The author is a freelance writer based in Rockford, Ill.

Did you ever think you’d see the day when milk could be harvested with nearly no human intervention? Our industry is there, and robotic technology continues to scale up at a remarkable rate.

On an episode of the “Cornell Cow Convos” podcast, Oakfield Corners Dairy farm manager Keith Keberle shared his experiences using a robotic rotary parlor at the 2,800-cow dairy he managers in Oakfield, N.Y.

“I’ve been full time on the farm since 1994, and there’s been a lot of continual progress and expansion since then,” Keberle said. “As soon as I get bored, there’s a new project that comes along and keeps me going.”

As the largest of four dairies under the same ownership, Keberle’s dairy carries by far the most weight (literally). And with great size comes great responsibility. But how can a single farm operate at this level in the midst of a nationwide labor shortage as well as local labor laws that pinch business operators?

“Here in New York, labor wages are going up, and the availability of labor is going down. We had to seriously start thinking about how to adapt, and we started to consider robotic parlors as something that might be viable,” Keberle said.

A new approach

These types of parlors are conventional rotaries with one robot milking system per stall; at Oakfield Corners, there are 72 stalls. There are still two freestall barns on each side of the parlor, and it is still a large group set up. They milk 2,100 cows 3x, so 420 cows go through per hour. One person is on staff to monitor the machine, one guides the group in, and one cleans the cows during milking.

Employee training looks quite different with a robotic rotary parlor, Keberle said. In hiring, he no longer looks for traditional milking skill sets. Instead, he prioritizes technological ability, because, simply put, he has to.

“Once I figured out how to use the parlor, I trained my best daytime milker how to do it, and now he knows the robot ins and outs. Technology is leading the way on training. Identifying people who can learn tech is important,” said Keberle.

With this change in skill requirement for dairies that utilize robotics, and with the possible elimination of a job it is difficult to find people to perform anyway, industry employment and operational challenges are on track to change, fast.

Keberle said one way to test the waters of dairy robotics is to start small. Before his dairy installed the fully-automated rotary, they first used an ear tag system for monitoring cow health. This gave Keberle and his team a taste of technology before making the robotic rotary leap.

You also have to be ready for a huge learning curve, Keberle said. For all of its benefits, technology comes with just as many challenges as traditional methods. Part replacement, data interpretation, misdiagnosis recognition, general maintenance, and more — robots, too, require careful attention.

“In the beginning, I was always walking around with my laptop diagnosing problems and making sure everything was running smoothly,” Keberle said. “You’ve got to have someone in the building who understands how to keep the whole system going.

“It can also be expensive to troubleshoot or replace parts,” he added. “We had to be open to understanding that technology can sometimes be more expensive than the labor. We had to decide if it was going to be beneficial for our farm overall.”

Ultimately, robotic maintenance and technological skill development is about staying ahead of the game. The better you perfect your or your employee’s understanding of the systems, the better the systems will run, and the less problems you will run into. And if your operation’s problem is already one of labor, robotics might just be the way to go.

Keep cows top priority

Despite the many mechanical considerations that come with the installation of a robotic system, cow comfort remains at the top of Keberle’s list of concerns.

For first-lactation heifers and any cow that may be nervous with the robotic set-up, Keberle assigns an employee to stay with the cow throughout the milking. Human touch helps train cows on the new equipment and puts them at ease.

“I don’t think we’re ready as an industry to have cows being milked with absolutely no human intervention,” Keberle said. “Human contact is crucial in considering cow comfort.”

Keberle’s concern is legitimate. If technology supersedes cow care, and if it is solely focused on making things easier for farmers, the needs of the very animals that provide what we’re harvesting and selling may become overlooked.

For instance, Keberle said, “I would like to see the stalls widened. Some of the stalls in our parlor are pretty tight.”

He continued, “We can’t forget to make the cows comfortable. Even just putting a hand on their leg can calm a nervous cow down.”

There’s more to come

It’s clear that technology, in a variety of forms, is here to stay. It’s becoming more practical and affordable, and it’s making things different, if not wholly easier, for dairies across the world. Odds are, we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what’s to be uncovered from its growing role in dairy.

Three and a half years into milking with a fully-automated rotary parlor, Keberle and his team have adapted to life on the robotic side, and it works well for their dairy’s needs.

What’s important, Keberle emphasized, is figuring out what works best for your operation: for the farmer, cows, and employees. If automation is the way forward, expect growing pains — but welcome leading-edge rewards, too.

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