UK’s dairy farmers may be reluctant to invest their hard-earned cash in automating milking processes during the current coronavirus crisis but must balance the disruption of labour across the industry and staffing shortages due to self-isolation and social distancing rules with traditional manual milking is a challenge.
Add the potential fall-out from Brexit – the future uncertainty of labour flows from Europe – to the pandemic, and the need for dairy farmers to embrace automation becomes apparent as a way forward to meet these challenges. The aim is to find innovative solutions that improve animal welfare, increase efficiency and deliver high quality milk in a resource-conserving operation in order to achieve long-term sustainability.
Embracing technology from suppliers like GEA, a leading provider of farming technology solutions, can transform milking parlours, simultaneously improving dairy cow welfare as well as reducing labour costs which can help offset the perception that automation is expensive, especially for farmers who may have struggled with over-supply during the national lockdown which saw demand plummet from the hospitality sector.
GEA is offering a helping hand to UK farmers with affordable robotic milking solutions, at 0% finance over five years, that can eliminate labour intensive tasks while enhancing the process for the cow, allowing farmers to focus on managing their business – especially valuable during challenging periods.
The well-being of cows ultimately determines the quality of the milk, and GEA’s DairyRobot R9500 can operate during the relaxed processes in the barn with or without pre-and post-selection to suit the farmers needs and farm layout
DairyRobot R9500 provides consistent accurate attachment, it is simple in operational design with the flexibility and efficiency that the technology provides is a big plus to consider. They offer everything ‘in-liner’, which include stimulation, cleaning, fore-stripping, milking and post-milking teat disinfection, bringing a new level of intelligent milking to a farm. Plus, GEA’s 5 year parts warranty provides lower Total Cost of Ownership and peace of mind.
Supporting farmers worldwide during these strange and unprecedented times, GEA’s strength is the ability to implement the requirements of dairy farmers with innovative concepts. Innovative robotic milking technology and time-saving installation makes it possible to operate sustainably in the long term, with healthier cows.
