Dairy producers share experiences with robotic milking
By Jean Caspers-Simmet
simmet@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 12/15/2011 10:51 AM
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CALMAR, Iowa —Dairy producers who milk with robots or who will soon shared their experiences at the recent Midwest Dairy School for Exploring Robotics at the Dairy Center at Calmar.
Matt and Jolene Nierling of Decorah will soon milk 140 cows with a three-box MIone robotic system from GEA Farm Technologies. It will be the first system of its kind to be in a U.S. dairy, and they will function as a test farm.
The Nierlings built a naturally ventilated free-stall barn about three years ago and have been milking in a 46-cow tie-stall barn.
With three young children, the Nierlings said they're looking forward to having more flexibility and being able to both participate in their children's activities.
Sandra and Mark Ehrhardt and their son-in-law Randy Wedo of Monona have milked 76 cows with a Lely robot for a year. They retrofitted their current facility to include the robot.
Doug Heintz of Caledonia, Minn., has milked with two Lely robots for almost three years. He currently milks 123 cows and hey are producing 88 pounds of milk in 2.8 visits to the robot per day.
"We've been as high as 140 cows on the two robots so I know it's possible," Heintz said.
They doubled the herd when they switched to robots so Heintz said he's just as busy as before but his time isn't as scheduled.
"The lifestyle change has been huge," Heintz said.
Scott Adams, his wife, Jeanie, and their son Nathan and his wife, Annie, milk 150 cows in a 6-row free-stall barn and are expanding to 300 cows near Waucoma. They are just starting to use two DeLaval VMS robots. As they expand, they will continue to milk some cows the way they had.
Sandra Ehrhardt said their milking parlor was obsolete and they either had to renovate or go with a robot.
"When you did the cost comparisons it was kind of a no-brainer to go with the robot," she said.
"We're fortunate that robotics came to northeast Iowa when they did," Mark Ehrhardt said.
When asked to put a dollar value on how their quality of life has changed, Sandra Ehrhardt said it's tough to put a number on it.
"You don't realize the sacrifices you made over the last 30 years, the things we missed out on with our own kids," she said. "I can be a grandma now."
"I'd put $50,000, $100,000 on it," Heintz said. "What's a knee or hip replacement? It's Christmas and Easter, always being the last there and the first to leave."
Sandra Ehrhardt acknowledged she had difficulty trusting the robot. She slept on the couch in the barn office for two months until her Lely representatives pointed out that the robot had only called her cell phone once and that wasn't a problem.
"That call was because no cows had gone to the robot for 60 minutes," she said. "It was a bitterly cold night and once I walked through the cows they started stirring and one went to the robot," she said. "When it's that cold, you wouldn't want to move, either."
As Sandra was talking, her son-in-law received a call from their robot, which she has nicknamed Harold. Harold reported three failed milkings. It's a typical call, Heintz said.
"I'll guarantee Sweet kicked off a hose, and it can't get itself back into go mode," Sandra said.