There was a time when rural folks co-existed with farm animals. Horses were used to plow and cows were milked by hand. This one-on-one interaction with animals gave people a real sense of understanding what animals were thinking by observing the beasts’ body language for signs of agitation or fear.
“Cattlemen had “cow sense” back then,” said Dr. Roy Burris, Beef Extension Professor at the University of Kentucky. “I would say that having and using cow sense can best be described as knowing how to get cattle to do what you want them to, with a minimum of stress on them – and you.”
Today fewer people have the privilege of being raised on or having worked on a farm to learn the nuances of interacting calmly with animals. When she first started working at the University of Wisconsin Madison in 2018, Jennifer Van Os surveyed many Wisconsin dairy farm owners and managers, asking them about their greatest challenges involving animal care and welfare.