This was a study of cows and stockpersons at 31 commercial dairy cows. Data were collected on the attitude of the stockperson, the actions of the stockpersons towards the cattle, the fear of humans displayed by the cattle, and the milk yield of the cows over one lactation. The variables related to fear of humans, as demonstrated by the cows, were correlated to milk yield, and accounted for about 19% of the variation among farms in milk yield. Fearful herds produced less milk. A number of stockperson attitude and behaviour variables were moderately correlated to milk yield, but not to cow behaviour. This preliminary study demonstrates that human animal relationships on dairy farms affect productivity, in a similar way as they do on pig farms. Additional research is needed to determine the devlopment of these relationships.