Dutch campaigners want free access for dairy cows

Nationwide campaigns by animal welfare pressure groups in the Netherlands are aiming at stopping sales of drinking milk and other fresh dairy products from cows that do not have free access to grass pastures throughout the summer. This concept is quite unusual in many continental European countries, including parts of Germany, where cows are traditionally housed year-round.
FrieslandCampina already markets drinking milk guaranteed from herds in the Netherlands that get out onto fields. There is also talk that this trend is to be pushed by the major Dutch dairy in Germany too. FrieslandCampina went ahead with its pasture-produced products without any apparent pressure from animal welfare groups.
While most leading retail chains in the country such as Albert Heijn, Jumbo and Superunie maintain so far that they will not give-in to this pressure, (most do offer milk labelled as pasture-produced in any case), the Dutch C1000 chain says as from beginning of April it will fall in line with the welfare demands and sell only pasture-produced dairy products.