I've heard of people trying crazy things to get more productive, but I'm not so sure this is one of them. I thought it sounded weird when I first saw the headline, but when I actually read about the practice, I had to admit it made sense.Apparently some dairy farmers in the UK have started practicing Tai Chi in order to get more out of the cows. And put like that, it does sound a little odd. Really though, the Tai Chi is to relax and de-stress the farmers, so that they don't pass on that stress to the cows that they have to milk. The farmers do think that they get more milk from the cows now, but I personally think that's a pretty hard thing to quantify.
These are small organic dairy farmers, so they need to be in touch (literally) with their cows and be mindful of everything that affects them. I wonder if this could work for a large, machine run farm. Probably not, since I think that mechanical milkers wouldn't really transfer stress. It's a nice thought, though.
May is National BBQ Month and National Hamburger Month
Cupcakes, not for dessert (unless beef is your idea of a treat)
Because eating French Fries in the car is so tough
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-15-2008 @ 12:35PM
fuchsoid said...
Is this the farmers doing Tai Chi, or the cows? Because I'd certainly pay extra for milk from cows who could do that.
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4-15-2008 @ 12:45PM
Dana said...
I practice tai Chi in front of my dog, but it hasn't done much to calm her down. In fact it tends to rile her up as she's insistent it's an interactive game, and she does her best to make sure she's fully involved with trying to catch my hands and jump up and knock me over. ;)
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4-16-2008 @ 2:09AM
jonathan said...
I have to admit - diary cow production is one use I never thought of for tai chi!
Jon
Wudang Tai Chi and
Qigong
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