Dairy NZ

New to automatic milking, John and Margaret Fisher and farm manager Gareth are doing the hard yards as they train their kiwi-cross herd to use the new technology.

The Cambridge farmers commissioned 4 De Laval Voluntary Milking System (VMS) units in March 2011 to milk 280 cows on their 78 effective ha property.  Before going to automatic milking the couple milked 322 cows in a 24 aside herringbone, they are targeting 320 cows for the 2011/12 season.

The technology has always interested John and the flat rectangular farm is well suited to the automatic milking system.

John had been keeping an eye on the technology since 2001 by studying reports from other farms and seeing first hand the robots in operation, at Greenfields and around the world.

The farm, which the Fishers have owned since 1984, has been divided into three grazing areas with the existing herringbone now used for animal treatment and a post-milking separation yard.

John knew what to expect.

“I always knew it was going to be tough, I am still quite happy with the process and I certainly wouldn’t want to go back to putting cups on at the moment,” says John.

The first few days were the most challenging.

Ten days prior to the first milking the cows were walked through the shed and robots to familiarise them with the new technology. On the first milking 130 cows were milked between 9am and 5pm and a second herd of 140 cows went through from 5pm to 1am.

The second milking was the hardest as some cows were stubborn, but after a few times they settled down.

The number of cows that would hold their milk in the first milking was also underestimated and production was down 50 percent after the first milking.

However, this result was soon turned around.

“I was pleased to see it bounce back quickly and a week after starting the cows were back to pre robot production,” says John.

It has been all hands on deck.

“Because we chose to push a big group of cows through straight away the pressure was on, so we had people at the dairy almost 24 hours a day,” says John.

Lessons are quickly being learnt – one of those is around feeding.

“I was feeding them pretty well the first few days to minimise production loss but of course because they are well fed they don’t want to move,” says John.

Locally based service technicians have provided extra support – in the first few days they were at the Fishers’ farm every day, making sure everything was running smoothly.

The number of people needed has eased off as the cows get into a routine and move more readily without the need to be pushed along.

Cows are starting to wait at the gate to be milked by the robots which are currently set at 1.5 milking/cow/day.

The timing for introducing the system was important.

“In hindsight its been a good decision to start up near the end of the season. The cows are learning fast and I am looking forward to how they go next season,” says John.

Farm Layout:

System Layout: