DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Joaquin Phoenix won his first Oscar at the Academy Awards Sunday night. In his acceptance speech, the actor criticized the dairy industry and its practices.
“We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth we steal her baby,” said Phoenix. “And then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal.”
His words didn’t sit right with some local farmers.
“When people make comments about things, they should stick to what they know. A lot of people don’t know dairy so they tend to make comments that aren’t appropriate or aren’t correct,” said Raymond Diederich.
Diederich owns a dairy farm in De Pere. They raise more 500 cows and 150 of them are milk cows.
“They’re well taken care of, well-fed, housed, kept warm, dry, a lot of those things go into making sure our cattle are well taken care of,” said Diederich.
Other farmers are feeling the same way. Bob Fox from the Outagamie County Farm Bureau said Phoenix is pushing his personal beliefs onto others. He called it upsetting during a time when many farmers are struggling.
Diederich’s 24-hour-a-day dairy operation is a different world than the Hollywood awards show.
“We’re front on the line and we’re doing a great job at taking care of the environment and our cattle,” he said.
As for artificial insemination, he said it’s the safest way to breed cattle.
“It’s important for us to be safe,” said Diederich. “It’s for our safety and our employee’s safety.”
