Now that we’ve added the robotic milking machines, a lot of people think we don’t need people around the barns because the machines take care of all the milking. Even with thirteen robotic milkers on the farm, we still need people outside in the barns pretty much around the clock.
Every night we have one or two people out in the barns working. Small adjustments need to be made to the milkers, like tightening hoses or replacing milker cups if a cow kicks the unit off. Also, the lenses that locate where the cows’ teats often need to be wiped clean.
The robots’ computer system is available on a mobile phone app, so whenever something happens and the robotic milker isn’t working correctly, a mobile notification will be sent to the employee working at the time. The employee can go directly to the machine that needs adjusting and fix the issue. On farms that have one or two robotics milkers, there isn’t a need to have someone in the barns constantly, so this app is key.
Even though the robots are automatically milking the cows, there is a certain percentage of cows that need to be “fetched.” Cows on the “fetch” list are ones that don’t walk themselves to the robotic milker. These cows tend to be at the end of their lactation, so they aren’t milking very much anymore. They are starting to dry up and preparing to have a calf. The “fetch” list is generated on the computer, and is based on the cows who haven’t been milked for a certain number of hours. Once they are at the robotic milking machine and have the grain offered to them, the “fetch” cows are more than happy to be milked. They just need a little bit of motivation!
Aside from checking the robots and making sure they’re doing their job, there are other things happening at night, too. Cows may be calving, and barn alleys need to be scraped. We are consistently milking around 800 cows with the robotic milkers. There is always plenty of work to be done around the farm!
