Automatic milking

Last updated January 06, 2024

Automatic milking is the milking of dairy animals, especially of dairy cattle, without human labour. Automatic milking systems (AMS), also called voluntary milking systems (VMS), were developed in the late 20th century. They have been commercially available since the early 1990s. The core of such systems that allows complete automation of the milking process is a type of agricultural robot. Automated milking is therefore also called robotic milking.^[1] Common systems rely on the use of computers and special herd management software. They can also be used to monitor the health status of cows.

Automated milking

A cow and a milking machine - partial automation compared to hand milking Leitevaca.JPG — A cow and a milking machine – partial automation compared to hand milking

Basics – milking process and milking schedules

The milking process is the collection of tasks specifically devoted to extracting milk from an animal (rather than the broader field of dairy animal husbandry). This process may be broken down into several sub-tasks: collecting animals before milking, routing animals into the parlour, inspection and cleaning of teats, attachment of milking equipment to teats, and often massaging the back of the udder to relieve any held back milk, extraction of milk, removal of milking equipment, and routing of animals out of the parlour.

Maintaining milk yield during the lactation period (approximately 300 days) requires consistent milking intervals, usually twice daily and with maximum time spacing between milkings.^[2] In fact, all activities on the dairy farm must be scheduled around the milking process. Such a milking routine imposes restrictions on the time management and personal life of an individual farmer, as the farmer is committed to milking in the early morning and in the evening for seven days a week, regardless of personal health, family responsibilities or social schedule. This time restriction is exacerbated for lone farmers and farm families if extra labour cannot easily or economically be obtained, and is a factor in the decline in small-scale dairy farming. Techniques such as once-a-day milking and voluntary milking (see below) have been investigated to reduce these time constraints.

Automation progress in the 20th century

To alleviate the labour involved in milking, much of the milking process has been automated during the 20th century: many farmers use semi-automatic or automatic cow traffic control (powered gates, etc.), the milking machine (a basic form was developed in the late 19th century) has entirely automated milk extraction, and automatic cluster removal is available to remove milking equipment after milking. Automatic teat spraying systems are available, however, there is some debate over the cleaning effectiveness of these.^{[ citation needed ]}

Machine milking works by using vacuum pressure to extract milk from cows. Specialized machines apply a steady vacuum to the cow's teat, gently sucking out the milk and transferring it to a container. Additionally, these machines periodically apply external pressure to the entire teat, which helps maintain proper blood circulation.^[3]

The final manual labour tasks remaining in the milking process were cleaning and inspection of teats and attachment of milking equipment (milking cups) to teats. Automatic cleaning and attachment of milking cups is a complex task, requiring accurate detection of teat position and a dexterous mechanical manipulator. These tasks have been automated successfully in the voluntary milking system (VMS), or automatic milking system (AMS).

Automatic milking systems (AMS)

Since the 1970s, much research effort has been expended in investigating methods to alleviate time management constraints in conventional dairy farming, culminating in the development of the automated voluntary milking system. There is a video of the historical development of the milking robot at Silsoe Research Institute.

Voluntary milking allows the cow to decide her own milking time and interval, rather than being milked as part of a group at set milking times. AMS requires complete automation of the milking process as the cow may elect to be milked at any time.

The milking unit comprises a milking machine, a teat position sensor (usually a laser), a robotic arm for automatic teat-cup application and removal, and a gate system for controlling cow traffic. The cows may be permanently housed in a barn, and spend most of their time resting or feeding in the free-stall area. If cows are to be grazed as well, using a selection gate to allow only those cows that have been milked to the outside pastures has been advised by some AMS manufacturers.

When the cow elects to enter the milking unit (due to highly palatable feed that she finds in the milking box), a cow ID sensor reads an identification tag (transponder) on the cow and passes the cow ID to the control system. If the cow has been milked too recently, the automatic gate system sends the cow out of the unit. If the cow may be milked, automatic teat cleaning, milking cup application, milking, and teatspraying takes place. As an incentive to attend the milking unit, concentrated feedstuffs needs to be fed to the cow in the milking unit.

