArs As UsuaL!!!!!" in goofy ass fonts.

The only sad thing about Deux Face's death is that it took so long. Fight me on it, I don't care. Your gross parasocial relationship with a dying farm animal you've never met was not worth that animal's enforced suffering.

[allwaswell16]

A One Direction fic rec of fics in which one of the characters is messy or unkempt in some way as requested in this ask. If you enjoy the fics, please leave kudos and comments for the writers! You can find my other recs here. Happy reading!

- Louis / Harry -

✧ Remember Me Before You by @kingsofeverything

(E, 293k, New Girl au) Desperate to find a new place to live after he comes home to find his boyfriend cheating, Harry moves into a loft with three strangers.

✧ Let's Fall in Love in a Place You Want to Stay by embro / @harryventura

(NR, 134k, Tarzan au) A George of the Jungle / Tarzan AU where Louis is a model who meets Wild Man Harry in the Congo. 

✧ more than just a dream by spit_on_me_larry

(E, 122k, uni) Louis detests Harry Styles. Except for the inconvenient fact that he can't seem to get Harry out of his head.

✧  That’s What I’m Here For by @taggiecb

(E, 46k, farm) Louis Tomlinson is a dairy farmer on a tiny farm in eastern Canada. Louis needs help running his business but has no idea where to even start looking. Luckily for him his children know just the man for the job.

✧ baby blue by @soldouthaz

(E, 39k, cowboy) He saunters down the front steps of the farmhouse in his Levi’s, brown snakeskin boots curving out from underneath the denim Louis’ sure he had specially made. He’s got on a plaid button-down tucked into the jeans because of course he does, curls spilling out from either side of his cowboy hat around his sunglasses and country-tan skin. 

✧ Lambing Season by @helloamhere

(E, 24k, farm) lambing season brings sleep deprivation, noisy alarms, cold barns, demanding animals, and warm strangers.

✧ The Wilds (series) by @jaerie

(E, 21k, omegaverse) The creatures that Louis observed every day weren't exactly human, but yet they were. Researchers had plucked some of them from their secluded island and transplanted them into an enclosure against their will like a bunch of zoo animals. 

✧ some evening in springtime by delsicle / @eeveelou

(M, 20k, age difference) Fresh out of veterinary school, Louis moves to a sleepy small town in Texas to take over the local animal clinic. But his new life is quickly interrupted by a middle aged rancher with a bad leg and a mysterious past, who really needs Louis's yoga skills.

✧ let me be your goodnight by theboyfriendstagram

(E, 17k, hate to love)  Harry lives with Gemma who happens to have the worst best friend in the world. The guy stays over almost every night, is completely messy and has bad manners that would cause Harry's eyes to roll so far back he sees his brain. 

✧ Prince Harry and the Expert in Motorcycle Maintenance by @juliusschmidt

(E, 15k, omegaverse) cinderella au in which prince harry rides a motorcycle and louis, a simple mechanic, fixes it.

✧  A Light Illuminated (Calling You Home) by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup

(T, 14k, royal) Louis has inherited a farm from an uncle he barely knew. It's not in the best state, and he's facing the reality of having to let some of the workers go if profits don't drastically improve. It's not a nice idea.

✧ say forever, you'll be mine by dilfrry / @silverfoxrry

(E, 12k, age difference) the trucker harry fic i wrote for my own guilty pleasure

✧ it's hard to fight naked by amaltaas / @loustarlight

(E, 11k, enemies to lovers)  where Louis leaves dirty socks on the couch, Zayn does assignments while he's high, and Harry is hopelessly crushing on his roommate.

✧ rinse cycle by beautlouis / @thelovejandles

(E, 10k, humor) Louis and Harry are both students living in the same apartment complex. They end up having the same laundry night and time. Louis can't stop staring at Harry and he can't figure out why Harry consistently points out Louis’ inside-out shirts, and his untied shoes, and messy hair. 

- Rare Pairs -

✧ I Had Rather Hear My Dog Bark At A Crow by sunsetmog / @magicalrocketships

(E, 122k, Louis/Nick Grimsahw) The first time Louis Tomlinson kisses him, Nick is three sheets to the wind, wearing a pirate hat, and so fucking tired of Louis being a complete and utter knobhead that he's spent the last ten minutes snapping at him.

✧ in your hands by carissima

(M, 13k, Liam/Louis) Liam’s decided to play dress up for this session and has somehow stumbled on Louis’ favourite fantasy. Mechanic Liam, dirty, rough and smelling of cars and sweat, looking ready to mess Louis the fuck up.

