Lewis Horning, a Pennsylvania dairy farmer, has switched to robotic milking, utilizing a Lely robotic milker. He spoke about his experience with the change to a robotic milking system at the Penn State Mastitis and Milk Quality Conference.

“I see oftentimes middle-aged farmers getting (robotic milkers). They’re kind of tired of working,” Horning said.

Horning isn’t yet middle-aged, but decided to convert the tie-stall barn into a three-row freestall barn in 2010. At that time, he incorporated a Lely robotic milker. The robotic milking system was a suggestion of his father-in-law.

Lewis reports that under the pre-robotic milking protocol, his cows were averaging 75 pounds per day of milk. Now, they average 88 pounds per day. He does not contribute the entire gain to the robotic milking system, however. The new facility offers increased cow comfort, better feed accessibility and an improved overall environment, he said.

Somatic cell count
“I thought SCC would be a non-issue,” Horning said. “That turned out not to be true.”

There was an initial increase in somatic cell count (SCC) after beginning with the robotic milking system, but that initial increase reversed course and the SCC remains lower than what it was in the old system, he said. The initial, unexpected increase caused him to panic.

“I changed five things at once,” Horning said, mentioning that making one change at a time is the correct way to do things.

Horning believes that the most effective change was adding an iodine teat dip to his milking process. He now likes “to see iodine dripping off of cows,” and uses one gallon of iodine per cow per year. This, he feels, is economically acceptable, at a cost of about one cent per cow per day, and has been a large contributor to his decreased SCC.

Horning’s robotic milker uses a sprayed-on simple udder wash, using brushes. Teat cups are then flushed out with a water and sanitizing mix, between each cow. Horning changes brushes and liners frequently, after every 6,000 milkings. He also has decreased the vacuum slightly. He uses real-time scanning, not relying on the system’s memory, to increase accuracy during teat preparation stage.

Before switching to robotic milking, the SCC was 168,000 cells/ml on average for the year, Horning said. Today, with the robotic system, the yearly average SCC is 88,000 cells/ml. At its peak, after the initial switch in systems, the yearly average SCC was 304,000 cells/ml.

Mat Haan, extension dairy educator at Penn State Extension of Berks County, reports that many farmers see a decrease in udder health for the first year after a change to a robotic milking system. This is due to several factors, including a change in the facility from tie-stall to freestall, the herd expansion that often occurs simultaneously with adding a robotic milking system, and an initial learning curve for the farmer.

There is also no visual teat inspection with robotics, Haan said, and dirty teats are a definite risk factor for increased SCC in the herd and more high SCC cows. He added, however, that the robotic technology to detect milk quality or udder health problems is improving.

“Beyond six months to one year, the result is variable as to what the effects (of the robotic milking system) are,” Haan said, with many variables being management related. Bad hygiene farms typically continue with elevated SCC, while those with good management practices typically see them drop. Keeping cows clean before milking is crucial.

“You do have to pay attention to teat information,” Horning advised. One issue he’s had with the technology is that the robotic milker was often milking bad quarters.

“I realized, especially with rear teats, that robot was getting on the bad quarter,” Horning said.

Other factors
Horning was milking 45 cows in 2010, prior to the switch. He is now milking 65 cows, with a “fairly tight” schedule. The typical downtime with a robotic milker is about 10 percent, he said, while he is at 4 percent free time. The robotic milker operates continually. He has a buffer tank, which eliminates downtime when the milk truck is present.

The robotic milker is slowest at 3 a.m. and 3 p.m., Horning said. Typically, seven cows are milked each hour. The cows decide when to be milked. Cows are given some feed to entice them into the milking parlor. This is controlled by the system, which bases the amount of feed offered on the frequency of each particular cow’s visits to the robotic milker. Checking the computer’s statistics lets him know if a cow has not visited the milker recently.

Robots measure more than 120 factors per cow, including milk color, milk temperature, SCC class, milk yield, rumination, activity, feed intake, robot visits, milking refusals and box time per cow, per day, according to Haan. Learning to use this data effectively is one learning curve that farmers switching to robotics can find challenging.

“A lot of data is available to help farmers manage their production,” Haan said.

Horning beds with sand. Sand bedding isn’t typically used with robotic milking systems, he said. Aside from a few issues that were easily rectified, there have been no reasons not to use sand. The rope from the teat cups was capturing sand and tearing quickly. Horning has replaced the ropes with chains.

“After four years, I’d say it’s not that big of a deal,” Horning said of the sand bedding system and its use with the robotic milking system. While other parts do wear a bit more quickly than expected, it is a “minor inconvenience,” he said.

Overall, Horning is happy with his switch to a robotic milking system, and he feels that it has helped him produce high-quality milk.

“I have had good results,” Horning said. PD

Tamara Scully, a freelance writer based in northwestern New Jersey, specializes in agricultural and food systems topics.

PHOTO
Pictured is the same model milker used by Lewis Horning. Photo courtesy of Mat Haan, Penn State Extension.