The barn may be arranged such that access to the main feeding area can only be obtained by passing the milking unit. This layout is referred to as guided cow traffic. Alternatively, the barn may be set up such that the cow always has access to feed, water, and a comfortable place to lie down, and is only motivated to visit the milking system by the palatable feed available there. This is referred to as free cow traffic.

The innovative core of the AMS system is the robotic manipulator in the milking unit. This robotic arm automates the tasks of teat cleaning and milking attachment and removes the final elements of manual labour from the milking process. Careful design of the robot arm and associated sensors and controls allows robust unsupervised performance, such that the farmer is only required to attend the cows for condition inspection and when a cow has not attended for milking.^[4]

Typical capacity for an AMS is 50–70 cows per milking unit.^[5] AMS usually achieve milking frequencies between 2 and 3 times per day, so a single milking unit handling 60 cows and milking each cow 3 times per day has a capacity of 7.5 cows per hour. This low capacity is convenient for lower-cost design of the robot arm and associated control system, as a window of several minutes is available for each cow and high-speed operation is not required.

AMS units have been available commercially since the early 1990s, and have proved relatively successful in implementing the voluntary milking method. Much of the research and development has taken place in the Netherlands. The most farms with AMS are located in the Netherlands, and Denmark.

A new variation on the theme of robotic milking includes a similar robotic arm system, but coupled with a rotary platform, improving the number of cows that can be handled per robot arm.^[6] A mobile variation of robotic milking, adapted to tie-stall configuration (stanchion barns), is used in Canada. In this configuration, the AMS travels in the centre isle of the barn approaching cows from behind to milk them in their stalls.

A portable milking machine is an AMS on wheels. Portable milking machines have gained popularity with their low cost of installation and ability to take them neat to animals who cannot be taken to the barn to milk.^[7] However they are reliant on manual labour to do the milking and may not be suitable as the only method of milking in large farms.

Advantages

Elimination of labour - The farmer is freed from the milking process and associated rigid schedule, and labour is devoted to supervision of animals, feeding, etc.
Milking consistency – The milking process is consistent for every cow and every visit, and is not influenced by different persons milking the cows. The four separate milking cups are removed individually, meaning that an empty quarter does not stay attached while the other three are finishing, resulting in less threat of injury. The newest models of automatic milkers can vary the pulsation rate and vacuum level based on milk flow from each quarter.
Increased milking frequency – Milking frequency may increase to three times per day, however typically 2.5 times per day is achieved.^[8] This may result in less stress on the udder and increased comfort for the cow, as on average less milk is stored. Higher frequency milking increases milk yield per cow, however much of this increase is water rather than solids.^{[ citation needed ]}
Perceived lower stress environment – There is a perception that elective milking schedules reduce cow stress.
Herd management – The use of computer control allows greater scope for data collection. Such data allows the farmer to improve management through analysis of trends in the herd, for example response of milk production to changes in feedstuffs. Individual cow histories may also be examined, and alerts set to warn the farmer of unusual changes indicating illness or injury. Information gathering provides added value for AMS, however correct interpretation and use of such information is highly dependent on the skills of the user or the accuracy of computer algorithms to create attention reports.

Considerations and disadvantages

Higher initial cost – AMS systems cost approximately €120,000 ($190,524) per milking unit as of 2003 (presuming barn space is already available for loose-stall housing). Equipment costs decreased from $175,000 for the first stall to $158,000. Equipment costs decreased from $10,000/stall for a double-six parlor to $9000/stall for a double-ten parlor with a cost of $1200/stall for pipeline milking. Initial parlor cost was increased $5000/stall to represent a high cost parlor.^[9] Whether it is economically beneficial to invest in an AMS instead of a conventional milking parlor depends on constructions costs, investments in the milking system and costs of labour. Besides costs of labour, the availability of labour should also be taken into account. In general, an AMS is economically beneficial for smaller scale farms, and large dairies can usually operate more cheaply with a milking parlor.
Increased electricity costs - to operate the robots, but this can be more than outweighed by reduced labour input.

