NORTHERN dairy producers believe horrific findings in an animal welfare report into Australia's dairy industry are not a reflection of Tasmania's dairy culture.
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Last month, animal welfare group Voiceless released a report that stated intensified farming practices to meet the growing demand for milk were pushing dairy cows to "exhaustion" and exacerbating welfare problems such as mastitis and lameness.
The report also said Australian farms were producing more milk using fewer cows in less space than ever before.
Ashgrove Cheese marketing and communications manager Anne Bennett said the welfare of the cows was critical in production quality, which was why the company had always opted to use free-range cows, feed pads and a feedlots.
"The beautiful thing about Tassie is that we can feed all our cows naturally," she said.
"The cows discussed in the report produce a high rate of milk per day. Our key value is about high quality, not quantity."
Mrs Bennett said transparency was an important factor in the success of the state's dairy industry.
"For us, truth and transparency is key. Authenticity is what sells, our consumers influence that and that's what make us a better business.
"We're very fortunate here in Tasmania. We have a lot of natural rain fall and rich pastures.
"We don't use bobby calves, the calves are birthed naturally, they're not high production volumes and the cows are grassfed."