Leedstone hosted their annual Dairy Technology (Robotics) Tour, visiting 3 farm families who recently added robotic milking systems and/or other automated equipment to their operations. The tour allows people from all walks of life to see, firsthand, how robotics work in the dairy industry. Read more about one of the participating farm families (the Janski’s) in this March 22nd Dairy Star article, From hired help to robot.
SOUTH HAVEN, Minn. – When the Janski family was having trouble finding quality employees, they knew something had to change.
“It was a struggle finding good help,” Rich Janski said.
“We were too big to do it ourselves and too small to hire someone on full-time,” said Marlys Janski. “We wanted to continue our dairy operation.”
Rich and Marlys ended up installing four robotic milkers and began milking with them in January. The Janskis hosted the Dairy Technology Tour on March 18 and 19 at their farm near South Haven, Minn. The Janskis milk 210 cows with their sons, Thomas (22) and Daniel (20).
When the Janskis decided to make the switch to robots, they remodeled their existing freestall barn with a double-10 parallel parlor to accommodate four Astronaut A4 robots.
They added 36 feet to one end for a cross pit and 40 feet on the other end to house the robots.
After beginning to milk their cows with the robots, the Janskis dealt with a few challenges.
“Our somatic cell count went up a bit,” Rich said.
With the parlor, the Janskis used to bring the cows up and bed the stalls while they were being milked. But with the robots, the cows are in the stalls all the time.
“If they were laying down, we would let them,” Rich said. “We realized we had to get everyone up and clean under them. Now, we are back to a respectable level.”
The Janskis did also have to sell a few of their cows once they made the switch.
“The three we sold were good cows but their teats were crossed making it hard for the robot to attach the unit,” Rich said. “It was hard to see them go, but I sold them to a neighbor.”
Despite a few challenges in the beginning, the Janskis have been enjoying the benefits of the new milking units.
“The activity monitors helped detect heats in the cows,” Daniel said. “We used to bull breed, so we never had to watch for heats. But we are breeding with A.I. now. The robots have really helped us.”
The activity monitors didn’t just help with heat detection, it also helped with managing sick cows and keeping cows on feed.
“Those are the biggest things,” Rich said. “We are catching things a lot faster.”
When they were milking in the parlor, the Janskis wouldn’t be able to see a drop in milk as easily.
“When a cow that was not a fetch cow all of a sudden becomes a fetch cow or if she was being refused seven times a day from the robot and suddenly is being refused twice a day, I know something is wrong,” Rich said. “It’s a handy tool.”
Even with the activity monitors, Rich still believes that watching the cows is key to success.
“You can learn a lot about a cow with out looking at them with the robots, but you still have to check on them,” Rich said. “That doesn’t go away.”
Milk production has also increased since installing the robots.
“The cows are visiting the robots about three times a day,” Daniel said. “The milk production has gone up seven to eight pounds per cow.”
The cows’ temperament has changed with the robots.
“They are calmer now,” Marlys said.
Rich agreed.
“They are mellow now,” he said. “The robots have changed the personality of the cows.”
The four automated milkers are not the only new technology the Janskis have added to the dairy. They also have a robotic feed pusher that runs every hour, except to clean the mangers and drop new feed.
“There are not as many foot problems anymore because they are not reaching for their feed as much,” Marlys said.
The robots have allowed the Janskis to be focus on managing the dairy.
“We are spending more time doing more management,” Daniel said.
“We are doing a better job with the cows,” said Blake Kunkel, one of the Janskis’ employees.
Overall, the Janskis are happy with their decision to install automated milkers.
“I love them now,” Marlys said.
“They have made us better managers,” Rich said. “I like everything about them.”
