Francesca Pells Johansen
Agri Food and Biosciences Institute, Queen's University Belfast
Papers
4
Total Citations
13
H-Index
2
About
Francesca Pells Johansen is an emerging animal science researcher whose work focuses on the behaviour, welfare, and management of dairy cows within automatic milking systems (AMS). Her research addresses one of the central practical challenges facing modern precision dairy farming: ensuring that cows voluntarily and consistently visit milking robots at optimal frequencies. Through a series of innovative studies, Johansen has explored how individual factors such as social rank and personality influence learning and visit behaviour, accumulating 13 citations across her 2025 publications. Her work has demonstrated that concentrate feed provided outside the milking robot can increase overall feed intake without diminishing cows' motivation to visit — a finding with significant implications for animal nutrition and welfare management. Johansen has also pioneered behavioural training approaches, investigating whether cows can be conditioned to visit robots in response to a cue, and examining structural solutions such as priority lanes to support low-ranking or lame individuals. Together, these contributions advance our understanding of how farm design, social dynamics, and learning capacity intersect, offering practical pathways to improve productivity and welfare in automated dairy systems.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
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