Cows are being "potty trained" in a new experiment to help reduce nitrogen loss on farms.
As part of the trial, researchers in New Zealand set up stalls for calves to urinate and defecate in front of their feeding station.
Dr Luke Cooney, who is leading the project, says the scheme could help to combat the environmental impacts of dairy farming.
He told AgResearch NZ: "We were discussing ideas on how to mitigate the environmental impacts of dairy farming and we tossed this potty training idea back and forth.
"It obviously has a humorous side but the underlying idea is sound and we decided it had merit and could be of real use to farmers if it worked.
"We started by training eight calves. During our training sessions, the calves were moved to a ‘potty’ stall which had a remote-controlled feeding station at one end.
"The calves were then rewarded for urinating or defecating in front of the feeding station.
"After 6 weeks, approximately 60 training sessions, we permitted free access to the ‘potty’ stalls and tested whether the calves would enter to urinate or defecate."
Dr Cooney claimed the primary benefit of the scheme is to reduce the loss of nitrogen on farms.
He added: "If cattle can be potty-trained, we could improve hygiene in dairy sheds and give farmers greater control over effluent application on pasture.
"This would be a significant environmental benefit, reducing nitrogen loss on farms."