Increased complexity – While complexity of equipment is a necessary part of technological advancement, the increased complexity of the AMS milking unit over conventional systems, increases the reliance on manufacturer maintenance services and possibly increasing operating costs. The farmer is exposed in the event of total system failure, relying on prompt response from the service provider. In practice AMS systems have proved robust and manufacturers provide good service networks. Because all milking cows have to visit the AMS voluntarily, the system requires a high quality of management. The system also involves a central place for the computer in the daily working routines.
Difficult to apply in pasture systems – as a continuous animal presence is required for an optimal utilization of the AMS unit, AMS works at their best in zero-grazing systems, in which the cow is housed indoors for most of the lactation period. Zero-grazing suits areas (e.g., the Netherlands) where land is at a premium, as maximum land can be devoted to feed production which is then collected by the farmer and brought to the animals in the barn. In pasture systems, cows graze in fields and are required to walk to the milking parlour. It has been found that it can be challenging to make cows maintain a high milking frequency if the distance to walk between pasture and milking unit is too great. Maintaining production on pasture has, however, been shown to be possible in amongst others the AUTOGRASSMILK project.^[10] There are currently research projects at the Dexcel facility in New Zealand, University of Sydney's FutureDairy site, Michigan State University's Kellogg Biological Station and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences's research facility Lövsta Livestock Research Center, where cattle are on pasture and milked by AMS.
Lower milk quality –With automatic milking, the number of anaerobic spores, the freezing point increases, the frequency of milk quality failure almost doubles, which fully reflects the quality of milk caused by automatic milking. Although the automatic milking machine cleans the cow's teat and tests the pre-squeezed milk, there is still a phenomenon that the infected milk is not transferred, and the device itself is also lack of cleaning, and the milk is not handled properly. This situation was also confirmed in 2002 when investigating nearly 98 farms in Denmark with automatic milking systems.^[11] Bulk milk total bacteria count (BMTBC) and somatic cell count (BMSCC) are also affected by automatic milking. These two counts were studied when introducing an automatic milking system to cows that were previously milked conventionally. BMSCC was found to not significantly increase between pre and post-AMS installation but BMTBC was found to significantly increase in the first three months but then return to normal levels. BMSCC was found to significantly improve in the third year with respect to the pre-introduction level. ^[12]
Possible increase in stress for some cows – Cows are social animals, and it has been found that due to dominance of some cows, others will be forced to milk only at night.^{[ citation needed ]} Such behaviour is inconsistent with the perception that AMS reduces stress by allowing "free choice" of milking time.
Decreased contact between farmer and herd – Effective animal husbandry requires that the farmer be fully aware of herd condition. In conventional milking, the cows are observed before milking equipment is attached, and ill or injured cows can be earmarked for attention. Automatic milking decreases the time the farmer has such close contact with the animal, with the possibility that illness may go unnoticed for longer periods and both milk quality and cow welfare suffer. In practice, milk quality sensors at the milking unit attempt to detect changes in milk due to infection, and farmers inspect the herd frequently. (Farmers still need to provide bedding for the cows, provide reproductive health services, provide hoof care, feed them, and occasionally repair parts of the barn.) However this concern has meant that farmers are still tied to a seven-day schedule. Modern automatic milking systems attempt to rectify this problem by gathering data that would not be available in many conventional systems including milk temperature, milk conductivity, milk color including infrared scan, change in milking speed, change in milking time or milk letdown by quarter, cow's weight, cow's activity (movements), time spent ruminating, etc.
Dependence on the robotics company – maintenance becomes significantly more time critical and may put the farmer at greater risk. For example, one farm in Estonia reported losses of over 1 million euros, when the robots from BouMatic Robotics performed below promised standards and the company failed to provide maintenance.^[13]

