CONSULT CORNER

Robotic Milking Resources from John Gerbitz

FEATURED ARTICLES

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

YOU GOTTA KNOW THE TERRITORY

The opening scene from the musical, The Music Man , features a group of salesmen talking shop on a train. (Good clean rap before anybody thought of it). One of the salesmen repeats over and over, “You gotta know the territory.” It’s true of robotic milking too. Robotic milking systems generate huge amounts of data. There are unique key performance indicators and terms that apply to robotic milking. You need someone on your management team who can speak the language and utiliz

Oct 12, 20233 min read

HOW MANY MILKINGS PER ROBOT

Like so many things in robotic milking, the answer to this question comes down to simple math. I recall a college professor who was known to say, “There are 24 hours in a day. Use them!” Using them is the key to top production per robot. 24 hours times 60 minutes per hour is 1440 minutes in a day. What will the robot do during each of those 1,440 minutes. Let’s walk through the things a robot does and consider what we can control and what we cannot. CLEANING The robotic milki

Oct 12, 20233 min read

HOW MANY COWS PER ROBOT?

This is another of the basic robotic milking questions that comes up all the time. Like many basic robotic milking questions, the answer is, it depends. It depends on the level of production per cow, because production per cow directly affects how many times a cow needs to be milked and how long it takes to milk her. It depends on whether inefficient cows are milked in the robots, moved to a parlor, or removed from the herd. It depends on how long the barn has been running. C

Oct 6, 20232 min read

MEET YOUR CONSULTANT

My name is John Gerbitz. I am the owner of Cow Corner and I would like to tell you a little about myself and the experiences that led to my interest in robotic milking.

Sep 11, 20232 min read

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A ROBOT BARN AND A PARLOR?

This question came up in a discussion today. Those who work with robotic milking everyday know the differences and take them for granted. Clarity on these differences will be important for many things we will cover in future newsletters.

Sep 11, 20232 min read