ANIMAL HEALTH AND WELFARE: CATTLE

Animal welfare is important to us and we want to make sure animals have good living conditions. Almost all the Finnish cattle farms in our contract production are part of the bovine health monitoring system Naseva (ISO 9001 certified). Our contract production farms are committed to following HKFoods guidelines, in addition to the regulations set by the EU and national laws and regulations.

Animal welfare based on good care

Cattle are intelligent and social animals that spend the majority of their time eating, ruminating and resting. Cattle form close friendships and follow a precise hierarchy. Despite their gregarious nature, cows also need peace and quiet. Adult cows rest for 11–13 hours a day. Their resting places must be soft, spacious and peaceful, with good air conditioning. There must also be a sufficient number of peaceful feeding and drinking places for the entire herd.

Beef cattle are raised in cowsheds and loose barns as well as in pens and pastures. Calves bred for the purposes of pedigree cattle production are born on suckler cow farms, where they graze with their mothers up to an age of approximately six months. After this, the calves are relocated to specialised rearing farms or remain at their birth farm.

FAVOURABLE IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY, CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT

The short growing season and abundant natural water resources of the Nordic countries makes them ideal for the cultivation of herbage and the production of forage. The production of dairy and beef maintains the self-sufficiency of food production.

About 80 percent of the beef produced in Finland derives from animals in the dairy production chain, due to which the carbon footprint of the production is relatively smaller than in separated beef production. In addition to dairy and beef products, every bit of a cow’s carcass is utilised, thereby also yielding leather, gelatin and bone meal.

THE BASIS OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND BIODIVERSITY

Livestock manure is a valuable fertilizer and soil conditioner that contains nutrients and organic substances
Grazing prevents the overgrowth of meadows
The grazing of purebred cattle increases the diversity of organisms and species spectrum of natural pastures

THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF PASTURES

Bind atmospheric carbon dioxide
Reduce the phosphorus load
Prevent nutrients from draining into the waterways
Maintain biodiversity
Ensure the beneficial use of the soil
Grass is an important plant in the crop

A LIGHTER CARBON FOOTPRINT

The carbon footprint result of the beef of the Finnish HK quality chain calculated by VTT from 2019 data was 8.2 kg CO₂e per kilogram of live weight of the animal.* The calculations are based on the latest ISO standardized methods and IPCC calculation guidelines. The calculation takes into account the carbon footprint of production from the field to the gate of the production facility. In addition to carbon dioxide, the carbon footprint includes, among other things, methane and nitrous oxide converted into carbon dioxide equivalents.

* The results are reported as mass-allocated kg CO₂e / kg live weight.