Manufacturers

GEA Farm Technologies (Germany, formerly WestfaliaSurge), MIone AMS
Lely (Netherlands), Lely Astronaut AMS
DeLaval (Sweden), DeLaval VMS
Fullwood (UK), Merlin AMS
Milkomax (Canada), Tie-Stall AMS
SAC (Denmark), purchased the Dutch manufacturer of the Galaxy Robot AMS in 2005, sell under the brands SAC RDS Futureline MARK II, Insentec Galaxy Starline, BouMatic’s ProFlex
BoumaticRobotics (NL), MR-S1, MR-D1
Prompt Softech (Ahmedabad, India) Manufacturer of Automatic Milk Collection System.
ADF Milking (UK), Manufacturer of the Automatic Dipping and Flushing system.
JSC Mototecha Lithuania, manufacturer of mobile milking parlour systems.

Notes

↑ "Robotic Milking of Dairy Cows". Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. 2012-05-16. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
↑ "Milk yield and lactation length in tropical cattle". www.fao.org. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
↑ "Milking, milk production hygiene and udder health". www.fao.org. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
↑ "Device Profile: DeLaval Voluntary Milking System". LinuxDevices.com. 2005-10-21. Archived from the original on 2009-02-14.
↑ "Automatic Milking Systems". www.dairyaustralia.com.au. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
↑ "Robotic Rotary Fact Sheet" (PDF). FutureDairy. November 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-22.
↑ "Milking Machine". Farm and Ranch Depot. 2023-05-31. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
↑ Lessire, Françoise (2023-05-31). "Effect of Minimum Milking Interval on Traffic and Milk Production of Cows Milked by a Pasture Based Automatic Milking System". Animals. 12 (10): 1281. doi: 10.3390/ani12101281 . PMC 9138149 . PMID 35625127.
↑ Rotz, C.A.; Coiner, C.U.; Soder, K.J. (2003). "Automatic Milking Systems, Farm Size, and Milk Production". Journal of Dairy Science. 86 (12): 4167–4177. doi: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(03)74032-6 . PMID 14740859.
↑ "Results and deliverables". autograssmilk.dk. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
↑ Rasmussen, M.D.; Bjerring, M.; Justesen, P.; Jepsen, L. (2002-11-01). "Milk Quality on Danish Farms with Automatic Milking Systems". Journal of Dairy Science. 85 (11): 2869–2878. doi: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(02)74374-9 . ISSN 0022-0302. PMID 12487454.
↑ Castro, Angel (2018). "Long-term variability of bulk milk somatic cell and bacterial counts associated with dairy farms moving from conventional to automatic milking systems". Italian Journal of Animal Science. Journal of Animal Science. 17: 218–225. doi: 10.1080/1828051X.2017.1332498 . hdl: 10347/22393 .
↑ Urmo Andressoo: "Miljon vastu taevast: streikivate lüpsirobotite lugu". Äripäev, 2017-11-29 (in Estonian)

Related Research Articles

A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also describe a dairy farm or the part of a mixed farm dedicated to milk for human consumption, whether from cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, horses or camels.

The Holstein Friesian is an international breed or group of breeds of dairy cattle. It originated in the Dutch provinces of North Holland and Friesland and in Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. It is the dominant breed in industrial dairy farming worldwide, and is found in more than 160 countries. It is known by many names, among them Holstein, Friesian and Black and White.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dairy farming</span> Long-term production of milk

Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history that goes back to the early Neolithic era, around the seventh millennium BC, in many regions of Europe and Africa. Before the 20th century, milking was done by hand on small farms. Beginning in the early 20th century, milking was done in large scale dairy farms with innovations including rotary parlors, the milking pipeline, and automatic milking systems that were commercially developed in the early 1990s.

Dairy cattle are cattle bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species Bos taurus.

Free range denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals, for at least part of the day, can roam freely outdoors, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day. On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, thereby technically making this an enclosure, however, free range systems usually offer the opportunity for the extensive locomotion and sunlight that is otherwise prevented by indoor housing systems. Free range may apply to meat, eggs or dairy farming.

