Animal welfare is a matter of pride

Healthy animals are the foundation of Valio’s operations and a matter of pride for every dairy farmer. Caring for animals on farms is much more than a job, it’s a way of life and the motivation for being a dairy farmer.

A happy and healthy cow that receives high-quality nutrition and care also produces clean, high-quality milk. If any shortcomings in animal welfare are identified, they are always addressed.

We ensure animal welfare in many ways:

• Our daily operations are built on good practices.
• A veterinary health care professional visits the farm regularly.
• Preventive health care promotes the health of the cows and reduces the need for antibiotics.
• All farms are committed to Valio’s primary production sustainability programme.
• The sustainability bonus rewards actions that promote wellbeing.

Sustainability programme ensures commitment to best practices

Valio is a company owned by 3,000 Finnish dairy farms through cooperatives, and all of the dairy farms are committed to the primary production sustainability programme. Under its terms, all Valio dairy farms must be part of the Naseva system for cattle health care. The farm also commits to having a veterinarian conduct a health check at the farm at least once a year.

If a farm does not meet the requirements of the sustainability programme, the cooperative will suspend or terminate milk collection from that farm.

Sustainability bonus encourages development efforts

Valio is committed to promoting animal and environmental welfare in collaboration with milk producers. This is reflected in our primary production sustainability programme. Under the programme, dairy farms are paid a sustainability bonus, which aims to encourage producers to continuously improve animal welfare and sustainable practices.

Milk with no antibiotic residues

In Finland, antibiotics are not used preventatively in animal feed, as is the case in many other countries. If an animal falls ill, it must of course be treated, but cows receive antibiotic treatment only when prescribed by a veterinarian. The primary goal is to prevent diseases through good care and health management. Responsible use of antibiotics reduces the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains.

When a cow is on a course of medication, its milk is not delivered to the dairy until a sufficient withholding period has passed and the milk has been tested to ensure that it is free from antibiotic residues. The purity of the milk is always ensured through comprehensive testing for antibiotic residues. The milk is tested three times: first at the farm, then from all milk loads at the dairy before unloading, and finally before the milk is transferred to production.

A healthy cow is the sum of many factors

A cow’s favourite activities are eating, ruminating, and resting. A cow is a ruminant that needs a peaceful daily routine, good living conditions, high-quality feed, fresh water, and the company of other cows.

Cows spend as much as 15-16 hours a day eating and ruminating. The diet of cows in Finland is based on grass forage, which includes timothy, meadow fescue, and clover. Since summer is short, grass forage is stored in silos for the winter. In addition to grass, the diet includes various legumes, grains, and byproducts from the food industry. Soy is not used at Valio farms.

Clean water is just as important as food: in winter, a cow drinks about 100 litres of water a day, but that can increase to 150 litres on a hot summer day.

A healthy cow produces high-quality milk. Cows are individuals and produce an average of 40 kilograms of milk per day. Milking usually takes place two or three times a day, but in barns equipped with milking robots, a cow can be milked whenever it wants.

Living environment and outdoor access

Cows thrive in clean, well-lit spaces with ample room to move about and good ventilation. Over 80% of Valio farm cows are housed in free-stall barns where they can move freely between resting and feeding areas. The direction is clear: all new barns must be free-stall barns. Even in tie-stall barns, attention is paid to the softness of the bedding and the cow’s natural movements.

Access to pasture and outdoor exercise are important for animal welfare. The Animal Welfare Act requires that cows in tie-stall barns be allowed outside for at least 90 days a year between May and September. In southern Finland, the grazing season for Valio cows lasts up to five months, while in the north at least three to four months. In addition, allowing cows to exercise outdoors during the winter is becoming more common year by year.

We encourage our dairy farmers to give their cows year-round outdoor access and to graze in the summer. This applies both to cows living in free-stall and tie-stall barns. All cows at Valio’s organic dairy farms live in free-stall barns and graze.

First weeks in the life of a calf

A cow’s milk production begins when she gives birth to a calf. In traditional dairy farming, the calf is weaned from its mother shortly after birth so that the cow can be milked and the young calf can be provided with a safe environment. A calf gets its nutrition by suckling, so its needs to suckle must be satisfied. Calves are often initially held in an individual pen so that they can learn to use the nipple buckets. Even then, a calf must be able to interact with other calves.

Calves that are at least eight weeks old are moved to a group pen, where they are kept until they are at least six months old. In the group, calves are able to express species-typical behavioural traits, such as social behaviour and play. They practice the behavioural skills and social interactions necessary for life as adult animals.

Under natural conditions, a cow nurses her calf for several months and weans it gradually. On some farms, a cow cares for its own calf throughout the entire nursing period, or a suckler cow method is used. In this case, a single calm, milk-producing cow nurses several cows in a group pen and in the pasture. This allows the calves to nurse as naturally as possible.

Extended weaning of calves is still relatively rare, but it is becoming more common as awareness of alternative weaning methods grows. Valio actively participates in weaning-related research projects and encourages dairy farms to try alternative weaning methods.