6 June 2016 • PDPW • Dairy’s Bottom Line
Culture of safety transforms workplace Success in working with dairy cattle is not related to the intelligence or lack of it on the part of the animals. It really depends on the animal’s ability to try behaviors until something works. The process of moving an animal from point A to point B can be distressful and reactive – a trial-and-error attempt in which the human finally lucks out at finishing the job. Or it can be a low-energy experience for the human and the animals. Which it is will depend on the human’s understanding of how an animal perceives its world, how animals learn, the relative importance of its social peers, and what motivates an animal to avoid or escape threats. With that knowledge, appropriate techniques can be used to humanely create an outcome that is efficient and safe for all involved. Failing to understand how animals learn and why they
Kathy M Helgeson/University of Wisconsin-River Falls
University of Wisconsin-River Falls students learn about dairy science — including how to handle cows.
respond to their environment as they do can have welfare and well-being implications for human and animal. It also has consumer-perception and profit consequences. Creating a culture of handling safety on dairy farms should
Twohig Rietbrock Schneider & Halbach “Attorneys for Agriculture” (920) 849 - 4999
begin with the simultaneous education of ownership, management and staff in the validated principles of how animals actually learn. Then those principles should be practiced in real time. A person likely cannot learn to drive a car, play a piano or ride a unicycle by watching a video of someone else doing it. No amount of education can build animal-handling skill or talent if the knowledge of learning theory is not practiced by all handlers on a given farm and consistently applied in the pastures, pens or parlors. Efficient handlers understand that dairy cattle observe the world around them and respond
based on previous experiences, sensory input, inherited traits and species-typical behaviors. Safe handlers understand that animals are reacting to human presence and action in a given environment. Observant handlers also recognize that the best predictor of future animal behavior is past animal behavior. Animal behavior can be changed through thoughtful alterations in handler behavior. Defending against challenges, regulating fluid levels, reproducing, maintaining body temperature and consuming nutrient energy are typical cattle survival behaviors. In that way they are no different than people. There are differences, however. Those lie in different experiences, perceptions and behavior. Knowledge of animal behavior and neurology have matured to the point that veterinarians and animal scientists can now use terms and phrases that respect the differences between animals and humans. Humans have the unique potential for verbal language – and that underlies some of the fundamental distinctions between the species. The belief that language, sensory perception, cognition and culture shape human experiences, including emotions, is well accepted in
Legal, business and planning solutions for Wisconsin’s farms and agribusinesses.
FIGURE 1: During herding, if a cow walks calmly, follow her. If she runs, back up until she walks and then follow her to the parlor. If a cow kicks the suction off in the parlor, put it back on as soon as possible. If not, kicking works for her and she will repeat it. Modern dairies teach calves to face handlers. Learn how to teach animals to herd. Aggression is a learned behavior that can be spotted in the weaning pens. Learn how to avoid reinforcing it.