A somatic cell count (SCC) is a cell count of somatic cells in a fluid specimen, usually milk. In dairying, the SCC is an indicator of the quality of milk—specifically, its low likeliness to contain harmful bacteria, and thus its high food safety. White blood cells (leukocytes) constitute the majority of somatic cells in question. The number of somatic cells increases in response to pathogenic bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus, a cause of mastitis. The SCC is quantified as cells per milliliter. General agreement rests on a reference range of less than 100,000 cells/mL for uninfected cows and greater than 250,000 for cows infected with significant pathogen levels. Several tests like the PortaSCC milk test and The California mastitis test provide a cow-side measure of somatic cell count. The somatic cell count in the milk also increases after calving when colostrum is produced.

An animal stall is an enclosure housing one or a few animals. Stalls for animals can often be found wherever animals are kept: a horse stable is often a purpose-built and permanent structure. A farmer's barn may be subdivided into animal stalls or pens for cows and other livestock.

A barnyard or farmyard is an enclosed or open yard adjoining a barn, and, typically, related farm buildings, including a farmhouse. Enclosed barnyards are usually formed by a combination of fences and farm structures.

Total mixed ration (TMR) is a method of feeding dairy cattle. The purpose of feeding a TMR diet is that each cow can consume the required level of nutrients in each bite. A cow's ration should include good quality forages, a balance of grains and proteins, vitamins and minerals.

A milking pipeline or milk pipeline is a component of a dairy farm animal-milking operation which is used to transfer milk from the animals to a cooling and storage bulk tank.

Happy Cow Creamery is a family-owned dairy farm in Pelzer, South Carolina that bottles and sells its own milk on site from the farm's closed herd of grass-fed Holstein cattle. The creamery's whole milk, buttermilk and chocolate milk is sold in the farm's on-site store and through grocery, convenience and country stores in Upstate region of South Carolina. The milk is not homogenized and is low-temperature pasteurized and inspected by the State of South Carolina.

The Bender Machine Works in Hayward, Wisconsin, is a dairy equipment manufacturer that played a major role in the history of the dairy farming business in the United States from the 1950s to the 1980s, producing milk pipeline and milk transfer cart components, and washing/vacuum-releasing equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dairy farming in New Zealand</span> Overview article

Dairy farming in New Zealand began during the early days of colonisation by Europeans. The New Zealand dairy industry is based almost exclusively on cattle, with a population of 4.92 million milking cows in the 2019-20 season. The income from dairy farming is now a major part of the New Zealand economy, becoming an NZ$13.4 billion industry by 2017.

Bovine mastitis is the persistent, inflammatory reaction of the udder tissue due to physical trauma or microorganisms infections. Mastitis, a potentially fatal mammary gland infection, is the most common disease in dairy cattle in the United States and worldwide. It is also the most costly disease to the dairy industry. Milk from cows suffering from mastitis has an increased somatic cell count. Prevention and control of mastitis requires consistency in sanitizing the cow barn facilities, proper milking procedure and segregation of infected animals. Treatment of the disease is carried out by penicillin injection in combination with sulphar drug.

Dairy farming is one of the largest agricultural sectors in Canada. Dairy has a significant presence in all of the provinces and is one of the top two agricultural commodities in seven out of ten provinces.

The William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute is a private, not-for-profit educational research institution with an operational dairy farm and Morgan horse herd located in Chazy, New York on the Adirondack Coast of Lake Champlain. Miner Institute currently encompasses over 8,600 acres of forest and agricultural land in the Little Chazy and Great Chazy river watersheds. The Institute is funded through an endowment, research grants and the sale of milk from its dairy operation.

Tie stalls, also known as stanchion or stall barn, are a type of stall where animals are tethered at the neck to their stall. It is mostly used in the dairy industry, although horses might also be stalled in tie stalls. Typical the barn has two rows of stalls, where the cow is tied up for resting, feeding, milking and watering. This type of housing is used in both regular and organic farming.

Anna Baldwin was an American dairy farmer and inventor. She operated a dairy farm in Newark, New Jersey who was most famous for her Hygienic Glove Milker, patented on February 18, 1879.

