Search
Better Farming OntarioBetter PorkBetter Farming Prairies

Better Farming Ontario Featured Articles

Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


'Moood' music to relax your cows

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Some farmers swear that playing music in the parlour or the coop makes their animals more relaxed and productive. And it's as simple as pressing "play."

The staff of Tomlinsons Dairies in Wrexham, Wales, told Wales Online that playing songs by Tom Jones during milking "keeps (the cows) relaxed and improves milk yields." The cows are partial to the tunes She's a Lady and Delilah. There are even pictures of the legendary Welshman hanging up in the barn.

Steve Ledsham, an English chicken farmer, told the Daily Mail he discovered his chickens' appreciation for the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber when egg production doubled after he had been playing the tunes while building a barn near the coop. Now he makes sure music is always playing for his hens.

The practice is fairly popular. A 2012 Freedom Food survey of British farmers found 44 per cent play music for their animals or keep the radio on for them. The key, it seems, is a constant rhythm that can drown out stressful background noises from machinery or at feeding time.

Evidence is largely anecdotal. One University of Leicester study from 2001 found that playing cows slow, relaxing music like Everybody Hurts by R.E.M. boosted milk output by three per cent. However, don't play them any old thing; the cows in the study preferred no music to fast songs like Bananarama's Venus. And farmer Frannie Miller told Modern Farmer that her cows "do not like Willie Nelson."  BF

Current Issue

March 2025

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

Farmer Planting Decisions for 2025 Taking Shape

Thursday, March 13, 2025

As farmers across Canada prepare for the 2025 crop year, Statistics Canada says their planting decisions reflect a complex mix of factors including moisture conditions, crop rotation considerations, and market prices. Nationally, farmers are expected to plant more wheat, corn for... Read this article online

Grain Growers of Sounding the Alarm Over U.S. Tariffs

Monday, March 10, 2025

Not surprisingly, the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) is raising concerns over the United States' decision to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian grain and grain products, a move that could jeopardize the livelihoods of family-run grain farms and lead to higher food prices for American... Read this article online

International Women’s Day – Angela Cammaert

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

As International Women’s Day approaches on March 8, Farms.com is asking women in ag about what they’d tell their younger selves about being a farmer, to give a piece of advice to young women entering the ag sector, and to highlight a woman in agriculture they consider a mentor or... Read this article online

BF logo

It's farming. And it's better.

 

a Farms.com Company

Subscriptions

Subscriber inquiries, change of address, or USA and international orders, please email: subscriptions@betterfarming.com or call 888-248-4893 x 281.


Article Ideas & Media Releases

Have a story idea or media release? If you want coverage of an ag issue, trend, or company news, please email us.

Follow us on Social Media

 

Sign up to a Farms.com Newsletter

 

DisclaimerPrivacy Policy2025 ©AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Back To Top