Pihatto karjatalouden tehostajana 1950-luvun Suomessa [Free cow and the rationalisation of Finnish dairy farming in the 1950s]

Abstract

The article examines the adoption of a loose house dairy farming practice in Finland in the 1950s. Keeping cows free in the American style became one of the most significant innovations in cattle farming during the 1950s. The Tyotehoseura organisation, particularly advocating agricultural rationalisation, started to promote the spread of loose house farming. The article explores why loose housing received so much interest in Finnish cattle farming during that decade, and why experts in rationalisation especially supported this practice. The research is based on published material about the development of dairy farming in the 1950s. The article aims to provide a more comprehensive view of the relationship between the development of modern agriculture, animal welfare, and scientific expertise. It shows how the focus of rationalisers on efficiency, economy, and the simplification of practices led this expert group to be interested in keeping cows free. The aim was to harness the cows' behaviour as part of the production process, introducing a new perspective on cow agency in cattle farming development. The article also shows that the significance of free movement for the cows' health was central to rationalisers, even though the emerging animal welfare research did not support this idea.