A pasture wedge graph or feed wedge is a farm management tool used by dairy farmers for the purposes of managing pasture. It takes the form of a bar graph, that shows the amount of feed available in a pasture over time, and is therefore shaped as a declining wedge.

Dairy is a major industry in the state of Wisconsin. Being known for its dairy production, the state is often called "America's Dairyland." The industry is prominent in official state symbols—being displayed on the state's license plates, state's slogan, and on the state quarter.

References

EU project; Automatic Milking
Hogeveen, H., W., et al., (2001), “Milking interval, milk production and milk flow-rate in an automatic milking system”, Livestock Production Science, Vol. 72, pp. 157–167.
Hopster, H., et al., (2002), "Stress Responses during Milking; Comparing Conventional and Automatic Milking in Primiparous Dairy Cows", Journal of Dairy Science Vol. 85, pp. 3206–3216
Millar, K. M., (2000), "Respect for Animal Autonomy in Bioethical Analysis: The Case of Automatic Milking Systems (AMS)", Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, Springer, Netherlands, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 41–50
Rossing, W. and Hogewerf, P. H., (1997), “State of the art of automatic milking systems”, Computers and electronics in agriculture, Vol. 17, pp. 1–17
Schukken, Y.H., Hogeveen H., and Smink, B.J., (1999), "Robotic Milking and Milk Quality, Experiences From the Netherlands", National Mastitis Council Regional Meeting Proceedings 1999, pp. 64–69

External links

The first milking robot prototype, and a modern AMS unit at work on YouTube (comment in Frisian)
Milking machine manufacturers
Doug Reinemann (July 18, 2018). "Milking Machines:The First 100 Years". pbswisconsin.org. Retrieved June 10, 2021.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Robotic Milking of Dairy Cows". Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. 2012-05-16. Retrieved 2012-11-07.

[2] "Milk yield and lactation length in tropical cattle". www.fao.org. Retrieved 2023-05-31.

[3] "Milking, milk production hygiene and udder health". www.fao.org. Retrieved 2023-05-31.

[4] "Device Profile: DeLaval Voluntary Milking System". LinuxDevices.com. 2005-10-21. Archived from the original on 2009-02-14.

[5] "Automatic Milking Systems". www.dairyaustralia.com.au. Retrieved 2023-05-31.

[6] "Robotic Rotary Fact Sheet" (PDF). FutureDairy. November 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-22.

[7] "Milking Machine". Farm and Ranch Depot. 2023-05-31. Retrieved 2023-05-31.

[8] Lessire, Françoise (2023-05-31). "Effect of Minimum Milking Interval on Traffic and Milk Production of Cows Milked by a Pasture Based Automatic Milking System". Animals. 12 (10): 1281. doi: 10.3390/ani12101281 . PMC 9138149 . PMID 35625127.

[RotzCoiner2003-9] Rotz, C.A.; Coiner, C.U.; Soder, K.J. (2003). "Automatic Milking Systems, Farm Size, and Milk Production". Journal of Dairy Science. 86 (12): 4167–4177. doi: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(03)74032-6 . PMID 14740859.

[10] "Results and deliverables". autograssmilk.dk. Retrieved 2017-03-26.

[11] Rasmussen, M.D.; Bjerring, M.; Justesen, P.; Jepsen, L. (2002-11-01). "Milk Quality on Danish Farms with Automatic Milking Systems". Journal of Dairy Science. 85 (11): 2869–2878. doi: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(02)74374-9 . ISSN 0022-0302. PMID 12487454.

[12] Castro, Angel (2018). "Long-term variability of bulk milk somatic cell and bacterial counts associated with dairy farms moving from conventional to automatic milking systems". Italian Journal of Animal Science. Journal of Animal Science. 17: 218–225. doi: 10.1080/1828051X.2017.1332498 . hdl: 10347/22393 .

[13] Urmo Andressoo: "Miljon vastu taevast: streikivate lüpsirobotite lugu". Äripäev, 2017-11-29 (in Estonian)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]