Why Farmers Feed Magnets to Cows

I had a “cow magnet” as a kid. It didn’t attract them — it was for them to eat.

Surprisingly carefree about her dietary choices. Photo by Luke Stackpoole on Unsplash

Recently, I was fidgeting with some favorite toys of my childhood: magnets. I had collected a bunch of magnets, from the typical small magnets enclosed in colorful plastic, often given to kids as toys, to a few neodymium magnets that have to be handled with care lest they crush a finger.

I also had a few magnets that were rods with rounded edges, cylinders about two and a half inches long. These were medium strength; not dangerous enough to threaten fingers, but they came together with a satisfying “clack.”

“What are those?” my partner asked, eyeing them curiously.

I remembered the answer from my childhood. “Oh, these? They’re cow magnets,” I said.

A cow magnet, although smaller than the ones I had as a kid. Source: Amazon (you can buy them!)

I may have blithely assumed that everyone knew about these magnets. I looked up when she didn’t respond, only to find her staring at me. “Cow magnet?” she repeated. “What in the world is a cow magnet?”

It’s not a magnet that attracts cows, despite the name. Instead, it’s a magnet that is fed to cows, with the intention…