There are a lot of opinions on robotic milking systems in the dairy industry today. According to Mat Haan of Penn State Cooperative Extension in Berks County, science and experience are two important factors to consider when determining whether or not a robotic milking system is a good fit for your operation.

During a Penn State Extension “Technology Tuesday” webinar presentation held April 28, 2015, Haan, an extension dairy educator, shared the results of his own research as well as studies conducted by outside parties surrounding the topic of milk quality and robotic milking systems.

The presentation spoke to the idea that proper and aggressive preventative management is key to maintaining the desired milk quality and somatic cell count (SCC) in a herd – and that producers who transition from traditional milking systems to a robotic program aren’t predestined to have abnormally high SCC or other adverse effects on milk quality as some in the industry might believe.

To further prove this point, Haan called upon the experiences of dairy producer Olivia Platt of New Columbia, Union County, who said, “I believe that, historically, robots have gotten a bad [reputation] for milk quality. I think we’re finding out that [many of the things people assume about robotic milking systems] are not true.

When I first started working with robots, I heard the numbers, and people would say to expect 300,000 SCC – and that scared me. But after I did a little more research, I found that it was more a matter of management. As long as you maintain an aggressive management style in the robotic system, you will have no problem. Now our SCC is consistently between 50,000 and 80,000 every month.”

Platt’s point of view shows that while there are many differences between traditional milking programs and the robotic milking system, things like milk quality, udder health and mastitis detection are largely determined by the implementation of a phrase familiar to many dairy producers: proper management.

Eric Westendorp of West-Vale View Dairy in Nashville, Michigan, echoed Platt’s thoughts. “For us, milk production has stayed the same [since transitioning to the robotic system]. While our SCC has gone up, I think that has more to do with us as managers than with the robotic system,” Westendorp said. “Now that the cows are always lying in the freestall and there is no time where all of them are out at the same time, we are still trying to come up with the best way of keeping the stalls clean.”

The transitional period is certainly a learning curve for dairy producers who are accustomed to the schedule associated with a traditional milking system. According to Haan, udder health after transitioning to robots depends upon a combination of factors, all of which fall under the “management” umbrella.

From barn design and cow flow to establishing an appropriate milking frequency, to observing cows carefully and making use of the data provided by the robot, there are many places where change must occur – and quickly – to prevent milk loss or negative changes in milk quality due to stress on cows or a lack of contact with them.

Although a single robotic unit is capable of recognizing and storing more than 120 values for each cow – from her weight to her feed intake to the milkfat, protein and lactose content of each milking throughout the day – there is still no replacement for the close, visual inspection previously made by a human being in the milking parlor.

Haan’s research echoes a notion that is universally true: With all changes, there are both benefits and challenges. The key is finding a balance where the positive impacts of the change outweigh the challenges associated with it.

In the case of udder health, robotic milking systems bring many benefits to the table, including a consistent milking routine. Each time a cow enters the parlor, the process is exactly the same from beginning to end, whereas traditional milking systems are more likely to vary from person to person and from day to day. Other benefits include regular monitoring and extremely detailed data.

But the existing challenges require attention. Because cows are not forced to enter the milking parlor at a specific time each day, milking interval becomes irregular. Producers also struggle to re-establish a time each day where they are in regular contact with the cows and have the benefit of a visual inspection that is lost when robots are placed in the milking parlor.

The detection of mastitis and other abnormalities in milk is significantly improved with the robotic milking system. Electrical conductivity, the most common method for detecting clinical and subclinical mastitis in robotic milking, bases its results upon the detected increase in sodium and chloride in milk due to inflammation. Robotic units are also much more sensitive to the detection of changes in milk color, and direct and indirect SCCs.

Another term coined for the robotic milking system is technical success, which answers the question: Did the cleaning device make contact with the teat throughout the cleaning process? Research presented by Haan showed that 80 to 85 percent of teat cleanings are “technically successful” – but this does not account for the practical effectiveness of that cleaning.

The research established several factors which contributed to an unsuccessful cleaning. These include cow behavior, udder and teat structure, excessive hair on the udder and device failure.

These failures call to attention the importance of cleanliness in an entirely new way. Whereas human beings in the milking parlor could assess that an udder was especially clean or especially dirty upon entering the parlor, and clean the udder accordingly prior to milking, robots are not capable of making those decisions, and therefore, while a cleaning may be “technically successful,” the results may not be what they were when that visual examination in the milking parlor exists.

Haan recommends regular maintenance and cleaning of robots, as well as periodic observation of udder preparation and milking as methods of bridging the gap between technical success and effective cleaning. PD

Callie Curley is a communications student at Penn State University – Berks campus.

PHOTO: The detection of mastitis and other abnormalities in milk is significantly improved with the robotic milking system. Photo byPDstaff.