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Dairyland News: Sheila Brown, Associate Editor
March 2015
#4 Dairy cow stockmanship workshop for distress reduction
& efficient handling
Several Whatcom County dairy farmers attended a recent four-hour hands-on ‘stockmanship’
workshop about safe, efficient dairy cow handling at the TJ Veenacres Farms near Lynden. Farmers
heard Don Höglund MS, DVM, North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine and dairy
stockmanship educator, describe low-energy approaches, efficient methods, and gentle techniques for
managing dairy cows. See www.dairystockmanship.com.
Dr. Höglund is a behavioral scientist, animal trainer and internationally known expert on efficient
animal agriculture. His workshops help dairy producers understand the behavior of dairy cows.
The dairy cow handling process is known as dairy stockmanship, and reinforces the importance of
judicious, efficient and discriminating ways to move/motivate dairy animals. Dairy stockmanship
makes the science practical for use on dairy farms.
TJ Veenacres co-owner Rolf Veening hosted the workshop and thought the information was helpful.
“The people who attended all came away with information about dairy cow behavior that they can use,”
he said. “Many of Dr. Höglund’s topics were common sense, but he gave good insight about
understanding animal behaviors to better manage the cows.”
“In a herd you can see you dairy cows are creatures of habit, but each cow has a personality so you
can see how they behave,” he continued. “Dr. Höglund’s advice about animal behaviors was helpful for
smaller more family run farms where the owner is involved; but with the larger herds his advice is a
very good tool for teaching farm employees who may not have the animal background.”
Multigenerational dairy producers often tell Höglund they do many of the things he describes in the
workshop, and now they know why/how things work and how animals learn. He translates animal
behavioral sciences to practical applications on the farm.
“The name of the game is efficiency gains with low impact handling to create a more calm environment
to maximize the amount of milk in the cow as well as the cow’s comfort,” he said. “We focus on the
behavioral science about how to provide consistent and predictable patterns for the animal. If the
animal is changing behavior we focus on what caused her avoidance behaviors like not entering the
parlor.”
During the on-farm workshop he describes how dairy cows respond differently to different people, then
conducts a series of tests with attending farmers and farms hands that can determine who is exciting
dairy cows and who is not. He says phrases such as livestock production or harvesting are subject to
interpretation while animal agriculture is among the neutral phrases that prevent people from getting
bogged down in semantics.
“Dr. Höglund’s dairy cow module training program is the only one that offers hands-on training for
managing dairy cows,” said Dr. Amber Adams-Progar, WSU Dairy Management Specialist & Assistant
Professor who helped coordinate the workshop.
“Washington dairy farmers have traditionally done a good job with their animals,” she said. “The dairy
stockmanship training offers subtle cues such as where the cow’s eyes are looking or ears pointed, or
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how you can get a dairy cow to move without having to use undesirable methods such as hitting or
pushing.”
‘Efficient handling of dairy cows can be as simple as where you place yourself,” said Dr. AdamsProgar, “ and could be just a matter of taking a step back at the right time to make an animal move
forward.”
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