Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer
    Twitter LinkedIn
    • FREE Email Newsletters
    • About Us
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Magazine Subscriptions
    Twitter LinkedIn
    Podcast
    Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer
    • News
      • Arable & Agronomy
      • Dealership News
      • Environmental Land Management Scheme/Policy
      • Event News
      • Health & Safety
      • Machinery
      • People
      • World News
    • Farm Machinery
      • Amenity & Maintenance
      • Cultivations
      • Drilling
      • Grassland Equipment
      • Harvesting
      • Muck & Slurry
      • Sprayers
      • Telehandlers
      • Tractors
      • Tractor of the Year
      • Tyres & Tracks
    • Precision Farming
    • Markets & Policy
    • Profiles
      • Company Profiles
      • Reader Profiles
    • Livestock
      • Beef
      • Dairy
      • Sheep
    • Magazines
      1. March 2023
      2. February 2023
      3. National Arable & Grassland Awards Supplement
      4. January 2023
      Featured

      March 2023 Issue

      By Matthew TiltMarch 2, 2023
      Recent

      March 2023 Issue

      March 2, 2023

      National Arable & Grassland Awards 2023 Supplement

      January 26, 2023

      February 2023 Issue

      January 25, 2023
    • Events
    • Podcast
    Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer
    Dairy

    Farmers shed light on milking robot benefits and feed cost savings

    John SwireBy John SwireFebruary 8, 20213 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email

    Milking robots can help dairy farmers increase efficiency, ease staffing issues, and improve public perception of milking cows, delegates heard at this year’s Dairy-Tech Online.

    Speaking during the Robotic Milking session on Thursday (5 February), NMR/RABDF Gold Cup Winner Robert Sloane from Ayrshire, said this past year had been the most important for having milking robots.

    “Robots have given us staffing flexibility, which has been fundamental with Covid-19.  Robots mean we can be more flexible, which frees up time for jobs such as hoof trimming, vaccinations, and clipping,” he said.

    Mr Sloane wanted to increase milking to three-times a day, which led to the installation of three Lely robots. He says one of the big benefits of robots has been the positive public perception.

    “The public perception of robots is good as the cows are making their own decision when to be milked. This is of increasing importance,” he added.

    George Lester farms in Shropshire and has three Lely robots and a Lely Vector feeding system. He made the move to robots when his herdsman was looking to retire, and parlour hygiene was an issue.

    He says one of the big benefits has been the data he obtains from the robots. “We get data from every cow at every milking. It takes their weight, provides us with the usual health data and their rumination activity. We also get a lot of udder health information such as mastitis info, milk conductivity and somatic cell counts, which allows prompt treatment.”

    Mr Lester uses the Concentrate Optimiser software on his robots to create an individual feed table for every cow. This automatically alters the amount of feed given in the robot for each cow to produce milk most efficiently.

    When he first started using the software, in the two weeks before drying off concentrates were reduced from 5k-6kgs to 1kgs. In about half of cows, milk production dropped off, but in the remainder of the cows, milk production continued.

    “This made us think that some cows were not converting 5-6kgs of concentrates into milk throughout their lactation. Cows are like humans- some can eat as much as they like and not put on weight and some only have to look at a beef burger to put it on. It made us realise we can’t treat every cow the same.”

    By using the Concentrate Optimiser software Mr Lester has halved his concentrate tonnage bringing a £30,000 saving in concentrate costs a year. However, his forage costs have increased, as he has more than doubled the amount of milk from forage, increasing from 6l to 14l of milk from forage. His extra forage costs are about £15,000, which still yields him a £15,000 saving by reducing concentrate costs.

    The software considers milk price and feed costs, but not fixed costs. A feed table is set up in the background, which the software uses to base its decisions off.

    Mr Lester says he has not seen any drop in milk or fertility as he is still providing the cows with sufficient energy by offering forage. Aside from the feed savings, he has seen other long-term benefits.

    “We are not getting as many fat cows at drying off, which can cause calving difficulties and fertility issues,” he added.

    Dairy-Tech Online is an online event running on weekdays from 3-17 February. To view the programme of activity and to register for free go to dairy-tech.uk/

     

     

    Tweet
    Share
    Share
    Pin
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
    Previous ArticleAlkalise cereals to offset high bought-in protein costs
    Next Article New fodder beet ‘in the pink’
    John Swire

    Read Similar Stories

    Retrofit options to boost feed efficiencies

    March 20, 2023

    New Simmental breed record set at Aberdeen show

    March 10, 2023

    Strong Simmental demand sees a new breed record average

    March 1, 2023
    Most Read Stories

    Cheffins to hold major auction on behalf of Ripon Farm Services

    March 22, 2023

    Spring lambing event returns to Hampshire farm shop

    March 22, 2023

    Case IH to sponsor Aprilia at 2023 MotoGP World Championship

    March 21, 2023
    Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer

    The UK's leading agricultural machinery journal

    Twitter LinkedIn
    © 2023 Lewis Business Media. All Rights Reserved.
    Lewis Business Media, Suite A, Arun House, Office Village, River Way, Uckfield, TN22 1SL

    Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions

    • AA Farmer
    • Poultry News
    • Pig World
    • OvertheCounter

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “ACCEPT ALL”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsREJECT ALLAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
    CookieDurationDescription
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Analytics" category .
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional1 yearThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Necessary" category .
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-others1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to store the user consent for cookies in the category "Others".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to store the user consent for cookies in the category "Performance".
    PHPSESSIDsessionThis cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
    Functional
    Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
    Performance
    Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
    Analytics
    Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
    CookieDurationDescription
    _ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
    _gat_gtag_UA_31822138_191 minuteSet by Google to distinguish users.
    _gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
    Advertisement
    Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
    CookieDurationDescription
    OAID1 yearThis cookie is set when an AdsWizz website visitor have opted out the collection of information by AdsWizz service or opted to disable the targeted ads by AdsWizz.
    Others
    Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
    SAVE & ACCEPT
    Powered by CookieYes Logo