Dairy calf welfare presented a minefield for Dairy Australia's managing director on The Project

"What they're doing is really cutting edge in some ways," Dr Nation told The Project.

"All those people who are trying something new and different, there's a reward in what they're trying to do, absolutely.

"But you've got to remember the dairy industry puts a lot of milk in bottles, produces a lot of cheese, a lot of yoghurt, that requires a very big industry."

The How Now Dairy brand claimed on the show to have used sexed semen to avoid the birth of bull calves and promotes its practice of leaving calves in the herd with cows.

While the uptake of sexed semen is growing rapidly, limited availability and reduced semen fertility fears mean that it accounts for around 10 per cent of semen sales in Australia.

Leaving calves in the herd with cows, on the other hand, is at odds with veterinary advice.

Dairy Australia's own programs urge farmers to remove the calf from its mother soon after birth and within 12 hours in areas known to be impacted by Bovine Johnes disease (BJD), a common wasting disorder in dairy cattle.

When Channel 10 invited Dr Nation to discuss ethics on the show, he was quick to talk about the progress the industry had made, including the growing use of sexed semen to reduce the number of bull calves born on Australian dairy farms.

"I gave positive statements about the the dairy industry," Dr Nation told Stock & Land today.

"If you match my statements up with what's happening at How Now and the way the segment was described, it didn't comes across with the positive tone it was interviewed with.

"I need to make it clear that I was interviewed independently of How Now and the interview was about the advances made by the broader industry rather than endorsing How Now."

Dr Nation said dairy farmers throughout the industry were focused on achieving the best outcomes for their calves.

"When you talk to farmers and people who have lived through lots of these debates, ultimately what should take precedence is how calves survive and thrive," he said.

"At this point in time, that continues to be calf separation and make sure they get enough colostrum and get put into appropriate calf facilities, looked after well and breaking disease cycles.

"This becomes especially important if there's a disease to break like BJD and if there's another disease that comes along, it clearly becomes a priority to break the disease."

Even so, Dr Nation said disruption to the status quo had benefits for Australian dairy.

"The current recommendations are based on sound veterinary advice about the survival of the calf and breaking disease cycles," he said.

"A good challenge for industry is that we can legitimately question ourselves.

"People are questioning how important it is to break disease cycles and how important it is for a calf to get colostrum versus perceived welfare advantages of calves on cows.

"The welfare people are talking about the stresses on the cow and calf. There are differing perspectives from welfare specialists and vets.

"This area has gone from a really clear-cut space to a less clear-cut one.

"No one wants to change sound guidelines but it becomes now a complex discussion.

"We've invested in welfare science internationally to investigate whether this is the right thing to do and there are mixed views."

Dr Nation said the Australian dairy industry had a positive story to tell.

"When I talk to farmers, when I look at what we're trying to do as DA the number one thing is about calves surviving and thriving and that's what drives good dairy farmers always," he said.

"The motivation behind anything that farmer tries to do is about the calf surviving and thriving and while we hold that central to what we do as farmers and a dairy industry, we should hold our heads up and talk about us being a successful, ethical dairy industry."

You can watch Dr Nation's interview with The Project below.