Warwickshire: Stress-free cattle handling and CowSignals® training

How a farm team handles cattle affects everything: cow welfare, staff safety, and how efficiently the work gets done. Good handling isn’t a nicety; it's a foundation stone for dairy farming.

Join us for an insightful session on cattle handling with Jo Speed, a CowSignals® Master Trainer. Every interaction between a person and a cow either builds trust or erodes it.

Where handling goes wrong, whether through poor facilities, rushing, or people not reading cow behaviour, bad things can soon happen: injuries to people and cows, cows that don’t co-operate, tasks that take longer than they should and frustration.

This training is designed to get a whole farm team working from the same understanding of how cattle perceive the world and how that knowledge can transform the way they work together.

We will cover:

• Stress-free handling techniques: How to move cattle calmly and confidently, using cow psychology rather than force
• How cows perceive their world: Understanding how cows see, hear and smell. They are different to humans, and knowing this makes handling more predictable
• Communication: Body language is everything; cows read ours all the time, and it's very useful to be able to read theirs, and our fellow workers’
• Cow flow: The layout, routines and human behaviour that determine whether cattle move well or badly, especially during milking when people and cows are in contact multiple times a day
• Safety for the team: Recognising warning signs before they become incidents, and working in ways that protect handlers as well as stock

The result is a team that handles cattle more safely, cows that are easier to work with, and routines that run measurably smoother. Better cow flow means less time, less stress and less risk of injury.

This training is practical, not theoretical. Everyone will leave with actions they can put into practice immediately.

Important info:

• Spaces are limited; please book early
• 10:30am arrival for a prompt 11:00am start
• Refreshments and lunch provided

Jo Speed biography

Jo has over 30 years of experience in the dairy industry, from herd management in New Zealand and Portugal to national knowledge transfer programmes at AHDB Dairy, seven years at Kite Consulting and her own independent practice established in 2023.

She is one of a small number of CowSignals® Master Trainers in the UK, certified since 2011, and holds a PGCert in Psychology alongside qualifications as a Life Coach and NLP Practitioner.

A Nuffield Farming Scholar, Jo’s scholarship focused on lameness and cattle handling globally, and directly shaped her understanding of the connection between how farm teams work with cattle and the welfare and performance outcomes of the herd.

She also holds specialist training in People Signals, understanding human behaviour and group dynamics in farming contexts.

Jo’s goal is to help farm teams find practical, low-cost solutions by seeing life through the eyes of the cow and understanding the people who care for them.

CowSignals® Certified Master Trainer

CowSignals® is a training approach based on closely observing cows and their surroundings to find simple, practical solutions. The Stress Free Handling module covers cow flow, handling technique and the influence of human behaviour on stock.

Jo is certified as a CowSignals® Master Trainer, meaning she is authorised to deliver the full CowSignals® training programme to farm teams, organisations and supply chain groups.