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CONSULT CORNER
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
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ROBOTIC FARM FEATURE – NANGKITA DAIRIES
Jake emphasizes that the robot is a management tool, which helps him to use his cows to effectively and efficiently harvest the grass. Confinement farms can learn a lot about robotic dairy management from this grass-based farm.
1 day ago3 min read
HOW MANY COWS PER ROBOT? REVISITED
Progressive dairies are looking for ways to maximize income from beef-cross calves. Recently, I was asked whether it makes sense to crowd the robots with more cows, to produce more calves, even if some milk production is lost. This article will compare some possible scenarios.
Jul 23 min read
MILKING WITH ROBOTS - WHAT EMPLOYEES NEED TO KNOW - PART 3 - SOFTWARE
Basic software operation can be divided into entry, and monitoring. Recording calvings, dry-offs, inseminations, and pen moves are examples of entry. Monitoring, or troubleshooting, could apply to cow performance, cow health, and robot performance. Begin by deciding who will be responsible for each of these tasks on your farm.
Jun 253 min read
MILKING WITH ROBOTS - WHAT TO EMPLOYEES NEED TO KNOW - PART 2 - COWS
Whether you are transitioning to robots from another milking and housing system, moving employees from another role to the robot barn, or hiring someone who has never worked on a dairy, your need to make sure your workers have certain skills to work with automated milking. This is the second article in a three-part series designed to help you measure and teach those skills.
Jun 183 min read
MILKING WITH ROBOTS - WHAT DO EMPLOYEES NEED TO KNOW - PART 1 - ROBOTS
Whether you have an experienced employee moving into a new role in the robot barn, or have just hired someone new, you need a plan to set that person up for success. This is the first article of a three-part series to help build your employee training plan. We will start with the essential things to know about the robots.
Jun 113 min read
ROBOTIC FARM FEATURE – WINCH’S PINE GROVE FARMS
Winch’s upgraded from DeLaval classics to new V300’s during April. As the number of cows increased, more milking capacity was needed. Peter also wanted to add progesterone monitoring for reproductive management and that could not be added to the classics.
May 293 min read
BATCH MILKING WITH ROBOTS
With batch milking systems, robots are installed in a separate area, outside the free stall barn, and cows are brought to the robots, in batches, for milking. The result is a blend of parlor and robotic milking that incorporates some of the advantages of each system.
May 213 min read
WHICH COMES FIRST – MORE MILKINGS OR MORE MILK?
Sometimes robotic milking conversations in farm meetings sound a little bit like, which came first, the chicken of the egg.
May 143 min read
ROBOT COWS NEED A FAST START
Getting robot cows off to a fast start, early in lactation, keeps them moving to feed which supports more frequent milking and higher peak production. A 26,000-pound Holstein herd should expect the average heifer to peak at 90 pounds and the average mature cow to peak at 115 pounds.
May 73 min read
A TALE OF TWO FEED BUNKS
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” I must admit, I have never read the Charles Dicken novel, A Tale of Two Cities, which opens with those phrases. But I am familiar with the contrast described. I do believe, in all my years of farm visits, I have seen the best of feed bunks and the worst of feed bunks.
Apr 303 min read
ROBOTIC FARM FEATURE – HEEG FAMILY DAIRY
This dairy has drawn a lot of attention because they were the first to start a robot barn with no feed in the robots. That’s an exciting innovation, but it’s only one example of Jay’s herd management focus. You won’t listen to Jay very long before you hear him say his cows are, “Living their best life,” and he wants to “Set cows up for success.”
Apr 203 min read
LESS PELLETS AND MORE MILK – IN A FREE FLOW BARN
The feed in the free-flow robot cannot be eliminated, but there may be opportunities to feed less. The strategy for feeding less depends on the demographics of the herd or pen.
Apr 162 min read
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE ROBOTIC MILKING?
If you ask 100 dairy farmers why they chose robotic milking, you will probably get at least 50 different answers. Many started looking at robots because they wanted to save labor, or make their schedule more flexible. As they learned more, they may have come to expect higher production, longer productive life, or more consistency. Others want to encourage the next generation, or reduce the physical demands of dairy farming.
Apr 93 min read
WHY COWS COME TO THE ROBOT – REVISITED
I like to answer “Why do cows come to the robot?” with a few more questions. What do cows want to do? What do we want cows to do? What motivates cows? What can we control?
Apr 23 min read
ROBOTIC FARM FEATURE – JTP FARMS
Today, 460 cows are milked by 9 DeLaval robots – a mix of classics and V300’s. Jake has continued to innovate by adding a Lely Vector automatic TMR feeding system. He uses technology to create uniformity for his cows and simplicity for his workers.
Mar 262 min read
SHOULD YOU RETROFIT THAT BARN WITH ROBOTS?
In many cases, the first question was whether to retrofit robots into the old barn, or start over with a completely new facility. I suggest moving that question to the back burner. Instead, start with a clean slate, and create a list of the features you want in your robotic facility. Begin with the end in mind. Once you have your list, evaluate your existing facility and determine which features can be incorporated into the existing barn, and which ones can’t. You may choose
Mar 193 min read
PLANNING FOR 6000 POUNDS PER ROBOT
We talked about goals in a farm team meeting a few weeks ago. Actually, the goal had already been established, and the customer shared that he planned to increase production per robot by about 12%. It’s a clearly defined and measurable goal. I ruined the moment with a simple question – “How?” Not that the goal wasn’t achievable, but it wasn’t going to happen without a plan.
Mar 123 min read
MANAGING LONG ROBOTIC MILKING INTERVALS
Long milking intervals become a problem when more than 10% of cows are over 14 hours, or when mid-lactation production drops because cows stop coming to the robot. Then we need to look at herd trends and individual lactations to figure out why cows became long-interval cows.
Mar 53 min read
ROBOTIC FARM FEATURE – HOMESTEAD DAIRY
With 36 robots, Homestead Dairy of Plymouth, Indiana is one of the larger robotic dairies in the United States. It is owned by Brian Houin and his extended family. Many large robotic dairies have several barns with 6 to 8 robots per barn. At Homestead, all of the robots are under one roof – an 8 ½ acre roof.
Feb 262 min read
WHICH COWS ARE YOU FETCHING TO THE ROBOTS?
Fetching too many cows makes robots less available for cows to milk voluntarily, and can lead to a fetching habit. The fetching routine should include fresh heifers, fresh cows, recently moved cows, cows that need motivation, and overdue cows. If your barn is flowing well, you might not have any cows in one or more of those groups.
Feb 193 min read
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