The calf at the heart of the dairy sector
The calf industry and the dairy sector are intimately linked by a two-way relationship, forming an inseparable pair at the heart of our gastronomy. On the one hand, dairy farms supply male calves — which account for more than 60% of the calves raised in France — as well as the dairy by-products that form the basis of their diet. Nearly 70% of calves’ feed therefore comes from the dairy industry: milk powder and whey, with this whey being produced during cheese-making.
On the other hand, the calf gives back to the cheese sector what it owes: rennet, extracted from the abomasum — the calf’s fourth stomach — is an essential ingredient in the manufacture of many PDO cheeses. Containing natural enzymes, it enables milk proteins to separate from the whey and change from a liquid to a solid state. To this very day, animal rennet remains the standard coagulant for great cheeses of excellence. In return, the whey produced during cheese-making is dehydrated and reintroduced into the calves’ feed, thus completing a virtuous cycle between the two sectors.
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