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Robotic Milking Resources from John Gerbitz

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IT MATTERS MORE IN ROBOTS

What matters more in robots? In some respects, almost everything. Some robot farmers complain that they cannot maintain the consistent...

WHAT'S HOLDING YOU BACK IN ROBOTIC MILKING?

There are 3 primary physical limitations on production in robotic milking systems. The first is milking capacity, or the number of...

EVALUATING HERD PERFORMANCE BY PARITY AND STAGE OF LACTATION

Robot herds are unique in that there are management changes built into the system for different stages of lactation. In most parlor herds, once cows leave the fresh pen, they stay in the same pen, get milked the same number of times, and eat the same ration throughout the lactation. Robotic milking systems can be set to adjust the milking frequency and pellet feeding according to milk production and stage of lactation. It makes sense to group data by lactation number and stag

ALL RESOURCES

START WITH A ROBOTIC MILKING READINESS AUDIT

Through all this, be sure to include some introspective time evaluating your strengths and weaknesses at home. How will they influence your design choices? What needs to be improved before the robots go online? How will your labor supply, feed quality, milk quality, and transition health work in a robotic milking environment? Do a robotic milking readiness audit on your farm to find out.

56 minutes ago3 min read

Proper bunk management is a key to cow maintaining flow in robotic milking.

USING CAMERAS TO IMPROVE ROBOTIC MILKING

The cameras are strapped to a post in the barn, and take a snapshot every 15 minutes for a week or more. Snapshots can be reviewed quickly and it’s not necessary to have a Wi-Fi or cellular connection. We have learned a lot about bunk management, cow behavior, and human interaction.

Dec 43 min read

Progesterone graph generated by sampling in a milking robot

PROGESTERONE MONITORING IN ROBOTS

DeLaval’s V310* robot automatically collects regularly scheduled milk samples, and tests them for progesterone. Success depends on understanding progesterone, understanding the system, and adjusting your program to use the information.

Nov 273 min read

ROBOTIC FARM FEATURE: ZWIEG'S MAPLE ACRES

Since Kyle and Rachel Zwieg moved from the tie-stall barn to their robotic facility in 2020, their single DeLaval V300 has frequently been the highest producing DeLaval robot in the world.

Nov 192 min read