Eligibility and criteria

You need to be a well-known or notable food company that can satisfy the welfare criteria below, either as a current policy or on a five year commitment basis.

There are four types of award available:

1. Good Dairy Commendation for meeting the welfare criteria for dairy cows
2. Good Calf Commendation for meeting the welfare criteria for dairy calves
3. Good Dairy Award for meeting the welfare criteria for both dairy cows and calves.
4. New for 2019: Good Calf Award for specialist calf rearers that meet the criteria for dairy calves

You can apply for a Good Dairy Award in any of the following categories:

• Liquid milk
• Butter and cream
• Cheese
• Yoghurt, ice-cream and other dairy desserts
• Powdered milk and other dairy ingredients
• Dairy veal or beef

Welfare criteria for dairy cows:

DAIRY COW CRITERIA - INPUTS

1. Grazing policy
   • Cattle must not be housed permanently indoors during the grazing season
   • A written grazing policy must be in place (for a minimum of 120 days access to pasture)
   • No milk to be sourced from large scale dairy farms where access to adequate grazing is prohibited or limited due to the size of the operation
2. No tethering is permitted
3. Comfort around resting
   • At least one cubicle per cow (or 11 m2/cow  in open yards)
   • Provision of comfortable bedding

DAIRY COW CRITERIA - OUTCOMES

Welfare outcomes must include:

• Lameness (e.g. mobility score; reducing scores 2 and 3)
• Culling rate (expressed as a culling %)
• Longevity (age of the cow or number of lactations from first calving)
• Mastitis (no. of clinical cases per year in relation to herd size)
• Cow condition (Body Condition Score)
• Flight Distance (measuring human-animal relationship)

We encourage companies to set continuous improvement targets for their welfare outcomes, monitored and supported through a proactive programme, as well as monitor other important animal welfare indicators, such as the Cow Comfort Index.

Welfare criteria for dairy calves:

1. All calves must be reared in higher welfare systems that include group housing from birth, provision of adequate bedding, appropriate diet and a fibre source ad-libitum
2. Good quality colostrum must be provided within the first 6 hours after birth
3. Transport time must be limited to a maximum of 8 hours (inclusive of loading and unloading); minimal transport time is encouraged and export from the UK is not permitted

Companies can apply for an award via their engagement with the Food Business team and on completion of an application form signed at Director level.

Where an application is made on a commitment basis, Compassion will remain in contact with award winners over the commitment period, to assess progress made and provide continued support. 

Click here to view the information sheets that support the Good Dairy Award.

When you apply for an award, we need to know the following information:

1. How many dairy cows and replacement heifers are covered by your current or future policy?
   This information allows us to calculate how many dairy cows will benefit each year from your commitment.
2. How do you audit your milk supply or how do you plan to audit it to ensure it complies with the award criteria?
   E.g. Contract with your supplier, other….
3. How many dairy calves reared for veal or beef are covered by your current or future policy?
   This information allows us to calculate how many dairy calves will benefit each year from your commitment.
4. How do you audit your veal/beef supply or how do you plan to audit it to ensure it complies with the award criteria?
   E.g. Contract with your supplier, other….
5. Please add any additional information that you would like to share with us, especially the reasons why you want to apply for an award.
   E.g. Why have you chosen to change your current milk supply policy? Has this change been motivated by your customers?

If you would like to find out more, please contact the Food Business team today.