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. The 36 Lely A5’s milk 2,300 cows about 2.9 times per day. Brian is quick to point out that the things that make his robot dairy profitable are the same things that make his parlor dairies profitable. His key to profit is total milk shipped – and he is constantly testing new ways to increase that.

The automated feeding system is a great example. The system mixes 27 batches per day for 6,000 cows and about 2,000 heifers. All of the concentrates and additives for each batch are automatically metered into a stationary mixer and premixed before being sent to the main mixer. Forages are delivered to the mixing area and then added to the concentrates in the main mixer. The main mixer unloads into trucks that deliver feed to the robotic dairy, as well as other Homestead sites. The automatic feed mixing system is so accurate, and the batches are so consistent, that ration adjustments are usually made weekly rather than daily.

Homestead Dairy experimented with high oleic beans as the only feed in the robot. High

oleic soybeans are more rumen-friendly than conventional soybeans because they have less linoleic acid and more oleic acid. Brian hoped the high oleic beans would result in higher milk production and better reproductive performance. Cows could not eat the finely ground beans fast enough and beans did not move through the distribution system well. They have gone back to a pellet which includes about 30% beans. The rest of the beans have been moved from the robot to the PMR.  

Brian has had ample opportunity to compare his robot barn to his parlors. He says reproductive performance is consistently higher in the robot barn – possibly because cows are under less stress in the robot barn. They consistently maintain a 30% pregnancy rate in the robot barn – even with a significant amount of sexed semen going into lactating cows. He has observed that the somatic cell count is lower in the robot barn, as compared to the parlors, but the parlors have fewer clinical cases.

He is also testing different ideas within the robot barn. Half of the barn has mattresses with

manure solids on top, while the other half of the barn is deep bedded with manure solids. Brian has observed that cows are more comfortable in the deep bedded stalls. Half of the barn has headlocks, while the other half has a neck rail. Dry matter intake is higher in the pens with the headlocks.

The first thing I noticed when I visited Homestead Dairy was the size of the barn. It is certainly impressive to see all those cows and robots under one roof. The more I observed, the more I realized that that the attention to detail is even more impressive. Every detail is always being analyzed and reviewed to find the next opportunity for improvement and efficiency.