UK dairy farmers play jazz to cows, boosting milk production

Jazz is believed to relax cows, improving their milk yield. Photo / Christine Cornege

Dairy farmers are playing jazz to their cows to relax them and boost milk production.

The trend, spreading thanks to TikTok, has encouraged farmers to bring musical instruments and portable speakers to the edge of fields to serenade cattle.

In one clip posted to the social media site, an employee of Smithills Open Farm, in Bolton, Greater Manchester, said: “We’ve seen some videos online, so we’re going to test out if our Jersey cows like jazz.”

When Glenn Miller’s In The Mood, a 1940s jazz standard, begins playing, a herd of cows rushes towards the speaker.

“Well, our cows love jazz,” the employee says.

In 2021, Hollis Meade, a Devon organic dairy farm, organised a concert for its cows at which the jazz pianist Ben Waters played.

Owner Oliver Hemsley said his cows had loved the music, adding: “It provided some sort of distraction. They looked very happy. When the music started, they looked a little bemused, then moved quietly and quickly to their food.”

While jazz is now in vogue, for several years it has been popular for dairy farmers to play classical music while milking their cows, Hemsley said.

“We’ve been doing it for a long time. It does relax the cows,” he added.

On a recent edition of BBC’s Farmwatch, the saxophonist Julian Smith performed with a guitarist for an audience of cattle at Chesterton Fields Farm in Warwickshire.

Charles Goadby, a dairy farmer based in Nuneaton, told the broadcaster he had been playing music to his cows for nearly a decade.

He said: “We installed a robotic milking system and there were a lot of new harsh sounds and noises, so we wanted to drown that out and give them a constant sound.

“This was about 10 years ago, and somebody suggested the cows like classical music – that was the trend back then – so I put a classical radio station on for the cows to listen to, and it just helps them relax a little bit.

“We always have music on in the milking parlour... not just for the staff to listen to.

“It’s a little bit like the Pavlov dog theory, where it’s waking up the senses, it starts their hormone production off, and actually, the cows will release a little bit sooner and that milk flow will be a little bit quicker.

“It helps relax the cows and the workers – so that’s a win-win all round.”

For a study published in 2001 by academics from the University of Leicester, 1000 Holstein Friesians were played music for 12 hours a day for several weeks.

When the cattle listened to slow and relaxed songs, their milk yield rose by 0.73 litres per cow per day, a 3% increase.

The songs selected included Aretha Franklin’s What a Difference a Day Makes and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony.

However, the researchers discovered that listening to lively music with more than 120 beats per minute reduced the rate of milk production.

According to a 2019 study, Holstein Friesian cows that listened to The Classical Chillout Gold Collection, a compilation album, were calmer and took more time to rest than peers who were listening to country music or no music at all.

Meanwhile, a 2021 paper examining the impact of playing music to livestock concluded: “It would seem that music genres with a subdued, natural sound (such as classical or relaxing music) are the best and safest choice for both cattle and humans.”

Juan Velez, the executive vice-president of US-based Aurora Organic Farms, told Modern Farmer: “In terms of music, in my 30 years working with dairy cows, I have found that music can be beneficial to the wellbeing of the cows, but it must be consistent and calming.”

Rob Hadley, who also farms in Warwickshire, told the BBC his cows were “very relaxed about the jazz” and would probably like any music other than Birmingham heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath.

He said: “Truthfully, a bit of Ozzy Osbourne would scare the socks off them.”