The Lawfer Farm near Kent, Illinois, Uses a Fully Robotic System to Milk Cows.

Robotic milking relies on cows learning how to use the milking robot to get themselves milked.

Milking is done automatically, without human intervention. When cows feel the need to empty their udders, they form a line in front of one of the farmer’s milking robots. When a cow enters the small stall, a computer recognizes it by an electronic chip on its collar and can tell when the cow was last milked.

Robots revolutionize milking cows.

The aim of the automatic milking system is to reduce the amount of labor needed to run a farm. This involves getting the cows to move around the farm by themselves and by using a robot to milk the cows. Milking robots also allowed farms to milk cows three times per day, instead of twice, increasing the milk yield per animal.

First, a cow is walked through the machine with both of the gates open. Then she is held in the machine for 4–5 minutes without being milked. After doing this 2–3 times, the farmer helps the cow to be milked by pushing her gently into place for the robot to attach the milking cups. Crushed barley is given to the cows as a reward each time they are in the machine; giving them a treat for being a good cow.

Teaching the cows to take themselves to be milked.

A milking system that is fully automated requires the cows to get themselves to the dairy for milking (the farmer does not need to go out and fetch them). Once the cows can do this, they can go and get milked at any time, day or night. The aim is to get a steady stream of cows through the dairy so that the milking robot is always in use.

Training cows to use the gates.

On their first day on the farm, the cows are walked around the property. They do a loop from the field, through a slightly open gate to a water trough which is along the race to the robot and back to a new field. One-way gates stop the cows going backward along this loop. The cows are taught to use the gates by leaving them ajar for a few days and giving them access to water, grass, or barley once they go through.

When the farm was first set up, the cows learned that they get rewards for going through the gates, and they ended up visiting the dairy shed too often. As a result, selection gates were installed. These control whether the cow is sent to the dairy or back to the pasture.

Determining when a cow is due for milking.

Electronic information on each cow is stored in a computer and is used to determine whether a particular cow is due to be milked or not. When the cow enters a selection unit, a signal from the computer directs the gate to open, either letting the cow back into pasture or directing her up to the dairy for milking.

Scientists think that cows learn to walk through the selection units to the dairy much faster if there is an experienced cow for them to follow. Farmhands are investigating whether cows already on the farm can teach new cows to use the system without any help from the farm staff.

The robotic milking system also has brought changes to the overall management of the farm. Before, dairy farmers had to monitor the cows daily and manually record their health information. Now, the milking robots automatically record data, such as the amount of milk produced, as well as the cow’s temperature, weight, and udder health. They relay this data to the farmer’s smartphone or tablet.

This information gives management advance notice about the health of the herd. This allows farmers to take action earlier, should a health problem arise. As a result, the animals’ health is improved, veterinary costs are reduced, and reproduction is facilitated.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.