An Australian dairy farmer says video of pep talks he gives to his cows is an easy way to bring cheer to his colleagues, who are facing some trying times in the industry.
Two videos of southwestern Victoria farmer Adam Jenkins, posted on Facebook by his wife Catherine, have been shared thousands of times in the past few days.
They're of Mr Jenkins giving his cows encouragement before heading into the milking shed and then afterward congratulating them on their efforts.
"Listen up, over the past few weeks we've watched the AFL grand final, you've watched the NRL, this week we're going to talk about our own situation - we're going to set it up for spring," he says in a coach-like fashion in the video.
He even singles out one of the herd: "291, Jersey, you've got to milk really well tonight, no excuses," he exclaims.
The cows seem indifferent to his encouraging words, but it could also be that they're soaking it all in.
Mr Jenkins says he's surprised at the response to the videos.
"The whole thing in the industry, like in New Zealand, people have been stressed and under pressure with the milk price and seasonal conditions. So if this is one way that costs absolutely nothing to cheer someone up, then why not?"
The couple, both first generation farmers, have around 260 cows on their average-sized South Purrumbete farm.
They both packed in their jobs in agriculture 12 years ago and began as sharemilkers.
Mr Jenkins says his cows are pretty chilled out and quiet.
"We can have the kids in the dairy and so forth playing around making noise and singing and they just get on with the job - they're pretty resilient cows."
He compared them to high-performance athletes and thinks his pep talks are making a difference.
"They are like an Olympic athlete, they come in every day and perform pretty well. You've got to look after them."
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