Anyone who has crossed paths with another person — that is to say, all of us — has surely recognized that peoples’ attitudes can rub off on those around them, even if just briefly. Working with someone who’s taking their frustrations out on a shared situation can be just as deflating as being around a positive-minded person is encouraging.

In addition to how our attitude impacts the people around us, dairy researchers have begun recognizing that a farmer or farm employee’s attitude also affects the animals they work with.

A groundbreaking study on this topic was conducted by researchers in Norway in 2019. They first surveyed dairy farmers on areas including their perception of their quality of life, working conditions, mental health state, labor division on the farm, and income, with more than 900 responses received. Of the respondents, 85% were men and 15% were women; the average age was 48, but ages ranged from 22 to 78.

The researchers also evaluated welfare of the cattle on these farms. They did this by analyzing a number of factors around milk production, longevity, disease, and fertility that the World Organization for Animal Health endorses as contributing to keeping animals healthy, comfortable, well-nourished, safe, able to express innate behavior, and not suffering.

Statistical models were then used to identify relationships between cow performance and farmer well-being. They found a strong correlation between cows scoring high on welfare and those farmers reporting higher levels of job satisfaction and optimism. In other words, a farmer’s positive outlook made a difference to the animals they handled.

Similarly, there was a relationship between farmers who reported more mental distress and their cows experiencing lower indications of welfare. When we do a better job of taking care of ourselves, those around us do better, too, and that appears to extend to the animals in our care.

This makes sense when we consider how cows respond to different working environments. If we are calm and use low-stress handling when bringing cows to the parlor, for instance, they are more likely to milk out completely. On the other hand, many farmers have probably had a frustrating experience when trying to move animals and know that getting upset typically causes more chaos as the animals feed off of that stress.

Dairy farming is not a low-stress occupation, and it is a rare person who can go into every day feeling optimistic, anyway. In their paper, the Norwegians described that having a better understanding of how human attitude impacts the animals around us highlights how everyone who works with farmers should pay attention to the needs of their human clients as much as the needs of the cows. Stress was also associated with loneliness, so emphasizing social networks can make a difference in how we see the world and our role in it.

For many farmers, working with animals can be therapeutic in itself. Ultimately, this research highlights that everyone’s well-being matters to each other: farmers, family, and animals. Helping farmers maintain optimism in their business is a win-win for their future success and the welfare of the animals they care for.