[bustybounty]

Girl finds a new business opportunity after her boyfriend somehow turns into a big sloshy hucow. He doesn't really mind since he needed to be milked anyway, but he is starting to become a little concerned with how massive he's getting…

Their profits are going off the charts, and so is the size of his boobs. She's gotten the best milking machines in the market, but another reason he keeps outgrowing them is the fact that, due to how plentiful his milk is, he often milks himself too...

Drinking his own supply, only causing his tits to expand faster with more milk than ever before. He might be worried that he's getting so big that his full tits nearly touch the floor and his girlfriend is having trouble ordering milk pumps that fit him for long enough...but at the same time, he's enjoying every second of it.

I mean who wouldn't? His girlfriend now sleeps on top of his heavy, colossal chest that sloshes like a waterbed and fill up bigger over the night, it's warm on contact too...

He might lie to himself, but he really can't wait to get even bigger.

He already makes more than a farm of dairy cows, but what if he aimed for more? How much higher could he get, how much milk could he make at his limit?

Maybe enough to beat all farms in the world~

[probablyasocialecologist]

What differentiates the fragile and polluting farm economy we have today from one that regenerates the land while producing a diversity of food in an unstable climate? The fundamental difference between these two farm economies is that one is capital-intensive, while the other is management-intensive. A management-intensive operation is one in which the primary asset of the agricultural operation is the observation, engagement and intervention by farm workers.7 A management-intensive operation simply has far more farm worker engagement per acre than a capital-intensive operation. In a capital-intensive operation, the primary assets are capital investments acquired using loans from a bank, which are then utilized to operate at the greatest scale possible using as little labor as possible, with the goal of reducing production costs and maximizing profit through the achievement of economies of scale. Both management- and capital-intensive operations utilize labor and capital to achieve a yield. What differentiates them is the balance between labor and capital. Management-intensive farms tend to be smaller, as the importance of human observation and engagement acts as a natural barrier to developing scale. These smaller farms also tend to be more diverse, as crop rotation and the inclusion of animals are prioritized in order to maximize ecosystem health and to reduce inputs. A system of small, management-intensive farms working in a decentralized self-organizing network would mirror the resilience, productivity and diversity of an ecosystem that has been freed from industrial disturbance. What a healthy ecosystem demonstrates is that the most efficient means of cycling energy within a system is through a complex network of relationships between mutually beneficial organisms. It is resilient not just because it is diverse, but because it is a decentralized self-organizing system, wherein portions of the system are capable of functioning on their own should they be severed from the larger network. These are the features that we should be trying to replicate as we design a new agricultural economy. By orienting ourselves towards management-intensive operations, we would be doing just that.

[farmerstrend]

Dairy Management & Soil Health: A Symbiotic Relationship

The dairy industry is taking significant strides to reduce its carbon footprint and promote sustainable agricultural practices. One of the key strategies dairy farmers are employing is investing in soil health through regenerative agriculture. In agriculture, soil health refers to the soil’s ability to sustain productivity while protecting environmental resources. This approach not only helps to…

[master-john-uk]

A real update from my Dorset farm.

Our flock of 189 ewes have produced 402 healthy lambs over the last four months. Young Farm Ops. Manager Tomas has had many sleepless nights. Thank you, Tomas and vet. student Nat.

The free-range pigs do not seem to be bothered by the wet weather. and the recently introduced English Longhorn cattle seem to be enjoying their new home.

We drilled our winter crops a little earlier than usual last year. They have mainly survived the heavy rain of the first three months of 2024. And the mainly dry weather over the last couple of weeks has enabled my boys to catch up on sowing the spring, and cover crops.

The dairy is doing better than expected, helped by the recent increases in farmgate prices, although I have just invested in another robotic milking stall, which wipes out any profit the farm might make in the next three years.

[hlficlibrary]

Hey, do you have any fanfic recommendations where one of them is a farmer or similar?

Hi, anon! I love farm fics! If you ever want more, let me know! Here are some fics where one of them is a farmer...

That's What I'm Here For by @taggiecb

Louis Tomlinson is a dairy farmer on a tiny farm in eastern Canada. His wife of nearly thirty years has left him and his children are all grown up and out of the house. Louis needs help running his business but has no idea where to even start looking. Luckily for him his children know just the man for the job.

A Light Illuminated (Calling You Home) by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup

Louis has inherited a farm from an uncle he barely knew. It's not in the best state, and he's facing the reality of having to let some of the workers go if profits don't drastically improve. It's not a nice idea.

