Putting Fresh Cows on the Robots

    Many of you know that we installed robots to milk some of the cows last winter.  Our first milking on the robots was November 27th 2012.  We installed two Lely A4 robots.  We are currently milking about 120 cows with the robots and 80 cows in the parlor.  The robots feed a pellet to attract the cows to come into the robot to get milked.  Because of the pellet, the robot cows cost more to feed than the parlor cows.  The cows can milk up to 5 times a day.  Our parlor cows are milking, on average, 3 times a day vs. 2 times a day in the parlor.  The extra milking translates into an increase in production.  We put the older cows on the robots because older cows milk more.  Our first calf heifers, some cows that don't work on the robots and later in lactation cows make up the parlor herd. 
    This last week we've been busy trying to get field work done between the rain showers so when we had cows calve they got milked in the parlor.  This morning I got 3 cows that calved this past week put on the robots.  Each cow on the robot wears a collar that includes the cows number, a responder that the robot scans to identify the cow, and a weight to keep the collar from spinning.  Before putting the cow in the robot group we have to make up a collar, enter the cows information into the computer along with her responder number, and singe the hair off her udder so the robot has an easier time to locate the teats.  When the cow enters the robot for the first time we use the touch screen to guide the arm under the cow and get it close so it can find the teats.  The robot uses lasers to locate the teats and attach the milkers.  There is a camera over the cow to locate where the cow is standing front to back. After the first milking the robot records the teat positions and remembers this the next time the cow enters the robot so it knows where to start looking.  On average it takes about a half an hour to get a cow on the robot the first time.  After the initial milking, we are averaging around 7 minutes per cow per milking.
     The cows are much happier with the robots.  They choose when to milk, eat, socialize or lie down.  The cows have transitioned to this system very well.  We use washed sand in the stalls for the cows to lay on, it feels like laying on the beach.  Comfortable relaxed cows will produce more.  Cow comfort is very important.  Another day I will include what the daily procedure for chores with the robots include.


Supplies to make collar(collar, responder, numbers, weight)
 

 

 

Cow wearing collar

 

Cow in robot barn side

 

Screen used to attach milker

 

Robot attaching robot room side

 

Robot attached

 

 

Happy content cows laying on sand

 

 

Kids Summer Project

Summer vacation is in full swing at our house already! The past two years the kids have each raised a bull calf over the summer. Before school starts in the fall they have to sell their calves and they get the money. Yesterday morning, which was the second full day of summer vacation, Madi and Tyson wanted to get their calves. I took the kids to the barn and they helped clean the cattle trailer out and service the robots. After helping with these chores, they got to pick out their calves. Tanner decided he wanted to raise two calves this year and because he has been responsible the past two years, I agreed. Out of the six calves the kids had to choose from, four of them were loaded into the trailer and brought back to our place.

The kids had to feed them for the first time last night. Today, Madi spent most of her day with the calves. She even did extra things (like bed for them and spread it around all over) for her brothers calves because she felt sorry for the calves.  After her grandpa told her that there were two more bull calves born today, she sweet talked me into letting her get a second calf.  So, as of tonight the kids now have five calves at our place.

We took pictures of the fun things they have bought with their money from the last two summers. They are really proud of their purchases! They bought their own trampoline, a 4-wheeler, and Tanner bought an autographed basketball from the 2009 state championship team, his favorite possession!

 

Rainy Monday

     Even though it was a rainy day there is still plenty to do when you have livestock.  Brent and Dad spent the day feeding cows and moving cows and heifers between pens.  This morning they took 5 cows out of the parlor that had calved last week and put in the robot group.  This afternoon they moved about 8 heifers that are getting close to calving from the bred heifer pen into the dry cow pen.  Philip and Jon took the truck apart in the shop because because the head gasket blew this weekend.  I spent most of my day in the office updating cow records and looking at our options when the weather cooperates again.  It's May 20th and we have only had 7 days that have been fit to plant so far this year.  As of noon today we've had 3 inches of rain since Friday night and the forcast is for more the next couple of days.  In addition to working in the office I also took a load of cull cows to Perham Stockyards today.  This is the activity that I'll explain today.
     At some point every cow has to leave the milking herd.  It is common for a dairy farm to sell(cull) 30% of their cows every year.  Some herds have a higher cull rate and some have a lower cull rate.  We have been able to be very selective in our culling the last year because we have plenty of replacement heifers.  We are going to have to sell many heifers this year in addition to our normal culling or we will be milking way more cows than we want to.
     Every Monday Perham Stockyards has a sale and once or twice a month we will bring cows to sell if we fill our trailer we can haul 7 cows at a time.  Every month we sort the cows by profitability based on how much milk they produce.  We use this along with an estimated milk price and current feed cost to see which cows we should sell.  Today we sold four cows.  Three of them were sold because they weren't profitable enough and one was sold because she had a high somatic cell count which is an indication of milk quality.
    Because Pelican normally doesn't have school on Mondays Madi usually goes with because she loves watching the calves sell.  Today however Pelican had school so Madi will have to wait for a couple more weeks.

    It's been a busy week.  The weather finally gave us an opportunity to get some crops planted.  Brent has done all the planting so far.  I had a Doctor's appointment on Thursday and had all my restrictions lifted.  I've run the strip-till bar the last couple of days.  I'm in alot of pain but it is good to be able to do things again. 
   We didn't want any rain because all of our fields have good moisture and we would have liked to keep planting.  It was nice to have a slower day, everyone is tired and my body needs some time to recover from the last week.  We have 68% of our corn planted.  It's likely we will switch some acres from corn to soybeans if this wet weather hangs on for a few days.  Bill Gross from farm rescue called yesterday to inform us that they are planning on planting our soybeans in 7-10 days depending on weather.


Brent Planting May 15th

 

 

 

 

Rolling Alfalfa Fields

Yesterday afternoon and evening I rolled the alfalfa fields.  We roll the alfalfa fields to push the rocks back into the ground, this saves a lot on time and repairs when we cut hay in about a month.  This is usually the first thing we can do in the fields in the spring.  Yesterday was the first time ever that I've had to drive around a snow bank when rolling.  Some early reports have said that central MN had alot of winter kill in their alfalfa this winter.  It looks like we lucked out and the alfalfa is starting to green up nicely.  This was also the first time I've spent an extended amount of time in the tractor since the accident.  I made it about 6 hours and my back is pretty sore at least I'm back in the field 4 months after the accident.  It was a nice peaceful 70 degree night in the fields last night.