Dairy farmers in UK are using TikTok to counter the myths vegans have created about animal cruelty.  Young agricultural professionals are striving to present a more attractive image of the dairy industry on the international video-sharing platform, motivated by a competition organized by farmstock organization Harrison & Hetherington to find farming’s best vlogger.

On March 11, the “Young Farming Vlogger” contest winner was revealed. Seth, 11, from Penrith, won the top prize of £50 and a Carrs Billington gift bag. It is believed that posting TikToks of their daily activities on the platform will help young dairy farmers dispel any perceived misconceptions about the sector.

Young farmers are using social media more frequently because it’s convenient. Additionally, it offers that one-on-one interaction so that you can really interact with the farming community up close and see both the good and the bad. An increasing number of farmers are worried about the reputation of dairy partly as a result of content made by vegan creators.

On TikTok, the hashtag vegan has received more than 30 billion views to date. The cruelty involved in dairy production, such as mother-calf separation and forcible impregnation of female cows, is the subject of many videos under the hashtag. One farmer was prompted by this to assert that dairy receives bad press.

The largest dairy producer in the UK, Arla Foods, provided insight into the reasons behind the decline in interest in dairy in 2022. This is because sales of plant-based substitutes have increased.

There is a misconception that dairy cows are simply mistreated and that their calves are taken away from them. Numerous vegan TikTok creators assert that dairy farmers are the ones who are misrepresenting their sector. This is accomplished by posting videos of them operating tractors and feeding cows, but avoiding discussions of artificial insemination or the routine killing of male calves that have just been born because they are unprofitable.

According to the Humane League, approximately 60,000 male calves are shot and killed at birth each year in the United Kingdom. Plant Based News did a quick TikTok search but did not find any UK dairy farmers who address calf separation. Both calf culling and the crowded, frequently unhygienic confinement of dairy cows was clearly insufficient.