a bobby calf is a dairy farm’s male calf, a few days old. a cow only gives milk after she has calved, so a dairy herd makes about a calf per cow per year, and half of them are sons: on the order of a hundred million male dairy calves a year, worldwide. none can make milk. dairy breeds grow too slowly for good beef. so almost all are killed young.
method FAO dairy cow numbers (~270 million) × calving rate (~0.85) × half male; national figures from MPI NZ, Dairy Australia, AHDB.
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