Two robotic milking units have helped to free time for Daniel Rieder and his son, Nick Rieder. At Riedland Farms in Monroe the Rieders milk about 125 cows. The farm was one of six operations participating in the Green County Dairy Modernization Tours held Aug. 24, sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Extension and the Green County Milk Quality Council.
The tours are held every two years and feature various sizes of farms that have modernized dairy facilities to increase productivity and animal comfort as well as to reduce labor requirements.
The Rieders installed two Lely Astronaut A4 robotic-milking units about four years ago. Prior to installing the robots, the Rieders were milking three times daily. At the beginning, helping cows make the transition to a catch pen and the robotic milking units took about four months, according to Nick Rieder. But the cows have adjusted.
Since then, acquainting fresh heifers to the system requires about a week of time, Rieder said. He or his father will walk heifers through the catch pen and to one of the robots, standing with the animal while it’s being milked.
“They like being scratched while they’re being milked,” Rieder said.
Cows also are lured to the robots by flavorful corn-gluten pellets and roasted soybeans, which drop – in measured amounts – to a feeder as the cow is being milked.
Dairy production has become more flexible for the Rieders because the cows can be milked at any time of day. That frees time for field work and other farm tasks. Robots also could help offer solutions as available labor becomes more of an issue, Reider said.
Source: Agri-View
