# Robot Milkers



## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

Been off of here for a while, back on my third shift hours moving cows through newly installed robots. We are on week 3 and things are starting to settle down. Missed out on the chaos of the 1st week when my boys were here. The farm here installed 6 robots and milks approx. 350. This will be my 2nd farm helping with this. If allowed to take pictures will post them.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Sounds interesting. Are you installing/setting up the milkers and moving on or?


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## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

Those were getting big in Europe in the early 1990's on small single family farms, lot of them milking less than 100 cows. What are the cost per milk stall? If I remember correctly, the cost was pushing $100,000 per milker back then.

I could see the appeal, knew a couple near our dairy in Iowa that hadn't missed a milking in over 40 years when they sold off. That means never left the farm for more than 12 hours in 40 years. Not many willing to do that today. We got bigger mostly so we could hire a lot of full time help.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I visited one 5 years ago, it was 40,000$ per milker for him and could handle 65 cows I think. Once it was running full time he started working as an electrical contractor. Owner said the best thing about it was he could see his little girls in plays and sports after school.



aawhite said:


> Those were getting big in Europe in the early 1990's on small single family farms, lot of them milking less than 100 cows. What are the cost per milk stall? If I remember correctly, the cost was pushing $100,000 per milker back then.
> 
> I could see the appeal, knew a couple near our dairy in Iowa that hadn't missed a milking in over 40 years when they sold off. That means never left the farm for more than 12 hours in 40 years. Not many willing to do that today. We got bigger mostly so we could hire a lot of full time help.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

IH 1586 said:


> Been off of here for a while, back on my third shift hours moving cows through newly installed robots. We are on week 3 and things are starting to settle down. Missed out on the chaos of the 1st week when my boys were here. The farm here installed 6 robots and milks approx. 350. This will be my 2nd farm helping with this. If allowed to take pictures will post them.


What brand? Lely looks really nice.

This a really good video on robotic milkers at Nor-Bert Farms in Indiana. The elderly gentlemen, 87 at the time, told them once there was no way robots would ever work but eventually changed his mind after what he saw.


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## Circle MC Farms LLC (Jul 22, 2011)

I visited a Dairy farm today that milks 3000 head three times a day on an 80 stall rotary milking machine as well as feeding 3000 head of replacement stock. They also grow all their own forage, approximately 2000 acres per year. It was quite impressive. I have some pictures if anyone's interested. They're running two-three butterfly mowers and three Claas choppers.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

Farmboy555 said:


> I visited a Dairy farm today that milks 3000 head three times a day on an 80 stall rotary milking machine as well as feeding 3000 head of replacement stock. They also grow all their own forage, approximately 2000 acres per year. It was quite impressive. I have some pictures if anyone's interested. They're running two-three butterfly mowers and three Claas choppers.


Hey we like photos, bring'em on.


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

I am not the one installing, just hired to work with the cows to get them trained. Both places I have helped with have the Lely. Current one is also using the automated feed pusher (Juno) and Lely did not like them using the Delaval brand automatic calf feeders so they replaced them with theirs. From what I was told the don't negotiate the price of the robots however the threw in the calf system and feed pusher for a very reasonable price. When I started to hear about them in the early 2000's I was hearing $250,000 per robot. I forgot to ask when I was with owner my first day however I would like to think the are a little more reasonable now. They recommend 60 cows per robot.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Last I heard the Lely was about 200k list but could be bought for 180.That was 3-4 yrs ago so no idea what they are now.But then you have to retrofit the barn to install them and that can add some costs.

I actually had this crazy idea to get into milking 10 yrs ago.I had the feed.I was raising and selling bred dairy heifers.Just need the milking facilities.2 robots and 120 hd of milk cows.Yep it was a crazy idea,for me anyway,lol.


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

The farm I'm at added on to an addition that was put up a couple years ago so all the milkers are held at the one barn and the old parlor is still utilized for problem and treated cows. The new addition is complete with milkhouse, upstairs office, conference room, kitchen. A number thrown around was it's a 2.5 mil project.


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## Circle MC Farms LLC (Jul 22, 2011)

Here are my pictures, kinda limited because Iphone, but they're better than nothing. The rotary milker cost $750,000 when put in, they said they're closer to a million now. They milk 3000 head three times a day with it, makes the robot milkers seem really expensive, although they do require less labor I guess?

https://goo.gl/photos/XEyw97Bn4kx3Muww7


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

Had some time to look around at it appears the curtains and fans are going to be automated also.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

IH 1586 said:


> The farm I'm at added on to an addition that was put up a couple years ago so all the milkers are held at the one barn and the old parlor is still utilized for problem and treated cows. The new addition is complete with milkhouse, upstairs office, conference room, kitchen. A number thrown around was it's a 2.5 mil project.


2.5M / 350 cows = $7142 per cow space.I wonder how that compares to a typical parlor ,free stall barn?

I thought I heard around $3500 per cow space.But thats been a few yrs ago.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

swmnhay said:


> 2.5M / 350 cows = $7142 per cow space.I wonder how that compares to a typical parlor ,free stall barn?
> 
> I thought I heard around $3500 per cow space.But thats been a few yrs ago.


I do not know much about dairy economics.

Most other businesses biggest expense is labor. Question is how much labor is saved?


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

deadmoose said:


> I do not know much about dairy economics.
> Most other businesses biggest expense is labor. Question is how much labor is saved?


Depends on milking 2X or 3X, auto takeoffs or manual, what pre dip and post dip protocol is, but the savings can be quite significant. I have a good friend who milks 300. He has 3 full time employees. I think they get around $32K a year.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Then add in at a minimum as employer tax. And whatever bennies. Adds up quick.

