Agri Leader

Cottonwood Holsteins Ltd
Laingspring Dairy Ltd
“The bottom line is that a robot is not magic, not the
end all and be all,” he emphasizes. “It is a milk harvesting
tool. Period! There must be a whole package of
farm management to make money. The robotic system
helps achieve that.”
“...a robot is not magic,
not the end all and be all”
Other Herd Management Notes
Cows are quiet, calm, enjoying a low stress environment
where they are not herded to the holding area.
According to Brent, they are at the max for two units.
“There is no time for down time, but we are doing well
at that level. More than 130 cows with two units would
be difficult.” Milking frequency average is 2.5 and milking
time is over 90% of the robots’ daily time. Idle time
is 2 to 4%.
“In a robotic milking set-up, I think there should be
more comfort stalls than cows – about 2 to 3%. The cow
looking for an open stall should not have to wander up
and down the alley to find an empty stall.”
Over-all health has improved. Disease costs are way
down, about half of previous. Foot and leg health has
greatly improved in the new facilities. The Bovi-Booster
in the robot together with the installation of rubber
mats in all alleys is the biggest factor for improved foot
and leg health.
A brother is the local veterinarian, who has used innovative
procedures including DNA testing and successfully
setting broken leg bones and other major
surgical interventions.
Interesting Stories
In order to begin construction of the barn beginning
in March when the frost was still deep in the ground,
large trucks could drive on the frozen soil but could not
pour concrete. So they purchased three hoppers of a
Super-B of coal to spread along the footing’s layout.
Straw was spread over top and set on fire. The coal
burned for days, thawing the frost. The soil was hot, allowing
for pouring concrete and construction in warm
conditions while trucks could continue to drive on solid,
frozen soil. The builders loved it.
Brent has produced and sold small hay bales to the
horse trade including export to Florida and Texas – one
year 32 semi-truck loads. Horse owners in the southern
US buy Canadian hay because of the blister beetle
in their local hay that affects horses.
“When my grandfather started shipping milk in 1916,
the cans were hauled by horse and wagon to Giroux six
miles away by 7:30 am, and then loaded on the train for
transportation to the milk plant in Winnipeg. His original
contract was for 160lb or two cans daily.”
When Ray and Bertha took over the farm in 1980, they
were milking 40 cows in a tie stall barn. By 2002 they
milked 110 cows in a 113 stall tie stall barn and grew to
160 as mentioned earlier. At that time, swapping cows
in and out alone took an hour twice a day.
Future
“Our four to five year projection is to expand to four
robots and maximize production,” says Tyrone.
Ted points out, “The new Manitoba QPP [quota purchase
policy – for buying quota], could slow down our
plans if we have any infractions or our SCC or IBC
counts exceed the various limits. Any single inhibitor
infraction means no quota purchase opportunity for
12 months. We must be diligent in all aspects of milk
management.”
Ray concludes, “The facility has met our expectations
to date. It is significantly better in all respects to the
old barn. And this is only the first two years. Our goal is
300kg of quota to ultimately fill the barn. Also we have
reached 300 animal units that require a farm manure
management plan – not a major issue along-side CQM
and the ProAction initiatives of Dairy Farmers of Canada.”
Weaned calf & heifer pens, and barnyard at Laingspring
54 AGRI LEADER » 2016