On Dairy Farms, Robots Lend A Helping Hand

Mason Dixon Farms has installed 10 robots to milk 500 of its 2,100 cows. The DeLaval Voluntary Milking System--called "voluntary" because cows return to the system on their own--has reduced the farm's labor costs by 75% and raised milk production by 15%, says Waybright, president of the farm. He plans to buy 30 more robots to milk the rest of the herd. "Robots don't get sick, need health insurance, have birthdays, get drunk, and they always show up," Waybright says.

Robotic milking systems are being used increasingly by U.S. farmers to cut labor costs and improve efficiency. The systems, already popular in Europe and Canada, eliminate the need for farm workers to round up the animals, connect them to equipment, and manually track milking times and yield. Each robot does about 175 milkings per day, with the average bovine producing about 100 pounds of milk daily. Robotic milking takes eight minutes, a minute or two less than with milking systems that require manual help.

The big difference with the robots is that that no workers are needed during the process. When a cow enters the milking stall, the robot "recognizes" the cow by a transponder in her collar. Data about the cow, including the last time she was milked and her expected yield, is uploaded to the robot's Linux-based interface from a database running on a Windows PC. The DeLaval VMS uses a hydraulic arm, two lasers, and an imaging-processing system to detect the cow's teats, which are sanitized before milking. When done, the equipment automatically detaches. Cows are enticed with a protein snack. "Cows pick up their own rhythm. They're habit-forming animals and typically adjust to the new process easily," says Tony Brazda, a DeLaval VMS solutions manager.

The system tracks each cow's output and whether there was any trouble getting the animal attached to the milking gear. Data goes into a herd-management database; analysis tools let farmers evaluate the status of each cow and generate reports about milk production, such as daily averages. The system contains health record software to keep track of a cow's vaccinations, breeding, and related information. A farmer can access the system from a PC or PDA.

Robotic milking systems are just beginning to show up on U.S. dairy farms, in part because strict federal and state guidelines must be met before the systems can be sold. DeLaval's VMS has been approved in New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, and approval is expected this year in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, according to the company. DeLaval is one of about three companies that sell such robotic systems in the United States; another is Lely, which, like DeLaval, is based in Europe.

Brazda estimates that less than 1% of U.S. dairy farms have deployed robotic milking systems, in part because farms tend to upgrade their equipment only every 10 to 20 years. But Mason Dixon's Waybright expects the systems to become more common. "Farms that don't use robots will be at a competitive disadvantage," he says.

The DeLaval VMS costs $130,000 per robot, and each supports about 50 cows. Return on investment is typically five to seven years, says Joe Horkan, DeLaval's milking systems group solutions manager. The main target for robotic milking is small and midsize dairy farms. On larger farms, such as those in California with 10,000 or more cows, low-paid immigrant workers are often more cost-effective, he says.

Robots provide a respite from the rigorous demands of the family-owned farm. At Mason Dixon Farms, the adjustment has gone smoothly. "When the cows are happy," Waybright says, "the farmer is happy."

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Ed Haymond
Durham, NC