Farmers do care.

Do farmers care about their cows?

by JACKIE on JANUARY 24, 2014

Owning and working on a farm is business, and often it’s the business that supports an entire family and possibly extended family as well. With all that riding on the farm making money, do farmers have time to care about their cows?

Absolutely. Big farm or small, the whole reason dairy farmers enjoy their work is the cows. It might be hard for you or me to tell cows apart in a herd, but for the farmers who work with them every day, each cow is unique with her own special personality.

Many dairy farmers name some or all of their cows, but even if a cow doesn’t have a “name” she is still recognized as an individual in the herd by her ear tag number. The ear tag helps farmers keep data about how many calves a cow has had, how old she is, who her parents are, how much milk she normally gives, and more. Many farms use radio tags so each time a cow comes in to be milked, the farmer can collect data on her. Cows also sometimes were pedometers or activity monitors so the farmer will know if she’s feeling under the weather (maybe laying down more than normal and not walking around as much) or if she’s ready to be bred (maybe she’s very active and not resting as much).

Farmers who raise purebred cows even have registration papers for their animals, who usually have long, fancy names and even longer pedigrees.

The farmers I know all care deeply about their cows’ welfare. On many farms, each cow may be a part of the family’s history–the farmer will remember bottle feeding that cow’s mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. While dairy cows are not pets, they are the stars of the farm.