Ben Smink - National Milk Producers Federation

PANEL: "THE USE OF ROBOTIC MILKERS ON DAIRY FARMS"
Ben Smink,
Lely USA Inc.,
Pella Iowa, USA.
Introduction
The NMPF – Young Cooperator is taking time in the 2012 meeting to listen to experienced
Automatic Milking System (AMS) users and ask them: 'How does AMS technology fit in the
dairy industry'. For many dairy professionals automatic milking is considered a new technology,
but for others AMS has become daily practice and many farmers have implemented AMS
successfully with or without a steep learning curve. Implementing AMS on a dairy farm is not
about how to milk cows, as the technology has proven itself over the past 20 years in Europe and
the past 10 years in North America. In practice we see that implementing AMS has to do with
proper herd management including a few key critical success factors.
Experiences and key AMS success factors
In a recent study, 57 North American Lely users shared their results and critical success factors
following the implementation of AMS on their farm. (Smink et al., 2012). In general these
farmers see increased milk production and a better handle on milk quality results, reproduction
results and culling decisions. Key to their success can be brought back to four factors:
1. Proper barn layout with great cow comfort, lots of space and open access to the AMS units.
2. Good feed ration properly divided between the feed bunk and the robot feeders to make the
robot an attractive place for the cows and to fulfill their individual nutritional needs.
3. Professional guidance from experienced experts during the AMS transition period.
4. Proper use of precision dairy management tools accompanying AMS systems.
What is in it for the farmer: Precision Dairy Management tools in AMS
Many studies focused on the value of one specific sensor in the AMS technology, as discussed in
a number of papers in this symposium. What we have seen in practice is that the combination of
information from multiple sensors is much more valuable. The total value of the information
from the combination of sensors is more than the sum of the individual sensors. Modern AMS
systems measure more than 100 values per cow per day in the robot, including: body weight,
rumination, activity, feed intake and for each milking: milk yield, milk times, milk speed, milk
temperature, fat, protein, lactose content and for each quarter: milk time, conductivity, color. All
of this raw data is not necessarily useful, but with enhanced software algorithms data is

transformed to practical hands-on information. Herd managers get quick short overviews of
attention cows only, including what the potential problem of the cow is and in which part of the
body she is developing the problem. For instance, if we see high fat/protein ratio in combination
with rumination drifting off, the program indicates ketosis. Or, if a cow shows normal milk
production, normal conductivity and color of the milk in combination with high milk
temperature, we know the cow is sick but not very likely caused by mastitis. For a typical
mastitis case high detection rates are shown to be the combination of deviations in milk color,
milk conductivity, quarter yield and quarter dead milk time. (Van der Tol, 2012)
Multiple sensors in combination with the visual observation of naturally behaving cows in the
robot barn enable the herdsman to see the abnormal individual in a much earlier stage. Therefore
the herdsman can prevent the animal from getting sick before she starts loosing production. It is
about being pro-active instead of re-active and about making better decisions to prevent cows
drifting off (instead of making culling decisions after the problem got too severe). All of this
improves constant health and therefore constant production, fertility and longevity results of the
herd.
Is it magic No of course not. If you are not a good cow person this information is not going to
make you a good dairy farmer. At the end of the day the robot is just another way of milking
(and spending your daily life) and not a magic herd management machine. An internal
questionnaire with to the top 25 AMS producers out of the CRV BENELUX registration reports
(DHI records The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg), showed that the most important
success factors are: best cow management practices and best cow comfort circumstances and not
factors like type or age of the AMS barn.
What is in it for the advisor: Precision Dairy Management tools in AMS
On a higher level the dairy producer together with his advisors (nutritionists, veterinarians)
benefit from this wealth of information on herd/pen/individual level to make better decisions on
aspects like: feed rations, dry matter intake, effective fiber in the bunk, output feed truck, dry
cow treatment, dry cow transition management, preventive mastitis treatment, et cetera.
However, the advisor has to realize that the way to consult AMS producers is different. Farmers
have all this information real time every hour of the day. So producers expect from advisors
scenarios instead of evaluations. In the past, decisions were made on a monthly basis and based
on milk sample results, which is similar to a tax paying process: you look at the outcome at the
end of the period, pay your dues and pull a line to prevent this from happening in the future.
Advisory on an AMS herd is more like a GPS navigation process: the farmer is expecting the
advisor to give guidelines for the future which the farmer can select and apply immediately as
the situation unfolds as he works his way through the coming month. As a result advisors will
have to train producers how to use the summarized AMS information and translate that into daily
action decisions. For many senior advisors it is scary to give that responsibility to the farmer: did

you trust the GPS the first time you used it Don’t be afraid, but keep an open mind for different
ways of thinking.
Take Home messages for the producer and his advisor
North American dairy farmers who started their Lely AMS system in 2008/2010 recommended
future AMS colleagues to: “Change daily management and use AMS information tools.”, “Have
an experienced AMS nutritionist, because the feed ration is the key to success.”, “Visit other
robot farmers and learn from them.”, “Prepare yourself, take time to listen to AMS specialists,
they have experience.” and “Prepare the herd for the transition: health, feeding, feet and cow
comfort”. (Smink et al., 2012).
Preparation is King. That is why excellent pro-active farm management support is critically
important, especially before the AMS is arriving on the farm. It is a learning process for the
farmer, his consultants and the other stake holders in the market. AMS is not a 'one size fits all',
so we have to advise producers according to their own situation. Be pro-active instead of reactive
and move away from evaluations and focus on scenarios.
The dairy industry has to keep working on making all AMS information more user friendly, so
that the farmers can drive their dairy car with their own navigation system. Why would we use
pages of information in table format if one small graph tells the whole story
At the end of the day it is the good cow guy who makes the dairy farm successful.
References
Smink B., P. Kool, R. van der Tol. 2012 Critical Success Factors Transitioning from
Conventional to Automatic Milking in USA. Proc. National Mastitis Council 51 st Annual
Meeting.
Van der Tol R. , X. Song, P. Kool. 2012 Validation of a Clinical Mastitis Indicator. Proc.
National Mastitis Council 51 st Annual Meeting.