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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 – 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
HOW TO CHOOSE A ROBOT FEED
A bin full of the wrong robot feed is like that. Once the feed is in the bin you either feed it out or find a way to divert it for another use. The larger the load, the bigger the problem. I have had calls from customers who filled a bin with a “better buy” which slowed cow traffic in a matter of days. How do you choose the right robot feed, and what can you do to minimize the impact of the transition.
Feb 123 min read
TRACK YOUR HEIFER TRAINING
Average daily milkings for fresh heifers can be deceiving. Even if they average 3 milkings, half of them are milking less than 3 times a day – maybe a lot less.
Feb 53 min read
FARM FEATURE - SANDHILL DAIRY'S NO-PELLET TRANSITION
I worked with Sandhill Dairy as we took their cows from 7 pounds per cow per day to no pellet in the robot. Here is how we did it.
Jan 193 min read
NOTES FROM A ROBOTIC MILKING PEER GROUP
Last month I was invited to gather data, and participate in a meeting of several farms. The group included a cross section of brands, traffic types, herd sizes, and management styles. Both the data and the discussion were thought provoking. Here are some of the take-away points.
Jan 142 min read
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR YOUR ROBOTIC MILKING PROJECT
Calculating the real return on the project begins with accurate expectations for system capacity, cost of service, and capital investment.
Jan 83 min read
THE ROLE OF LIQUID FEED IN ROBOTIC MILKING
Most robotic milking systems can be equipped to dispense at least 2 feeds in either meal or pellet form. Dispensing liquid feed directly into the feed bowl can also be an option. Liquid feed in robotic milking is much less common than solid feeds, but it does have a place. It can change the physical characteristics of what is offered in the robot, or satisfy a nutritional requirement.
Jan 13 min read
ROBOTIC FARM FEATURE: FOUR CUBS FARM
They believe in comparing themselves to the best and never allowing themselves to become comfortable with their success. They are meticulous about record keeping, and those records give them confidence to accurately forecast the impact of changing markets, new management practices, and facility improvements.
Dec 25, 20253 min read
ESSENTIAL COMMUNICATON FOR SUCCESSFUL ROBOTIC MILKING
“Nothing else matters until we get their buy in and trust.” Brandon Thesing, of Select Sires Member Coop made that statement during a panel discussion at the Dairy Cattle Reproductive Council annual meeting. He was talking about customers learning to use cow monitoring systems. His statement is just as true for successful communication with any new dairy farm technology – including robotic milking.
Dec 18, 20253 min read
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.
Dec 12, 20253 min read
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 4, 20253 min read
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 27, 20253 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 19, 20252 min read
WHAT’S THAT COW DOING IN YOUR ROBOT?
This example is extreme, but with high beef prices and low heifer inventory, it is not unusual to have a marginal cow in the robot because there is no heifer to take her place. Ultimately, this is often the result of a reproductive management decision.
Nov 13, 20252 min read
MEASURING PRODUCTIVITY: PER ROBOT, PER COW, TOTAL MILK SOLD
Total milk, milk per robot, and milk per cow are all useful measures of production.
Nov 6, 20253 min read
MIXING ROBOTIC MILKING AND PARLOR MILKING
Using robots with your parlor gives you more than one way to milk a cow. Not to “Beat a dead horse,” – redundancy can be a good thing. There are some good reasons to keep the parlor going after the robots come online.
Oct 23, 20253 min read
STRATEGIES FOR CREATING REPLACEMENTS TO KEEP THE ROBOTS AT CAPACITY
Many farms unintentionally trend towards seasonal calving. A herd might become semi-seasonal if a large group of springers is purchased to populate after an expansion. Breeding challenges associated with hot weather can also create seasonal highs and lows. Once a seasonal trend is started, it will continue because calves born during peak times enter the herd as cows 2 years later during peak times, and their calves accelerate the cycle.
Oct 16, 20253 min read
REPRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY TO GENERATE REPLACEMENT HEIFERS
All of these combined for a surplus of heifers. Eventually, dairy farmers realized it was expensive to raise heifers they didn’t plan to milk, and started producing crossbred beef calves. More recently, the beef herd has gotten smaller, the value of beef calves has skyrocketed, and we have come full circle, with dairy heifers in short supply again. Once again, reproductive efficiency is critical to maintaining a steady supply of replacements.
Oct 8, 20253 min read
ROBOTIC FARM FEATURE: ROLINDA ACRES
Rolinda Acres maximizes production per cow by providing extra robotic milking capacity.
Oct 2, 20252 min read
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