Agriculture Minister David Carter is dismissing controversy over the practice of induction in dairy cattle.

The process has made headlines as a possible PR problem for our dairy sector overseas – it involves calves being aborted up to 12 weeks premature to streamline the start of the new milking season.

Mr Carter says induction is already being phased out, and the process as its been described by media is no longer accepted practice.

"The way it was portrayed on TV, that type of induction is no longer accepted by the industry.”

Mr Carter says under the dairy sector’s new animal welfare code, induction will only be permitted when a cow’s health is at risk.

“The code suggested that induction was to be used in cases where it was needed for the health of the cow, other than that, it was an unsatisfactory practice and should not be utilised.

"There are occasions, very rarely, where induction is a useful technique to protect the health of the cow – but that’s not a common situation."

Soil and Health spokesman Steffan Browning says vets who use the technique should be required to get an exemption for each case.

“The minister has the capacity to ban inductions used for the purpose of improving the timing of milk supply.

"He could certainly have an exemption where a vet identifies where a cow will benefit in terms of its own health by induction – that could be a condition to protect the animal’s welfare.”