Dairy farmers care for calves in line with Australia welfare standards. Male calves may be reared for beef or are often used for other purposes. Female calves are reared for the milking herd.

Cows can only produce milk after giving birth to a calf. The female calves are typically raised on farm to eventually become milking cows as adults at 2-3 years of age. 

Male calves, often called bobby calves, can follow different pathways—some are reared for beef, while others are sent to abattoirs and are often used for a range of purposes. Read more at What happens to male calves.

After roughly 9-10 months of producing milk, cows have a break of 2-3 months to rest up and recover before giving birth again.  

For cows to get pregnant, farmers use either artificial insemination or bulls. Artificial Insemination has the advantage of being safer for the cow (fewer injuries) and allows for the best sires (bulls) from around the world to father the next generation of calves. 

Cows may leave the milking herd for a number of reasons, a key one being that they can no longer produce healthy milk. Most farmers send them to be processed for meat, making room for younger cows that can produce more milk or have improved qualities, such as better health.