WHAT IS A SUCCESSFUL ROBOTIC MILKING STARTUP

In his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey’s habit number 2 is “Begin with the end in mind.” So, it makes sense that before we talk about planning and executing a successful robotic milking startup, we should talk about the result we are trying to achieve. Success will be different at different stages – we often talk about 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months, and 3 years. This emphasizes the fact that a startup is a process. Yes, there is a moment in time when we flip the switch, push the first cow in, and watch the cups attach. But it begins long before that and ends long after.

3 Days

I have seen a few exceptions, but you should expect to push cows through the robots 3 times a day for the first 3 days. It’s not just about milk production. It is a learning process that

needs to be repeated frequently and consistently until the cows go through the robot, and gates in guided flow systems, with minimal encouragement. In 3 days, some cows should begin to come to the robot voluntarily. Many will still need fetching to maintain 2 to 3 milkings per day. In order to achieve this, every trip through the system needs to be a pleasant experience for the cow. At this stage, plan to fetch groups of cows at least 6 times a day, to avoid large groups with large numbers of overdue cows.

3 Weeks

By 3 weeks, it should be possible to keep up with overdue cows by fetching 2 to 3 times in 24 hours. Expect cows to do more on their own. Try getting fetch cows up an directing them towards the robots and let them find their own way in. You will begin to identify some late lactation cows that are chronic fetch cows. Maintain a healthy and humane interval for these cows but recognize that they can be milked less frequently than the rest of the herd, and they will be better robot cows after freshening. Discipline yourself to stay out of the barn between fetches to allow cows to milk voluntarily.

3 Months

Somewhere between 3 weeks and 3 months, you can start adding more cows to the group. You might even be freshening cows that learned to use the robot before they dried off. If you start with 45 cows per robot, you will have enough robot time to train them. It is essential to have free time to allow cows to come to the robots on their, without getting behind. Once you have a well-trained group, they will help you train new cows. Adding cows too soon, or starting with too many cows, will make it difficult to provide frequent and consistent training. It will take longer to reach capacity if you increase cow numbers to quickly.

I’ll close with Covey’s habit number 4 – “Think win-win.” He expands on that, “Seek mutually beneficial win–win solutions or agreements in your relationships.” A while ago, someone tried to encourage a farmer who was frustrated by his startup by offering the advice, “Don’t let the cows win.” I am sure he meant well, but the fact is, the cows have to win, and if they win, everyone wins, and the startup will be successful.