The robot uprising

Successfully embracing technology to produce high quality milk

Abstract

As more and more dairies in North America and globally turn to robotic milking, the same technology that reduces labor and allows the cows to milk at the times and intervals they choose can also separate us from the cow. The integration of robotic milking technology also tends to make practitioners and consultants less likely to feel capable and qualified to help robotic milking herds produce high quality milk and diagnose production and milkability issues. By remembering that robotic milking functions with the same principles of milk harvest as conventional milking facilities, and that the same factors that lead to high quality milk production in conventional milking facilities will also lead to high quality milk in robotic milking, practitioners and consultants can stay focused on the key areas that matter most to milk quality. Practitioners and consultants can play a role in helping robotically milked dairies succeed through observation and testing that ensures the dairy is milking clean teats, gently, quickly, and completely in order to maintain teat health.