Two experiments were conducted among 123 commercial dairy farms in order to examine the effectiveness of a stockperson training program that was directed towards numerous attitudinal and behavioral variables previously related to fear of humans and productivity in dairy cattle. Treatments consisted of an Intervention treatment, which was designed to improve the attitude and behavior of stockpeople towards dairy cattle, and a Control treatment, in which no intervention was attempted. At Intervention farms, stockpeople showed more positive beliefs about the handling of the cows, and they used a lower rate of tactile interactions when handling the cows. The cows at these farms indicated a lesser fear of humans by allowing a shorter flight distance to the human. Alternatively, 36 % of Intervention farms failed to show a reduction in flight distance over two lactation periods. Intervention farms at which fear levels had declined showed a higher milk yield than other farms, although there were no significant effects of treatment on milk yield (i.e. Control vs Intervention on the whole). In the second experiment, a significant increase in milk yield was found among cows in the Intervention treatment. Protein and milk fat levels responded similarly. Conclusions indicated that cognitive behavioral interventions that successfully targeted key attitudes and behavior towards cattle that regulate the cow’s fear of humans offer good opportunities to improve the productivity of cows within the industry.