Arla Foods, the UK’s biggest supplier of milk to supermarkets, has built its reputation around ‘holistic’ farming practices that place animal welfare at the heart of dairy production.
The company’s website features glossy photographs of apparently contented cows grazing in green meadows, alongside promises of ‘clean and comfortable resting areas’, outdoor space, waterbeds and automated brushes – ‘because sometimes a good scratch hits the spot’.
But footage obtained by The Mail on Sunday appears to show workers at some of Arla’s 2,400 British farms kicking cows lying helplessly on the ground, dragging them across concrete with farm vehicles and leaving them to rest on straw contaminated with urine and faeces.
The disturbing material, recorded during a year-long investigation, also shows farm workers separating a newborn calf from its mother just 25 minutes after birth – well short of the 24 hours recommended by the Government.
Other clips appear to show employees urinating inside cow pens and leading animals towards milking parlours in metal shackles.
In one particularly distressing scene, two workers take turns using a heavy pair of bolt cutters in an apparent attempt to break off a metal screw protruding from a cow’s eyelid as the animal recoils in pain.
Arla’s website features glossy images of cows grazing in green fields, alongside promises of ‘clean and comfortable resting areas’, outdoor space, waterbeds and automated brushes – ‘because sometimes a good scratch hits the spot’
The footage appears to show a helpless cow being lifted by its hips
In another clip, an employee can be heard shouting, ‘I hate cows, f*** it, I hate you’, before kicking an animal and painfully twisting its tail.
Additional footage secretly recorded at the farms appears to show:
- Young children kicking and punching lame cows in cattle pens;
- Terrified animals recoiling after being struck with gates and farm equipment;
- A dead calf left in a wheelbarrow for three nights;
- A malnourished cow left without water for 31 hours.
Independent experts who examined evidence from the investigation into 15 Arla farms – including some supplying Tesco, Morrisons and Starbucks – identified 360 potential breaches of animal welfare law. They said the problems appeared systemic, with similar failures recorded at several different Arla farms.
Arla began an immediate investigation after being shown the footage.
An Arla spokesman said: ‘Animal welfare is of the utmost importance to us, and we take all reports and concerns seriously. We have therefore launched an urgent investigation.’
A spokesman for Morrisons said: ‘We take animal welfare extremely seriously and expect all of our suppliers to operate to the high standards that we and our customers demand.
‘This footage is deeply concerning. Arla is undertaking an urgent investigation and we will take all necessary action once we have the findings.’
A Starbucks spokesman said: ‘The footage shows treatment of animals which is deeply concerning and falls far short of the high standards of animal welfare we expect to be upheld across our supply chain.
‘We support Arla’s decision to open an immediate investigation and will remain in close contact as it takes appropriate action.’
Arla Foods, which is headquartered in Denmark, is a multinational cooperative owned by about 11,200 farmers across seven countries.
The Animal Justice Project has documented dairy cows with chains around their hooves
The highest number of potential breaches was recorded at a family-run Derbyshire farm also called Longlands, including a malnourished cow that went 31 hours without water
Its UK subsidiary produces three billion litres of milk each year from approximately 2,400 farms and generates annual turnover of more than £2 billion, making it the country’s largest dairy company. Campaign group the Animal Justice Project placed hidden cameras in farm buildings after whistleblowers and members of the public raised concerns about the welfare of Arla’s cows.
The findings appear to conflict with the standards Arla sets for farmers through its Arlagarden programme, which contains more than 100 requirements covering animal welfare and milk quality.
Arla says the programme goes beyond legal requirements. Its guidance states that animals must be fed, watered and cared for so their needs are ‘fully met’, while sick or underdeveloped animals ‘must be treated accordingly’.
Participating farms must also comply with national legislation and Red Tractor standards.
Some of the most serious alleged breaches were recorded at two Dorset farms owned by Arla director George Holmes. Mr Holmes, who told Parliament in 2024 that his businesses sought to operate to ‘the highest welfare standards’, has been a member of the company’s board since 2024.
At Mr Holmes’s Littlewood Farm in Frampton, near Dorchester, workers were filmed hitting cows’ udders, striking their hind legs with a hose and punching another animal. At another of his farms a short distance away in Frampton, a worker was filmed repeatedly bringing an overhead milking-parlour lever down onto cows’ backs and necks.
