Wow! We’ve Messed Up Cow Genes Just to Make Them Milking Machines

Wow! Over the past 40 years, man has managed to alter the genetic make-up of Holstein cows to literally make them optimized, milking machines. In the seemingly never-ending pursuit to produce more and more dairy products, farmers have pulled a page out of the Darwin rule book and utilized artificial selection to feed our incessant thirst for milk.

A mere fifty years ago, the average Holstein cow could be expected to produce 5,000 pounds of milk over its lifetime. Today, Holsteins can produce up to 22,000! That’s no small jump, and it certainly comes at a cost.

While genetically, humans have been able to manipulate the ability of cows to produce more milk by breeding only the highest-producers, on the other side of actual methods used to extract milk from cows, the game has changed in a similarly Frankenstein-esque manner. Bred solely for their ability to turn a profit, dairy cows are subjected to brutal conditions. Impregnated three or four times over a lifespan of just as many years, the average dairy cow is milked three times a day, putting a constant drain on her metabolism and making her highly susceptible to painful udder infections. Living in cramped, unclean conditions and hooked up to machines for routine milkings, it is clear that humans have taken the nature out of more than the Holstein gene pool.

So when can we expect to see the ramifications of Frankenstein’s new milk monster? Check out this article, and you’ll find we already have.

Image Source: Scott Bauer/Wikipedia Commons