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Cows with names make more milk
By Jordan Lite
http://www.scientificamerican.com
[1] Will Bessie make more milk if you call her by name? British agricultural
specialists say she will. Dairy farmers who address their cows by name
reported higher milk yields over the animals’ 10-month lactation period
than those who didn’t, according to new research published ∈Anthrozoos,
[5] a British journal dedicated to the “interactions of animals and people.”
British researchers compared production from the country’s National
Milk Records with the survey responses of 516 dairy farmers to see if there
was an association between yield and cow naming. Dairy farmers who
reported calling their cows by name got 2,105 gallons (7,938 liters) out of
[10] their cows, compared with 2,029 gallons (7,680 liters) per 10-month lactation
cycle. The results held regardless of the size of the farm or how much the
cows were fed.
“It was quite a revelation and quite encouraging, actually,” says study co-author Catherine Douglas of Newcastle
University ∈ northeast England and a former dairy industry advisor. She tells ScientificAmerican.com the reason for
[15] the link is unclear, but speculates it may have a soothing effect on cows, which tend to fear people and get nervous
when led into the milking parlor. “If cows are slightly fearful of humans, they could produce the hormone cortisol, which
suppresses milk production,” Douglas says. Farmers who have named their cows, she adds, “probably have a better
relationship with them. They’re less fearful, more relaxed and less stressed, so that could have an effect on milk yield.”
Named or otherwise, cows make six times more milk today than they did ∈ the 1990s, according to a 2007 piece
[20]∈The Scientist. One reason is growth hormone that many U.S. farmers now inject their cows with to increase their
milk output; another is milking practices that extend farther into cows’ pregnancies, according to the article. Selective
breeding also makes for lots of lactation.
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