Dairy cows with names give more milk

"More research is still needed. The possible psychological effects on cows of having a name, for example, have yet to be determined. ...  "The naming," says Catherine Douglas, the Newcastle University animal behaviorist behind the research, "reflects the humans' attitudes toward the cows, and therefore how they behave around them." Named cows are more often treated nicely, and well-treated, calm and happy cows make more milk. The point, Douglas says, is that it definitely can't hurt to name your cows."  Source

Commentary:  Individualized care always wins out.  In a sudy of an orphanage in Germany many years ago, they found that young babies who had different caregivers every day did very poorly, wasting away.  If they had the same caregivers every day, they did much better.   Of course, anyone could have expected that for human kids.   But for cows, it's a little more interesting. 

Here in Wisconsin, the dairy state, this could be big news.