Robots boost dairy output

A new state-of-the-art building and the most modern robot milkers have helped boost productivity on Slimbridge Farm in Gloucestershire by an average of six litres per cow, per day.

The remarkable improvement – representing around a 30% uplift in output – can be put down to a shared investment by our tenant farmer, Gerry Wildy and The Ernest Cook Trust in new buildings and equipment, dramatically improving the environment for the cows, leading to higher milk yields.

An enthusiastic advocate of the robotic system which allows the cows to decide for themselves when they need milking, Gerry first adopted robots in the dairy in 2009 and was among the first dairy farmer in the area to do so. 

He now has a 200-strong herd of Holsteins, aiming to be milking around 165 cows at any one time. Gerry grows grass for silage, along with wheat and maize on his 380 acres and is close to being self-sufficient in feed for the cows, which are housed full-time.

He has previously sold milk to Cadbury for milk chocolate products, but has switched to a new contract with Müller.

When the original Lely robotic machines he had installed in 2009 started to reach the end of their lives in 2018-19 he drew up plans for a new building to house two new robot milkers, putting a third machine in an existing building. The improved system was up and running by 2021 – and within just six weeks milk output had soared.

Gerry said there were no other changes made to the cows’ regime, other than improving their environment and installing the new robot milkers. “The cows are the same and they are on the same ration as before, so the big change is the environment,” he added.

“The cows have more room to move, larger beds to lie on and artificial light that gives them the equivalent of 16 hours of sunshine on a midsummer day and eight hours of moonlight at night. Gerry believes it makes for the perfect environment for dairy cows.”

“They are very contented cows,” he said. “Cows are inherently lazy – when we put in the first robotic milkers we also ran a traditional parlour and when we turned out a freshly calved cow she would stand at the gate and shout for anything up to ten days to come back inside!”

Gerry said it was possible to measure the stress levels in dairy cows through a somatic cell count and levels fell significantly when cows were kept inside and could chose when they were milked robotically.

He said the biggest challenge when switching from a traditional dairy farming regime to robotic milking was the initial investment. But he said measured over a decade weighing the benefits against the cost showed clear advantages for his system.

And he said it gave farm staff more time to care for the cows because they were not having to spend hours milking. “They can see immediately if a cow goes lame, for example, and can deal with it,” he said.

The robot system is also better for the staff’s work-life balance and it hopefully makes it easier to recruit workers because potential candidates know they will not be tied to routine of milking.

Back-up from the robotic milkers’ manufacturer Lely is crucial to ensure the machines are always operational and Gerry said computer links between his farm and the company meant it was possible for faults to be diagnosed and even fixed remotely. If engineers are required they can be on hand quickly, ensuring there is minimal break in the milking regime.

Phase two of the improvement plan involves putting up another new building to house the third milking machine – and freeing up the old building in the process which can be put to a new use.