Councils in Somerset are to sell their small farms – this could herald the demise of the traditional way of farming in the UK as it is probably happening in many rural areas. This is bad news for us all for, as the smaller farms disappear, not only will the countryside change but increasingly we shall have to rely on imported dairy products and imported beef.

But will we? There is a solution but one that many will find abhorrent – the mega-dairy.

If mega-dairies are given the go-ahead in the UK, we shall see thousands of cows kept almost exclusively indoors for most of their lives. Already planning application has been re-submitted for a mega-dairy of 8,000 cows at Norton Farm in Lincolnshire. Others are fast following – for instance, a 3,000-cow dairy in Lincolnshire, and a further proposal would see 1,000 cows kept intensively in huge sheds next to a school in the village of Leighton.

Once factory dairy farming gets a foothold in this country, the floodgates will open. Where next? It could be Somerset. Does it matter?

Yes, it does and here's why:

The cows will be little more than milking machines.

Cows bred for high milk yields are at higher risk of lameness, loss of body condition and infertility.

More and more traditional dairy farmers are likely to be put out of business, unable to compete.

The countryside will change forever with huge sheds dominating the landscape and local roads blighted by lorries.

Pig and chicken factory farms already spell disaster for animals – widescale farming of dairy farms would be a further step in the wrong direction.

The people of Somerset need to be alerted to this new development in factory farming so they can make an informed decision and will be ready to act (if they so wish) when the first planning application is submitted to their county.

The facts of mega-dairies have been sourced by CIWF – Compassion in World Farming – an organisation that was founded in the 1960s by a British farmer who foresaw the advent of mass factory farming and was aware of the cruelty it would inflict on animals.

Please publicise the facts about mega-dairies. CIWF have an excellent web-site should you wish to verify what I have written.

ANNE MACFARLAINE St Mary's Green Timsbury