UK sees huge rise in ‘battery cow’ dairy farms, investigation reveals

Campaigners warn indoor dairy mega farms risk worsening pollution and animal welfare, as farmers squeezed by rising costs turn to intensive systems

A huge rise in factory-style dairy farming of “battery cows” is emerging in the UK as farmers struggle with increasing costs and face selling milk at a loss.

The number of intensive dairy farms that permanently confine some of their cattle indoors has more than doubled in the past 10 years, an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) has found. Data suggests there are now at least 180 dairy farms where cows have no access to the outdoors – up from about 70 in 2015.