EVALUATING ROBOTIC MILKING BARN DESIGNS

I have lost count of the robotic barns I have visited. The list is even longer if the virtual visits are included. It would seem that, at some point, there would be nothing new to see. Certainly, somewhere along the line, I might expect have seen 2 barns that are exactly the same. It hasn’t happened yet. Barns are an intersection between people, cows, and processes. When you add up all the variables that those 3 things include, the variety of barns seems inevitable. At the same time, there are some robotic milking barn design rules to follow – or at least understand before you break them.

Processes

Begin with a list of the processes that will need to be completed in the new barn. Walk through the drawing and visualize where processes will take place. Break the processes

down into things you do daily, weekly, monthly, and annually. The list will include cow management tasks like inseminations, health treatments, herd checks, and dry offs. There are also facility related tasks like adding bedding, grooming stalls, and removing manure. Include the man-passes and gates needed to do each job efficiently. It’s tempting to say, “That job only takes me a few minutes, it’s not worth spending money to make it easier.” 10 minutes twice a day for a year is 120 hours per year, or 1200 hours in 10 years – at $20/hour that’s $24,000. That’s just the labor cost. The cost may be higher if a cow or person is injured, or the job doesn’t get done because you don’t have 10 minutes.

People

Once you have the list of processes, think about the people who do the work on your farm, and where they do it. If you know the cows, and they know you, it might be practical to give shots and inseminate cows in the freestalls. That might not work as well if an AI technician fills in when you are away from the farm or need help with a large group of synchronized cows. Make sure the people who work on the robots have convenient access to the robots. It will save them time and improve their attitude. Think about your family’s involvement. What works for routine maintenance on a weekday morning, might be completely inadequate when resolving an alarm before church on Sunday morning – trying to stay clean, with a toddler tagging along. Visualize all the places that people need to be, and how they will get there.

Cows

I recall a sire directory cover with a picture of a cow standing in the parlor pit. Apparently, a graphic designer liked the image, but people who had experience with cows in parlor pits cringed visibly when they saw it. The point is, cows will find ways to be where they don’t belong, even in the best designed barns. See the barn through the cow’s eyes. Think about her path. Avoid sharp turns, and give her plenty of room to access robots and sort gates. Anticipate seasonal fluctuations in cow numbers. When possible, build flexibility into prefresh, post-fresh, and treatment areas to deal with the fluctuation.

If you are on a budget, and need to make some compromises, provide space to add the features you want in the future. For example, a separation pen on a budget might have a bedded pack instead of freestalls, but the footprint should be designed to accommodate freestalls in the future. A manually operated gate can be used to get cows in and out of the separation pen, but the lane should be sized to drop a sort gate in when the budget allows.

Let’s talk about you plan and your management style, and how they fit together. I can help with the features to include in your new plan. I can also bring ideas to improve your existing barn.