Robotic milking system ideal for Oechsners

Rural Mayville dairy farmers Andy and Missy Oechsner ventured a bit into the unknown when they purchased a robotic milking system earlier this year. Now that they have used it since July, they say it was a good decision. They say they were at a point where something had to be done with their barn and milking system. When the couple took over the farm from his parents, they had 39 stanchions and milked 100 cows. That meant switching cows each milking and, using four milkers, the process took a lot of time. Their first change came when they went to using 16 stalls with eight milkers, and that helped, but the barn still needed updating and repairs. Missy says when they started farming they didn’t have a family and could spend a lot of time in the barn. Now with three small children they were looking for ways to cut down the milking time. They started looking for a system that was less stress and relief from the burden of finding reliable help. They didn’t adopt this system without first doing careful research, visiting farms that utilize it, talking with their lenders, and weighing out all their options. The system they went with is manufactured by Lely USA, which is headquartered in Pella, Iowa. The company originated in Europe where robotic milking has been around for well over two decades. It took a little longer for U.S. dairy producers to adopt the system. Eleven years ago a few farms tried the system, including Omro producer Pete Knigge, who was on hand at the Oechsner open house Wednesday to talk about how the robots work. Knigge said he was so pleased with his first robots that last year he upgraded to the newest versions of Lely robots, the type the Oechsners now have. One reason U.S. and Wisconsin dairy producers have not been quick to adapt robotic technology is that there has not been a good distribution and service network in the U.S., including training of certified technicians to service the units. That’s beginning to change with the Lely company opening a plant in Iowa and several dealerships in Wisconsin taking on the line. Roger Kaminski of Central Ag Supply, Juneau, says he looked at the systems when they were being talked about 10 years ago, but he wasn’t ready to take on a robotic line yet. Now he has several technicians certified to service the equipment and he feels comfortable working with farmers on developing the system. He said it also helps that the company now has a manufacturing facility in nearby Iowa. That makes it easier to get parts and supplies faster. The Oechsners had been milking over 100 cows before they installed the two robots. Each robot is able to handle about 60 cows, but they culled out quite a few cows in summer in order to help the transition process go smoother. Now they are building numbers again as heifers freshen. The support equipment that goes with the robots is capable of handling one more robot in the event the Oechsners would decide to milk more cows. In general, a robotic system is designed for small and medium-sized farms in the range of 100 to 500 cows. A robotic milking system on farms with thousands of cows would mean a large capital outlay and probably is not economically feasible. A robotic milking system is expensive, but the Oechsners feel it will eventually pay for itself with saved labor costs. More importantly, the robots are more reliable and a farm can lose money real fast if employees don’t show up for milking or don’t do a good job with the cows. They say they have had some good help over the years, but they have also had employees they simply couldn’t count on. “Robots don’t go to parties and they don’t ask for holidays off,” Andy says. He said it also gives him more time to manage their farm operation. Cows set the schedule Some cows enter the milking system a couple of times a day and others five or six times. Cows know when they want to get milked. Back when most cows in the state spent a good share of their day on pasture, they generally came back to the barn on their own around milking time. The robotic milking system operates on the same idea. Oechsners cows relax in sand-filled freestalls and eat and get milked when they please. “They go to eat and, when they’ve had enough feed, they come to get milked,” Missy says. Their nutritionist, Steve Rowe of Renaissance Nutrition, designed a special balanced partial mixed ration (PMR). The PMR is their main source of food, satisfying their energy requirements. The grain mix that they get in the parlor is a bonus that they like. “It’s like they are eating their main course and when they come to get milked they get dessert,” Missy says. “This provides a constant milking routine for the cows and they get milked the same every time,” Missy explains. “Consistency is important to cows.” While they are pleased with the system, they say it may not be for everyone. “There are still chores to do,” Andy says. “The only change is we get rid of the manual milking job.” He points out, “Farmers whose systems failed for them are those who didn’t watch their cows. If you have a system that is working, stick with it. For us, we were at a point that we needed to make some sort of change.” “If you’re willing to learn the system and can do the computer part, it’s great,” Missy adds. Every cow wears a computerized collar that sends information to a system that monitors everything that is happening with each cow, including how many times a day she has been milked, how much milk she produces, and her activity. The activity records help find cows in heat and a color sensor detects cows with the start of mastitis. Producers program the computer regularly with information about cows. The computer then is able to separate milk from fresh or treated cows so it doesn’t go into the bulk tank. They say an important part of adopting a new system like this is having a dealer that is reliable and knowledgeable. The Oechsners say the folks at Central Ag helped them a lot, not only with designing the building and installing the equipment, but also with helping get their cows accustomed to the robots. “They were here 24 hours a day the first few days as we got our cows used to the system,” Missy says. “It’s important to have enough help the first few days. For us, it went faster than for some because our cows are generally calm anyway. Now our cows just come in on their own without anyone chasing them in and without any gates.”