Robots show up ready to work. Don't complain. And do the best they can to do their job.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Norbert Farms is around our neck of the woods, believe my father might have been chasing one of their daughters for a bit back when dirt was new.


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

Its certainly cool technology. Amazing the amount of time it would save a dairy farmer and give them a better quality of life. Certainly seems kind of cost prohibitive, though I guess you've gotta spend money to make money.

My parents both came from farms that milked cows and recieved their first milk cow as a wedding present. That first cow eventually grew to them milking 60 cows for about 25 years. Dad started a small beef cow herd in the early 90s more as a way to utilize some of the poorer hay and feed that he didn't want to feed to the milk cows. He needed to upgrade our facilities as they milked in an old stanchion barn. He looked at the cost of a new parlor and some other upgrades and decided to look at getting out of milking rather than borrowing money to do all that. He figured he'd have to milk cows the rest of his life to pay it off. He grew his beef herd and finally sold the milk cows in 98 (the year I graduated from HS). Grandpa also ended up getting ill and having to quit his beef operation around the same time. So dad was able to rent more ground, expand his beef herd some more, and eventually buy Grandpas land 2 years later. For my parents quitting milking turned out to be one of the best decisions they ever made.

I am glad there are people who want to milk cows, as I've done it and don't ever want to do it again. Dairy farmers certainly don't get paid enough for what they do. I'll never complain about the price of milk or butter in the store, ever.


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

So a question I asked him was if the replacement of Mexicans per month would take care of monthly payments. So it comes up $4000 short however they were only milking 2 times a day and currently they are at 3 average and could go higher as they get used to the system. Most cows appear to be set to milk every 4 hours should they want to. In just the few weeks the average milk per cow has increased 10 lbs.


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## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

Cy, usually the quote per cow on a parlor is actually per milking stall. A double 6 hernigbone parlor (thats twelve cows at a time) at $10,000 a stall is $1.2 million. It ain't cheap.

I've been kicking around setting up a small parlor on our farm to milk maybe a dozen jerseys seasonally. Our thought is to make/sell our own artisan cheese. Wuld probably use a portable vacuum system and bucket milkers. Not sure I want to go that route yet.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Have a neighbor that was thinking of putting 5 robots in.Salesman thought he had it wrapped up,but then the family decided against it because the family labor was doing the milking and drawing a wage from the dairy.New robots = less work for the family labor = less wages for the family.

Not the typical dairy.The parents own it and the kids work for the dairy and draw a wage.Well the kids are 40-55 yrs old.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

IH 1586 said:


> So a question I asked him was if the replacement of Mexicans per month would take care of monthly payments. So it comes up $4000 short however they were only milking 2 times a day and currently they are at 3 average and could go higher as they get used to the system. Most cows appear to be set to milk every 4 hours should they want to. In just the few weeks the average milk per cow has increased 10 lbs.


Thats what Nor-Bert Farms told Dad last time he was over there, production went up enough that the robots paid for themselves in short order.

If we were still in the dairy business we'd have at least four installed by now, I haven't heard of anybody that doesn't like em once everything is properly setup.


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## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

If we did that on our old dairy (milking 350) we would have missed out on a few things. Often times, the milker is the first person to spot an issue with a cow: mastitis, lame, etc. One gal that milked for us part time even started treating the cows with foot warts every evening, cleared them all up. Our milkers lock up cows that need treating, getting ready to dry off, needing to be bred, etc. Saves us from having to sort them out on the lot and stressing all of them.

We also used milking times to work on lots with no cows around: barn cleaning, repairs, etc. Didn't always match schedules, but it sure helped.

Labor is the biggest challenge, and finding someone to be in the parlor at 4 a.m. regardless of weather for milkiing is tough. To me, it's more about filling a labor void. A good milker brings so much more to address herd health than just putting milkers on. I don't think I would walk away from that easily. In all the years we milked, we never lost a quality bonus for low somatic cell count. That quality bonus is significant. I don't think we could have managed that with robotic milkers. It takes a person in the parlor paying attention.

Our cows gave a lot of milk, over 30,000 lbs rolling herd average. It keeps them right on the edge in terms of health. The more eyes on the cattle every day, the better to catch issues.


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

aawhite said:


> If we did that on our old dairy (milking 350) we would have missed out on a few things. Often times, the milker is the first person to spot an issue with a cow: mastitis, lame, etc. One gal that milked for us part time even started treating the cows with foot warts every evening, cleared them all up. Our milkers lock up cows that need treating, getting ready to dry off, needing to be bred, etc. Saves us from having to sort them out on the lot and stressing all of them.
> 
> We also used milking times to work on lots with no cows around: barn cleaning, repairs, etc. Didn't always match schedules, but it sure helped.
> 
> ...


I agree with what you are saying, however the amount of information the computer can tell you is incredible. Potentially catch mastitis before it flairs up, heats that the cows don't show, and also drop in milk that may indicate a feed issue that may not be so noticeable in parlor. It's also not like the robots do it all, it will still take a good herds person to work through all the data and still need to bring up the cows that don't want to on their own twice a day. It's not a no labor solution. As for moving animals its no more than a click away to put them in special needs. I personally from what I have seen and the way I like to work with cows I believe I could do a better job with robots. You can focus more on issue cows instead of the entire herd everyday. Just my opinion.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

IH 1586 said:


> I personally from what I have seen and the way I like to work with cows I believe I could do a better job with robots. You can focus more on issue cows instead of the entire herd everyday. Just my opinion.


My friend with the rotational organic dairy feels the same way about feed, he feels he's better off buying his hay and spending more time with the cows instead of that time being spent in the hay fields.


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