The cows we breed for meat are very different than the cows we breed for dairy. Beef cattle are selected for their tendency to build a lot of fat and muscle (meat). Dairy cows, on the other hand, are relatively very skinny. They are bred to put their nutrients into milk production and not into building their own bodies.

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Like humans, dairy cows only produce milk after they have given birth. As such, they are continuously re-impregnated. As a result:

 

1) Far too many dairy calves are born every year to all be put into the dairy industry, but they are too skinny to be profitably raised for meat. Of course, male dairy calves have no chance of being of any value to the industry since they cannot produce milk.

 

2) If baby calves nurse from their mothers, that is a loss in product to the industry (e.g. milk that could be sold to humans is consumed by baby cows instead).

 

Most dairy calves (all those that are not raised to produce milk themselves) are separated from their mothers within 14 hours of birth (some are taken away within the hour!) and kept in crates until they are slaughtered for veal. Using dairy calves for veal, even though they produce very little meat compared to beef cattle, is economically feasible for farmers because they are slaughtered as babies, before requiring input costs for feed and other care. Veal crates are one of the most confining pieces of equipment in all of animal agriculture and often do not allow the isolated calves even to fully extend their limbs.