Activists raise thousands to ‘shame’ super-dairy’s backers
Animal welfare campaigners have launched a scheme to raise money to “shame” the farmers behind plans to build an 8100-cow dairy in Nocton in Lincolnshire.
Members of activist group 38 Degrees have collected thousands of pounds to pay for full-page local newspaper advertisements against factory farms.
The advertisements, due to appear in the Lincolnshire Echo newspaper on Friday and Saturday (9 and 10 October), will outline concerns “tens of thousands of people” share over the super-dairy plans, 38 Degrees said.
The group said it wanted to “expose” two companies involved in the dairy, Blankney Estates and EM Howard Ltd, and embarrass them into shelving the plans.
The move comes after a partner in the project, Patrick Dean Ltd, pulled out of the project following opposition from local residents (see below).
A statement on the 38 Degrees website claimed a petition against super-dairy plans, so far signed by more than 21,000 people, had forced the firm to make the decision.
“Right now all the businesses involved are thinking ‘Is the public criticism worth it? Should we quit too?’,” the statement added.
“If we can convince them the pressure is only going to get worse, they’ll be more likely to cave in and the factory farm project will collapse.”
A spokeswoman for 38 Degrees said the group’s members had expressed concerns over cow welfare and the impact the dairy could have on the community around Nocton.
“There are also concerns around climate change, because food that’s used is often grown on cleared rainforest land,” she added. “That kind of intensive farming is also bad news in terms of emissions.”
The spokeswoman said the group hoped this would be “the final bit of the fight” in getting the plans halted, but said protests would continue until the remaining two companies involved backed out.
So far 535 people have donated to the campaign, raising £6352 to pay for the newspaper advertisements.