Dairy farmers and the ESB are determined to stamp out the problem of "stray electricity" which hits some dairy farms and makes the cows dance.
Small voltage variations, less than 10 volts, can give milking cows shocks which literally makes them dance in the milking parlours.
The problem occurs on a minority of the State's 49,000 dairy farms but it can have a disproportionate effect on the health of the cows, milk production and quality of the milk.
Yesterday at the launch of a special information leaflet on the problem, the chairman of the IFA's National Dairy Committee, Mr Padraig Walshe, outlined the difficulties.
He defined "stray electricity" as a small voltage difference between various parts of a building, structure, ground or equipment which causes shocks to the animals feeling it on metallic structures in the milking parlour.
"Stray electricity can cause serious animal health, milk quality and production problems as well as much anguish and cost to dairy farmers," said Mr Walshe.
Cows stressed by the small voltage can become more prone to mastitis, perhaps the greatest problem in dairy herds, and some refuse to allow their milk flow, hampering milking.
"These events can be quite erratic and because it is not constantly present, stray electricity can be next to impossible to identify," he said.
Mr Seamus O'Brien, another dairy farmer who attended the launch of the leaflet, said that in common with other Irish farmers, and farmers all over the world, he had gone through years of research and trial and error to try and understand the problem with only limited success.
The ESB's senior safety specialist, Mr Michael Hanly, said the problems of stray electricity could be avoided by making sure the farm's electrical installation was fully up to standard.
Having milking parlours bonded to the earth and ensuring that electric fence earths were at least 10 metres away from farm buildings and ESB poles could help avoid or solve the problem.
"While it is possible to import stray electricity from other users connected to the same ESB transformer, the separation of earths and the bonding of all metal parts, including concrete floor reinforcing bars, will eliminate the problem," he said.
Mr Hanly advised farmers to contact their local ESB office should the problem persist when the precautions he had outlined had been put in place.