Dairy stockmanship

Reconnecting the people with the cows

Abstract

At the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, we have taken a strong interest in dairy stockmanship and the interactions that occur between people and cows. Mr. Bud Williams (Independence, KS) has been a leader in establishing many of the basic principles and practices of good cattle stockmanship and has been teaching these concepts to beef cattle audiences around the world for over 30 years. The authors have attended multiple Bud William's stockmanship schools over the last three years. Our initial goal was to improve our personal stockmanship skills with dairy cattle. Since we began working with Mr. Williams in 2008, we have become firmly committed to successfully implementing dairy stockmanship on commercial dairy operations. The daily management of a dairy operation requires personnel to interact with the cattle many times a day. Dairy stockmanship is the implementation of low-stress cow handling techniques to improve the outcomes for both the people and the cattle.