Milking automation represents not only a technological advancement but a fundamental shift in dairy farm management. While automation simplifies processes, the human touch remains indispensable. Successfully managing employees requires finding the right balance between leveraging the power of technology and nurturing a supportive, engaged work environment.

The best robot cows combine four factors – milk production, milkability, milking speed and trips to the robot. Each of these factors can be measured, and the measurements can be combined to rank the best robot cows.

While it is impossible to eliminate cases of mastitis in a dairy herd, automation can help producers save time, money and resources, ensuring their cows get the best and most timely care possible.

While the vision of a fully automated dairy may seem like a distant dream, the technology to achieve this is rapidly evolving. This article provides a roadmap for dairy producers considering the leap into automation.

Is your robot feed bin a place that you avoid until the cows stop eating? Here are some tips to help monitor and manage feed in the bin, before the cows run out of pellets or stop visiting.

In robotic milking systems, where cows need to move frequently to and from milking robots, lameness can severely disrupt operations. Here are ways to prevent and address lameness in automated milking facilities.

When I talk with producers who installed automated milking systems, most say the first three days are the worst, the first three weeks are hard, and things are better within three months. By the sixth to ninth month, they say the automated milking system is better than the previous milking system, as both cows and people have adjusted to the major lifestyle change.  

Both JTP Farms and Haas Dairy approach dairy farming in a way that maximizes facilities, technology and manpower. These dairies are meeting – and surpassing – production goals in automated milking systems by pushing the limits of pen space while not compromising cow health.  

Nearly 150 years ago, in 1879, New Jersey dairy farmer Anna Baldwin invented the first milking machine. Today, dairy producers have had access to safe, efficient automated dairy systems for 30 years, and the pace of advancement and innovation is increasing rapidly.