Dairy farms are adopting larger-scale operations worldwide (Barkema et al., 2015). Today, dairies are not merely family run businesses: they have numerous employees and part time workers. At large-scale dairy farms, even at a single farm, different stockpersons handle cows during milking. Milk yields might decrease because of stress if aversive handlers are present during milking. Earlier studies of relations between milk yields and stockperson attitudes and behaviors toward their cows have demonstrated that aversive behaviors by stockpersons to cows negatively affect milk yields. Seabrook (1984) reported significantly lower milk yields of cows that were treated aversively than those of cows that were treated gently. Rushen, De Passillé, and Munksgaard (1999) reported that aversive treatment by stockpersons during milking increased residual milk. These studies at different farms compared milk yields and the attitudes and behaviors of stockpersons toward their cows. Breuer, Hemsworth, Barnett, Matthews, and Coleman (2000) studied 31 farms and reported negative correlation of milk yields with the percentage of aversive physical interactions and with the number of aversive vocal interactions. Hemsworth, Coleman, Barnett, and Borg (2000) also found negative correlation of milk yields with the number of aversive physical interactions at 66 farms. Moreover, Waiblinger, Menke, and Coleman (2002) described negative correlation of milk yields with moderately aversive interactions and aversive interactions at 30 farms. These earlier studies were conducted at many farms with different feeding management, genetic improvement, and herd sizes of cows. Milk yields of dairy cattle are governed by genetic and environmental factors. To eliminate these factors from consideration in this study, we investigated relations between milk yields and the attitudes and behaviors of stockperson toward their cows at a single farm having
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