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| Automatic milking systems are now available in New Zealand – but how do you know if they are an option for your farm? |
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What farm system is best suited to automatic milking?
Dairy farms in New Zealand are classified as system 1 to 5 based on the level of bought feed (including grazing off) used and fertiliser applied. There are farms from every system operating AMS in New Zealand. In general the higher the level of imported feed the easier it should be to implement and get the full benefit of automatic milking and individual cow feeding, particularly if supplementary feed is offered at the dairy. All systems require good grazing management to encourage good cow flow and optimise pasture production and utilisation.
A small level of concentrate is generally required to maintain cow flow through the milking stations although there is one farm in New Zealand operating successfully with only grass and no feed in the AMS.
The DairyNZ research farm (Greenfield project) successfully operated within the criteria of a system 2 farm. Within conventional systems emphasis is on milk production per ha. This is equally applicable to automatic milking, however milk production per milking station is another very important performance indicator for system profit. The focus should be on optimising the utilisation of the automatic milking system, whichever farm system is operated.
How many milking stations do I need to milk my herd?
The most common automated milking systems milk one cow at a time but operate 24h/day. The number needed to milk a herd will depend on how often you want the cows to be milked, the peak yield of the herd and what level of utilisation of the milking stations can be achieved. Typical numbers of cows per AMS are 60 to 90.
Each milking has a fixed set-up time, so the aim is to increase the yield per milking by increasing the milking interval but not to the extent that per cow production is compromised.
Is a seasonal or split calving pattern more suited to AMS?
Both can work well in an AMS farm. While split calving better utilises the AMS through the year the decision should be based on economics and the profitability of winter milking needs to be carefully evaluated. Seasonal calving places additional pressure on the AMS about four weeks into calving. This is because of the washing time required between colostrum and mastitis cows. Plan the dairy layout so that colostrum cows can be drafted to a particular robot which avoids taking up time on the other machines.
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