Then Harry comes into the picture. A prince in need of a place to lay low for a while. It's a little awkward, and a lot unconventional, but he's paying well and Louis can't turn down the opportunity.

If only he didn't give Louis such conflicting feelings.

put the stars in our eyes by pinkgelpen

Louis is set to inherit the family farm after the death of his father, but after finding out that he needs to be married in order to do so, purchasing a nineteen year-old, mail-order husband named Harry Styles seems to be the easiest answer.

i'm not calling you a liar (just don't lie to me) by hazmesentir

Louis can't stop lying. Harry runs a farm. Somehow, he squeezes the truth out of him.

[chocobochaserstories]

Darker Omegaverse Themes: Breeding Facilities

A darker and more perverse look into an idea within the omegaverse I wanted to explore and world build on. I heavily based this on my own livestock experience, especially dairy cattle.

TW: Dehumanization, forced breeding, sexual/breeding slavery, lack of free will in the omega/alphas, omega/alpha trafficking, and just… be warned and wary if you’re more sensitive.

True omegas don’t exist in the “wild” society anymore. They’re kept in breeding facilities and raised for product.

The ratio of born pups is roughly 25% Alpha and Omega to 75% Beta. That’s 12.5% of each. 

As pups don’t present until 11-12, they’re kept in a nursery until then. Here, they receive care and basic education, but the level varies by secondary gender. 

Betas and Alphas are educated longer, with Betas being educated with the intention of going into higher education or working the “farm” when they come of age. 

Alphas and Omegas are kept as breeding stock. An omega will have their first breeding season around 18, and are expected to bear one litter per year. 

The first breeding occurs the year an omega is to turn eighteen in January, and their dry season (non productive) is from October to December. During this time, they are allowed to recover to be bred again the following January.

Pups are taken after about twenty four hours, to allow the pups to nurse on their mother’s colostrum (first milk that contains important antibodies that are specific to the mother).

Adult omegas produce milk and pups predominantly, however some facilities also sell omega slick as a “miracle elixir”. This is why pups are taken after the first twenty four hours. 

Pups are reared in the nursery by betas, though some facilities use a dry omega or two. Dry omegas are omegas who are older and no longer producing.

Omegas are generally kept in solo stalls, but are turned out regularly to be with other omegas as they are social in nature and cluster. In the summer and spring, they’re allowed grass, and the winter and autumn they’re kept inside and out of the snow to avoid illness.

Omegas are identified primarily by ear tag or tattoos. Some facilities mark them by ear notches, however this is not a universal system and can cause confusion if an omega is sold.

Omegas are periodically evaluated and those who are not producing adequately (poor quality pups, multiple repeated stillbirths, multiple preterm labors, birth complications due to structurally concerns [ie narrow pelvis, prolapsed uterus, etc]) may be culled from the herd. They may be euthanized, or to save profits, many farms will sell them.

Omega auctions generally consist of dry omegas, low/poor producers, and recently presented pups. Dry omegas are generally sold as servants, nursemaids, or nannies. Young alphas are sold at these auctions as studs.

Alphas are kept separate from the omegas for most of the year, and are not kept as long as omegas. Omegas are kept their entire breeding life while alphas rotate between farms to allow breeding back of the pups. Occasionally, if a sire is very good, the alpha may be kept.

Not all omegas are auctioned. Some, especially if they have good bloodlines, will be kept as future dams on the farm.

Betas that stay on the farm are farmhands, reproductive technicians, or otherwise assist on site.

Many facilities now use artificial insemination as opposed to live cover due to liability and efficiency. It’s faster and poses less risk of injury or STD. In addition, it allows for samples to be inspected to choose the best parents for each litter and to catch any mutations or undesirable traits before breeding.

Some farms only keep one or two alphas on site just to calm omegas down the old fashioned way, but they’re generally sterilized to prevent unwanted litters. However, with the availability of alpha hormones on the market, this practice is rarer.

An average omega litter is roughly 2-3 pups, and omegas are given fertility injections starting AT presentation to increase conception rates and litter sizes. 

[cognitivejustice]

With hundreds of highly prized species, bird tourism is thriving in the country – and farmers are increasingly turning their land into nature reserves

“Wildlife tourism is far more profitable than farming but that’s not the only reason we made the change,” says Ajila’s son, Luis Jr. “We wanted to save not just the umbrellabird, but all the special creatures here, and safeguard them for future generations.”

Projects such as this are eligible for funding from the Ecuadorian government. Launched in 2008, the Socio Bosque scheme offers “the poorest private and communal forest landowners annual payments for each hectare of forest cover maintained”, with sums of between $30 (£23) and $60 a hectare.

