Natural Prairie Dairy Investigated By Same Animal Rights Group As Fair Oaks Farms

The group that investigated animal cruelty at Fair Oaks Farms has now released a video from Natural Prairie Dairy. Activists with Animal Recovery Mission (ARM) hope to prevent the company from opening a farm in Indiana. 

ARM founder Richard Couto says, among other things, cows at Natural Prairie Dairy’s location in Texas were kicked, separated from their calves, and — despite being grass-fed — they rarely got outside. He says just because a confined animal feeding operation is organic, doesn’t mean the cows are treated better.

“They think of cows living in green pastures for all their lives, sitting and standing by their calf — which now you know this does not exist,” Couto says.

Couto says some of what’s shown on the video are standard practices in the dairy industry.

“It is a standard practice, correct. It doesn’t mean that it’s right, it doesn’t mean that it’s comfortable for the animal,” he says.

Natural Prairie Dairy’s planned farm in Newton County is already controversial. It will be on the site of a dried-up lake near a former marsh. Some residents worry waste from the farm would pollute drinking water and natural areas nearby.

We couldn’t reach Natural Prairie Dairy in time for comment. 

Indiana Environmental reporting is supported by the Environmental Resilience Institute, an Indiana University Grand Challenge project developing Indiana-specific projections and informed responses to problems of environmental change.