Robotic Producer Panel Advantages & Challenges

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Randall George O’Neal’
5 years ago
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1 Robotic Producer Panel Advantages & Challenges Tom Pfaff Pfaff s Prairie Dairy Melrose, Wisconsin Pfaff s Prairie Dairy Overview Tom Pfaff 9 Lely Robots 550 milk cows 2200 acres 5 Employees in the barn 88 pounds of milk 3.8% Fat, 3.2% Protein ~200 SCC 1

Evolution to Milking in Robots Started farming; Farmed my whole life with my Dad Back to farming with Dad- Milked 165 cows in a 65 stall stanchion barn We had two barns pieced together by this

2 Evolution to Milking in Robots Started farming; Farmed my whole life with my Dad Back to farming with Dad- Milked 165 cows in a 65 stall stanchion barn We had two barns pieced together by this time for the cows; but a bad storm came thru and destructed Time to expand or get-out Added another used robot Farmed a few years with Dad; then went on my own for 2 years Looked at a couple of parlor barns but also toured a brand new robot farm in MN with my nephew; that farm was 2 weeks into milking in robots and the owner was in Hawaiiherdsman said it was going great! Had a cheap parlor, freestall, and cobbled-up plans already drawn up but decided to break ground on new robotic facility with 7 robots Added one more robot; up to 9 From that to this: 2

New Robot Facility 400 X 120 building 7 robots to begin with- now up to 9 in same size building

enough for the producer to leave after 2 weeks really got me thinking 312 stalls 3-row,

per pen of cows 2-3 robots In stanchion barn cows were getting a poor-man s TMR, now getting a

3 New Robot Facility 400 X 120 building 7 robots to begin with- now up to 9 in same size building Visited some robot facilities in 2008 I wasn t impressed But one in MN that was working well enough for the producer to leave after 2 weeks really got me thinking 312 stalls 3-row, sand-bedded Automatic scrappers Robot Facility Continued Automatic scrappers Multiple robots per pen of cows 2-3 robots In stanchion barn cows were getting a poor-man s TMR, now getting a real TMR No Juno feed-pusher Currently roughly 61 cows/robothave pushed it a little more than that Footbath 3

that is so important Huge learning curve, you definitely will need the support Transition from stanchion barn to this facility 65 pounds of milk in stanchion

4 Why did I choose Lely? Went to a MN support group and listened to the farmers that had robots 2 of those producers struggled with little support Lely s support has been fantastic, that is so important Huge learning curve, you definitely will need the support Transition from stanchion barn to this facility 65 pounds of milk in stanchion barn We went up in milk when starting in robots, due to better cow comfort and true TMR Just kept climbing daily 88 pounds on average now SCC was upper 200 s in stanchion, now roughly 160 Almost cried because it was SO easy taking care of cows, especially from milking 165 in 60 stall stanchion barn! 4

Corn Gluten Feed (CGF) vs Robot Pellet Currently, feed corn gluten pellets through the robot Previously fed a custom robot pellet Transition between the two was tough Cows were in shock, used to

5 Corn Gluten Feed (CGF) vs Robot Pellet Currently, feed corn gluten pellets through the robot Previously fed a custom robot pellet Transition between the two was tough Cows were in shock, used to flavored pellet Took a few days and back to normal Wouldn t go back, HUGE cost savings There are more fines with CGF, and more waste BUT- Still worth it! Feed Table to the right- at 22 DIM cows fed pellets based off of production Days in milk Production Pounds of CGF Approaching the Banker with the Cost Presented my idea and plans to 5 different lending agencies Only 1 was interested but had to farm some of the costs out For the 1 st month of construction the agency and who they were farming it out to couldn t come to a conclusion and supply the money Ended up having to pay 1 st month of construction expenses out of my pocket!! Financially- it s been tough! 5

6 Challenges 1. Maintenance costs 7 Robots- over $100,000/year in maintenance costs Year 5- major year in costs Try to do some maintenance here 2. Washing robots instead of cows Instead of washing cows we wash robots Need a good power-washer to constantly clean 3. Milk Inspectors are nit-picky 4. Finding cows that need to be milked/checked in bigger pens Apparently there is an app coming out that locates cows for you via your phone What has worked well 1. Corn Gluten Feed 2. Happy with the production cow comfort 3. Adding cows in the same facility without expanding it 4. We don t breed for robot cows, do look at teat length some, but if it is a good bull- we still use it 5. Reduction in SCC from stanchion barn- consistent milkings 6

Looking to the Future Some opportunity for future growth Plan

7 What would you change? Given myself more room for growth Pen for fresh cows Pen for heifers But thinking about how that might impact them when they go into a milking pen with cows and their pecking order. Looking to the Future Some opportunity for future growth Plan to grow with the times, wherever that might take us It does seem as though everything has grown so fast! 7

Keys to Success Right employees in the right

fetching Focus on fresher animals/heifers

8 Keys to Success Right employees in the right spot on the farm Only as good as the employees around us If you don t have dedicated employees, everything else can go out the window Understanding the Cow- training vs. fetching Focus on fresher animals/heifers Cow comfort Making sure that your nutritionist is comfortable with not only you, but your robots too! 8

Robotic Barn Design Part 2: Principles of Robotic Barn Design on Cow Flow, Cow Comfort and Cow Health The Robot Room

Robotic Barn Design Part 2: Principles of Robotic Barn Design on Cow Flow, Cow Comfort and Cow Health Jack Rodenburg DairyLogix 173 Falcon Drive Woodstock, ON N4T 1W5 Tel: (519) 290-7194 Fax: (519) 290-7676