Mick Hartley

Another scientific breakthrough:

In a study involving 516 dairy farmers in the UK, Dr Catherine Douglas and Dr Peter Rowlinson at Newcastle University found that treating the animals as individuals also increased production.

The average amount of milk produced by a cow over its annual 10 month lactation period is 13,198 pints (7,500 litres). Those cows with names had an average higher milk yield of 454 pints (258 litres).

Dr Douglas, from the School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development at Newcastle University, said: "Just as people respond better to the personal touch, cows also feel happier and more relaxed if they are given a bit more one-to-one attention.

"Many farmers dote on their cows and have long thought that such interaction helps, but it has never really been tested.

"The statistics were significantly different for those cows with [a] name – there was nothing else which could explain it."

Or perhaps the farmers who like and respect their cows enough to give them individual names tend in general to treat them better – which results in higher milk yields.