In recent years, I have developed the necessary tools to gain a thorough understanding of cow behaviour in intensive management systems. This improved understanding can facilitate the design of new, sustainable management systems, which promote cattle welfare. In this chapter, I provide an overview of the study of cattle preferences and behaviour. I consider the importance of understanding the perceptual world of cows, and then how the preferences and emotions of cows are revealed through their social, nutritional and reproductive behaviour; their movements; and their responses during transport and slaughter. Careful research to identify cows’ emotional responses to increasingly artificial environments should facilitate the identification of systems that are more conducive to high levels of welfare.