Our planet is currently home to around 1.5 billion cows, which emit methane from their stomachs during rumination. This has led to them being wrongly discredited as "climate killers". The majority of agricultural emissions do not come from cattle – they actually come from man-made fertilisers and pesticides.
As ruminants, cows even bind carbon in the soil in the form of humus. This means that they actually counteract climate change and promote soil fertility. As such, cattle are an integral part of organic farming and a vital food source for the world's population.
Cattle like to run. Despite this, around a third of all German dairy cows are kept in stall housing all year round. They spend their entire life in a 1.5 metre square stall, where they can't walk or turn around. This method of livestock farming in year-round stall housing is prohibited in organic farming. Organic cows are kept in either spacious loose barns with access to an open yard and/or pasture or, in the case of small family farms (with up to 30 dairy cows), are tied up in pens for a limited time only. The latter is only allowed in combination with pasture grazing in summer and regular outdoor exercise for the cows in winter. All organic cows are given adequate exercise in the fresh air and soft, dry natural bedding in their indoor cubicle. And to avoid pushing and shoving at the feed fence or trough, they each have their own space.
