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Paper short abstract:

The presentation examines loose housing in milk production in 1950s Finland. Loose housing was celebrated as a technological innovation in which the habits of cows were integrated into the structure and techniques of dairy farming.

Paper long abstract:

The post World War Two era in agriculture is usually regarded as detrimental to farm animals. The ethos of rationalization, efficiency and increasing volumes turned animal production into factory like processes where the agency of the animal diminished. However, in the 1950s Finnish rationalizers of agriculture strongly promoted loose housing as the most efficient way to produce milk. The idea was that barns and farms should be designed to make use of the agency of the cows rather than restrict them. This idea had originated in the United States, but it found especially strong resonance in the 1950s Finland, with loose housing heralded as the agricultural innovation of the decade.

By examining the loose housing enthusiasm in the 1950s Finland, this presentation shows how the technology produced by the logic of rationalization and efficiency of modern agriculture was not straightforwardly oppressive of animals. Loose housing was celebrated as a technological innovation in which the habits of cows were integrated into the structure and techniques of dairy farming. It was regarded as a solution both to the large workload of farmers and poor living conditions of cows in conventional barns. The example suggests that the technological development of modern animal production should not be seen merely as brutality of efficiency and rationalization. This same logic could bring out relationships between animals and technology that were markedly different from the well-known factory farming facilities.