"Ethics of Factory Farms" The Cornell Daily Sun

As the only source of news for many college students, the articles published in the Cornell Daily Sun have a powerful influence, whether you scan the headlines or read every line instead of taking notes during lecture. As such, it was a refreshing to see the dairy industry highlighted in such a positive way in Wednesday's article, "Ethics of factory farms." The article's intention was to provide a perspective that's not often heard by those outside of agriculture, even on the campus of one of the top agricultural institutions in the country. In addition, the piece covered the reactions of animal science students to an ABC special aired in January that was funded by animal rights groups and featured illegally taken undercover videos of some of the less attractive sides of the industry. The special, titled "Got Milk? Got Ethics? Animal rights v. the U.S. dairy industry", was produced mainly from videos taken on Willet Dairy, not far from Ithaca, and showed workers engaging in routine practices such as tail docking. To the untrained eye, this may seem like a cruel practice, however it is fairly pain free, and more importantly, prevents much more painful udder infections and helps to ensure milk cleanliness.
A number of my friends are members of the Cornell University Dairy Science Club, aka CUDS, and they told me that the writer for the Daily Sun actually came to a club meeting to gather information for her article. The author had no prior agricultural knowledge, but upon seeing the ABC special, realized that there had to be another side to the story. On another personal note, I met one of the owners of Willet Dairy in an airport on my way back to Ithaca after spring break. I was impressed by his professionalism and had a very interesting discussion on American ag.
Its unfortunate that the story of agriculture is being primarily told by those who wish to abolish it in its current form. Seeing the article in the Sun was a good start, but its time for agriculturists of all kinds to share their experience and help to close the gap between the public and the industry that feeds them. You can do your part too. When you read about agriculture, or anything for that matter, do so with an open mind and remember that there is almost always another side to the story that needs to be heard.