The Director-General of the International Dairy Federation (IDF), Caroline Emond, said yesterday that the dairy sector’s ongoing commitment to animal health and welfare was driven by a steadfast dedication to the continuous improvement of best practice across all levels of the dairy supply chain.
Speaking at the OIE Global Animal Welfare Forum, Ms Emond said: “With consumer interest in animal welfare growing across the globe, the spotlight has been focused on animals involved in the production of food, with the dairy sector being no exception.”
“Farmers know that healthy cows produce quality milk. To build on their success in this area, the global dairy sector needs to develop communication of the numerous actions undertaken for years to improve animal health and welfare.
“Dairy is a vital part of the global food system and provides economic, nutritional and social benefits to a large proportion of the world’s population. The growing world population needs nutritional security, and we must provide this both safely and sustainably.”
Alongside key strategic partners including OIE, ISO and FAO, the IDF has been at the vanguard of developing science-based best practice guidelines for animal welfare. IDF represents the dairy sector in the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock and is a founding member of the Dairy Sustainability Framework. Later this year will also see the publication of the updated IDF Guide to Good Animal Welfare in Dairy Production.
Ms Emond said: “At the IDF, the leading source of scientific and technical global dairy expertise, we are proud to contribute to the development of animal welfare expertise that benefits to animals, farmers and society.”
