[dsushant]

I believe the Canadian government does not subsidize dairy farming while the USA does so. Specifically, farmer's cooperatives in Canada have self imposed quotas while in the USA, there are no quotas but there are subsidies. Do you think this creates different incentives, resulting in different cattle rearing practices?

[randomdata]

That's what I wonder given how grim the parent makes it sound compared to my experiences, but I haven't been around enough farms in the US to say with any absolute certainty.

The average heard size in Canada is about 60 cows and you can make a decent living with that. From what I understand the in US, 60 cows will leave you living in absolute poverty. If you cannot afford to live yourself, I expect the cows won't have much of a life either. But that's just an assumption.

It is a good question though, and especially timely as the Canadian government is seriously leaning towards scrapping the quota system entirely.

[dsushant]

> If you cannot afford to live yourself, I expect the cows won't have much of a life either. But that's just an assumption.

That's a fair assumption for a commercial operation. In India, small holders (2-3 cattle) are in majority & the primary use is for tilling fields. Consequently, cattle are considered & treated as family members, rather than as milk producing machines. Even if the farmer has to live frugally, he/she does not ill treat cattle.

> It is a good question though, and especially timely as the Canadian government is seriously leaning towards scrapping the quota system entirely.

Thanks for that info - will be interesting to assess the outcome if the shift happens.