Turkish farmer uses virtual reality headsets on cows to raise milk production – The Star Online

A farmer in central Turkey places virtual reality headsets on two of his cows each day, before turning on some classical music in the barn.

That gets them in the mood for milking, he says, adding that Mozart or Beethoven have worked best so far.

This might have been the stuff of sci-fi films of the past. Instead, these days, technology is changing the world of agriculture almost as fast as it is affecting people's lives.

The sights and sounds are part of a new routine created by Izzet Kocak, who breeds cows in Aksaray, in order to encourage his animals and increase their milk yield.

The results are promising, Kocak told dpa.

Each cow chills out to the soothing scenes of a meadow with the special goggles. This, coupled with the music, has led them to produce an extra 5 litres more milk every day since last week, he says.

"We saw that anxious animals calmed down as they reacted very positively to VR sets and classical music which we play all day at a low volume," Kocak says.

The cows are used to the routine and may even look forward to it, he says.

"I feel like they can't wait to chill out with the goggles every day."Farms worldwide seek to raise animals' milk yields, due to tight costs and the low price of milk. Photo: Jens Buttner/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa

Kocak first heard of the approach after reading that farmers were trying it out in Russia. The Russian Ministry of Agriculture tested VR headsets on cows some two years ago.

Now, Kocak downloads images of green fields with birds chirping in the background onto the special headsets that cost around 2,000 liras (RM620).

He hopes the cows can enjoy the feeling of being in a sunny field even when they are in the barn.

He plans to expand his approach to three more animals in the near future. He also wants to see how well it works in summer, as well as winter, though he notes that the cows are not always stuck indoors.

The aim of the tests is to prepare the animals for milking, he says.

Kocak has three facilities with a total of 180 animals. The cows can roam freely at the Aksaray farm, where a veterinarian is on site and hygiene standards are scrupulously high.

Visitors are not allowed on the site so as to avoid disturbing the cows, Kocak says. Especially after his story made to state news agency Anadolu last week.

"Some wanted to come and see animals but I refused since they need calm and I don't want them to catch any diseases," he says.

Kocak, 30, is a third-generation farmer and he is convinced that his new approach will not only help improve the quantities of milk his cows produce but also raise the quality too.

The facility is preparing to test the levels of fat in the milk before it can start mass production of yoghurt or cheese using the milk produced by the headset-wearing cows in March.

Some researchers from Germany, Russia and Britain have already contacted to Kocak, offering help and advice, he says.

The project is not just for fun, as farms worldwide face rising costs and growing demand.

The cost of feeding a cow each per day is around 80 liras (RM25), he says, while the market price for raw milk is around 5 liras (RM1.55).

And the cost of breeding and milk are rising dramatically.

The price of raw milk surged by more than 68% over the past one year, driven by animal feed, gasoline prices amid a weak lira currency, according to data from Ankara-based Turkish National Dairy Council.

Kocak welcomes the fact that the government provides incentives for animal breeding.

However, an agricultural expert suggested videos on VR devices that are made for people might not have such a positive impact on cattle and their milk yield.

Agricultural engineer Benito Weise, who has studied cows and virtual reality in Germany, told dpa that cows could distinguish more individual images per second than humans.

He said cows would likely not find the kind of video Kocak described as showing relaxing images of nature, but could find it unpleasant or stressful and that stress has a negative effect on milk yield.

Others have questioned whether the approach is appropriate.

The method should not mean locking animals up in cages which would then amount to "torture" and violate animal rights, said Ahmet Kemal Senpolat, from the local animal rights group Haytap. dpa

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Turkish farmer uses virtual reality headsets on cows to raise milk production - The Star Online