The Farm Beat: Name That Cow

The dairy business has been bleak all year, but maybe this item off the AP wire today will give you a smile. The latest Ig Nobels, awarded to research of seemingly questionable value, included British scientists who found that cows produce more milk if you give them names. To quote the story: Researcher Peter Rowlinson of the University of Newcastle explained that naming cows was just one aspect of their research that showed that when humans are nice to animals, the animals return the affection. For their study, they petted, groomed and named one group of heifers and acted neutrally toward another group. "... there was an improvement in milk yield” of one to two liters, not much for one cow, but it adds up in large herds, Rowlinson said. This raises a couple of questions here in Stanislaus County, one of the leading U.S. dairy producers: Is it possible to name all of our cows, which numbered about 180,000 as of the end of 2008? And do we really want cows to produce more milk, which could aggravate the surplus that has pushed down farm milk prices? Questions to ponder as we await the return of better times for our dairy farmers. The Ig Nobel committee also cited a researcher who looked into why pregnant women don’t tip over (something about the shape of their spines). We know what’s next: Scientists trying to see if pregnant cows tip over.