Results from both observational and experimental studies suggest that cows in extensive management systems will use shelter as a behavioural response to reduce heat loss during inclement weather. However, little is known about the perceived importance of shelter for cows in an extensive environment. This study aimed to measure the motivation of cows to gain access to shelter after a 48-h period of artificially-imposed constant wind at 1.5 m/s and intermittent heavy rain (4 mm/h for 60 % of 48h exposure time), across a temperature range of 2-17 °C. Measurement of animal indicators of heat loss during this exposure period revealed significant (P<0.01) linear relationships between ambient temperature and heat loss, with each 1°C reduction in ambient temperature corresponding to decreases of 0.80 breaths per minute and 0.03°C body temperature. Eight cows were successfully trained to perform a lever press response to access shelter from rain and wind. Six of the eight cows were randomly selected for testing at 5 Fixed Ratio (FR) levels; 5, 10, 20, 40 and 60. Reward duration was 20 min shelter access and tests were conducted for 15h between 1700h and 0800h. Three cows failed to gain a shelter reward on FR60 and were re-tested on FR50. Normalised demand functions were fitted to the data; the mean peak response output was 769 lever presses (SEM=67.0) and the mean price at which maximum output was observed was 20.27 lever presses (SEM=2.22). These results suggest that cows' motivation to access shelter, under the prescribed weather conditions, is moderate in comparison with other valued resources such as rest (maximal output for rest has not been observed at or below FR50 in dairy cows). Measurement of motivation to access shelter across a range of heat loss values is required to determine shelter requirements under more severe weather conditions.