The Ajila family: Luis Jr, Alejandra and Luis Sr. Photograph: Dr Stephen Moss

But the income provided by birders alone has been enough to propel some farmers to take up the nature reserve model.A few years ago, Favián Luna decided to convert his 120-hectare tomato farm in the Tandayapa Valley, north-west of Quito, into a cloud-forest reserve and lodge called Alambi Reserve. Visitors go to photograph many species of hummingbirds, including the Andean emerald, native to the Chocó bioregion of the Ecuadorian Andes.

Nearby, at Mashpi Amagusa, former farmers Doris Villalbaand Sergio Basantes have created a reserve, lodge and garden, which attracts 260 species of sought-after birds. Highlights include glistening-green, flame-faced and beryl-spangled tanagers, and the rare, endemic rose-faced parrot.

At Finca La Victoriana in Pichincha, the owner Jacqui bought the house and land, and began to reforest the site while growing crops to feed herself. But during lockdown, when she was stuck in nearby Quito, all her crops were stolen. She was saved from having to sell up by a visiting friend, who heard an unusual sound from lower down the valley and realised this was one of South America’s most charismatic birds: the Andean cock-of-the-rock.

Male Andean cocks-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus) lekking to attract a mate. Photograph: Jiri Hrebicek/Alamy

Since 2005, Ángel Paz and his younger brother Rodrigo have transformed their former dairy farm in Mindo into a bird reserve. At first, things didn’t go to plan: it took a month for the first visitor to arrive, and he paid just $10 for a four-hour tour. Since then, however, thousands of people have made the pilgrimage.

[acti-veg]

There is no animal welfare label on earth that is a worth the paper it is written on. There is simply no way for any organisation to guarantee a good level of welfare for animals who are being exploited and slaughtered for profit in their millions. “High welfare” meat, dairy or eggs is an oxymoron.

[quixoticanarchy]

“We plan for every agricultural health emergency, but all of our red teaming missed this” scenario: an agricultural outbreak that potentially imperils public health and leaves cows sick but mostly still standing, says David Stiefel, a former national security policy analyst for the USDA. With continued spread amongst cows, or to another “mixing-vessel” species like pigs, the virus “could mix and match, then you get a whole new genetic constellation,” says Jürgen Richt, regents and university distinguished professor at Kansas State University. Experts are hesitant to speculate about what could happen if the virus were to begin more widely infecting humans, for fear of spreading panic, but the toll could, in the worst case, dwarf that of COVID-19. If the virus “infects a person infected with a human flu strain, and something comes out that is reassorted and adapted to humans? I don’t even want to imagine,” Richt says. “Not good.” The Institute for Disease Modeling, a research institute within the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has estimated that a global flu pandemic could kill close to 33 million people within six months.

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This should be a story of heroism, cooperation, and an all-hands effort to defeat a wily virus that many scientists warn could mutate into a pandemic threat. Instead, it is a story of intimidation and obfuscation. The vets who sounded the alarm have been silenced, some even fired, and won’t discuss their experiences on the record for fear of reprisals. And the federal agency that was supposed to help thwart the virus instead has allowed for an unspoken “don’t test, don’t tell” policy among dairy farmers. The USDA’s inaction, critics say, is attributable to its dual—and sometimes conflicting—mandates. It is responsible for the health and safety of the nation’s food animals, but it’s also in charge of promoting and protecting America’s $174.2 billion agriculture trade. And sick cows, with documented cases of a virus never before seen in cattle herds, could be very bad for business.

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And H5N1 was not in the corporate playbook. Dairy farmers, afraid their cows would be quarantined or that they would not be able to sell their milk, simply opted not to test. Some forced veterinarians off their property. “Everyone is so scared shitless. That is what is going on in the background,” says the Western-state veterinarian. Meanwhile, the USDA was sitting on details about infected farms. Researchers rely on the international data-sharing platform GISAID to track the spread of worrisome viruses, and the USDA’s H5N1 submissions have been both late and frustratingly light on detail. The CDC submits H5N1 sequences and metadata within eight days. Countries like Vietnam and Cambodia move even faster. But the USDA has been sharing the genetic sequences of H5N1 samples an average of 24 days after collection, and those submissions don’t say on what date, or even in which state, each sample was collected. Only later, usually after three to six weeks, does the agency provide that additional information. As a result, the USDA’s data is effectively useless for monitoring in real time how the virus is mutating. “Why can the US CDC provide actionable information while the USDA cannot?” asks a GISAID staffer. “The withholding of such data by other nations would most certainly have triggered political outrage at the highest level in the US.”