Spring is here — Eco-Day or ‘Dancing Cow Day’
For the first time in three years, large numbers of people flock to the countryside to watch the moment when Denmark’s 200,000 organic cows are let out of their barns for “summer” to graze on grass. The cows are so excited they run, leap, buck and dance.
It started back in 2005, and my grandson went to his first Eco-Day with his mother in 2017 and again the year after, but then the Corona Virus made it impossible to have large numbers of people out to see the “run”. The farmers did stream the occasion, and it is estimated that more than a million people have been out this Sunday to watch the big run.
This year we could all three go there — in strong winds on a clear sunny day. The wind was very cold and very strong, but we managed, walked around to see the cows before they were let out, and visited the calves that will have to wait for later in Spring.
To be certified as organic cattle, the cows have to be out eating grass for at least six hours per day between April and November. The Guardian Newspaper reported (the day before, on 9 April — see reference below) that back in 2013, it was too cold, still with night frost, to let the animals out, and the year after the cows simply turned round and went back into the barn …
Not this year, though. Here we go …
At noon sharp on Palm Sunday, the doors to the barn opened and out they came — after a long winter in-doors.
We were cold, wind-swept and my grandson was happy. Warm tea awaited me in a thermos flask, cocoa for the grandson, and coffee for his mother. Off to the garden to continue the eco-theme, buying ecologically certified soil on the way, and March violets greeted us at the garden after a great morning.
