john28855

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.

Calculating the real return on the project begins with accurate expectations for system capacity, cost of service, and capital investment.

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. The most common product for changing the physical characteristics of the robot feed is molasses, usually in a...