London, Aug 6 (IANS) An ambitious plan to set up a 50-million-pound cattle factory, where over 8,000 cows will be milked around the clock, has been unveiled in Britain.
First of its kind in Britain, the industrial-scale farm will house the UK’s largest dairy herd in Western Europe inside giant metal sheds with little access to green grass or sunshine, the Daily Mail reported Friday.
The farm, where 8,100 ‘battery cows’ will be milked around the clock, is expected to be built at Nocton, south of Lincoln.
The farm will produce a staggering 420,000 pints of milk every day, while waste from the cattle will be used to generate electricity for the national grid.
Cows will be held on 80-point circular milking parlours which run 23 hours a day.
But the plans unveiled Thursday have horrified animal welfare experts who say cattle factories are cruel, unnatural and increase the risk of disease, injury and premature death.
Earlier this year, plans for the farm in rural Lincolnshire had been shelved after opposition from locals and concern from the environment agency about pollution.
However, the consortium of farmers behind the unit have revised their blueprints and are expected to re-submit them within weeks.
Details of the farm were published Thursday by North Kesteven district council in advance of a formal planning application.
Peter Willes, a Devon farmer and one of the consortium behind the scheme, says the cattle will have access to open pasture when they are not producing milk.