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Claire Palmer, executive director of the Animal Justice Project, said: ‘It shows an industry where injury is routine and where the milk keeps flowing even when the cow is broken.’ She added: ‘This investigation is not about one farm or one worker losing their temper.
Calves are often separated from their mothers within hours of birth, a practice allowed under current rules
An Arla spokesman said: ‘Animal welfare is of the utmost importance to us, and we take all reports and concerns seriously. We have therefore launched an urgent investigation’
‘Across 13 counties and 15 Arla farms, we documented the same problems repeatedly: cows struggling to walk, calves dragged and forced to feed, mothers calling for their newborns, and animals subjected to rough handling and violence.
‘Arla tells shoppers that its cows are healthy, comfortable and treated as individuals.
‘What our cameras recorded was very different. These are not abstract statistics; they are individual animals living in pain.
‘Consumers deserve to know what lies behind the milk they buy. When the same problems appear farm after farm, we have to question the system itself. That is the Big Milk Con.’ Workers at Oak Lodge Farm in Stoney Stanton, Leicestershire, which supplies Tesco, were filmed kneeing cows in the spine, pinching their flanks and pulling their tails.
At Kingston Hill Farm in Oxfordshire, run by David Christensen, a member of Arla’s board of representatives since 2012, cows were allegedly beaten with metal pipes and made to walk despite being lame.
The Christensen family rents the farm from Oxford University’s St John’s College, which also takes its milk.
At Lower House Farm in Worcestershire, farmer Doug Roper was filmed forcefully slamming a metal gate into a cow to make it move, then wrenching another cow’s tail just hours after it had given birth.
Footage from Marsh Farm in Dorset showed the body of a calf left in a plastic wheelbarrow for three days, despite government guidance stating that dead animals must be collected and disposed of without ‘undue delay’ on safety grounds.
The greatest number of potential breaches was recorded at Longlands, a family-run farm in Derbyshire. Among the allegations was that a malnourished cow was left without water for 31 hours.
In disturbing footage, a cow too weak to stand was lifted by its hips and dragged across concrete behind a farm vehicle. The animal was repeatedly kicked, kneed and pulled by its nostrils, leaving its front legs injured and bleeding.
The cow was also pulled by the face, punched and suspended in the air by a hoist. Two young children were reportedly visible inside the pens, kicking and slapping animals that had fallen.
Guidance from the British Cattle Veterinary Association states that hip hoists ‘can be a useful tool to help lift downer cows to prevent them from pressure related injury’, but stresses that they are ‘intended to lift the cow, rather than move it’.
‘We love our girls, it’s a hard day when they go,’ a worker at the farm told undercover investigators during an open day.
At the same event, the farmer was recorded saying that he used ‘electric shocks’ to move cows away from robotic milkers, despite industry standards prohibiting electric prods.
Andrew Knight, a veterinary professor specialising in animal welfare, said: ‘Having reviewed the footage I am deeply concerned by what it shows. This is not one bad farm. Similar failures appear on farm after farm, all within Arla’s assurance schemes. This footage suggests the system is failing the animals it claims to protect.’
He added: ‘It’s worth recognising that some of what the footage shows, such as separating calves from their mothers within hours of birth, is permitted under current rules. That is why legal compliance and assurance labels should not be treated as guarantees of good welfare.’
Paul Burr, president of the British Cattle Veterinary Association, said: ‘Cruelty has no place on any farm. These allegations must be investigated promptly, and any animals suffering must receive immediate care.
‘Farm vets work every day to protect cattle welfare, and we will continue to support farmers in upholding high animal welfare standards and challenge poor practice wherever we find it.’
Jenny Mace, an independent animal welfare expert and academic at the University of St Andrews, said: ‘This body of evidence points to much of the illegality being systemic.
‘It is not due to one bad apple, whether a farm or a staff member, but is widespread and recurring across UK dairy farms.
‘Multiple bodies, including the Government’s own advisers, have affirmed that most criminality on UK farms goes unprosecuted, highlighting a deep enforcement problem.’
She described the removal of the screw from the cow’s eyelid as ‘a dangerous intervention’ that should have been performed only with the correct equipment, veterinary involvement and sedation.
She also criticised the dairy industry’s reliance on self-assessment, noting that Arla’s own standards scheme gives flagged farms 48 hours’ notice before a ‘spot check’.
