[Shropshirelass]

Ok so I'm not a complete novice when it comes to dairy cows as we had about 60-80 when I was a child but I never knew the benefits of the different breeds normally used today. I just knew what a Jersey / Gurnsey was & the Black & white 1s were Holsteins or Friesians & that Jerseys & Gurnseys were smaller & gave fattier milk ect.

So yesterday when visiting relatives we get talking about dairy cows & so I asked whats the difference between a Holstein & Friesian as to me they look the same, apparently Holsteins are the bigger leggier cows & their bred to give better milk yields, but Fresians are shorter in length & height & their bred for giving a more fattier & high protein milk which makes it better for cheese & cream making but not as good as Jerseys & Gurnseys. I also was asking what the new & up & coming breeds like the Norwegian reds & Brown swiss were like compared to the old favourites & they apparently have good milk fat & protein & apparently better feet that breeds like the holsteins & the Brown swiss are apparently good herd leaders - like the ones who like to be in charge & come out of the field 1st. Then finally we talked about how effective we thought things like rotating dairy parlours & robots were affecting the industry & helping it & it all sounded good if you want to save on labor costs & have about a spare 80,000 pounds & 200-300+ cows lying around waiting to be milked & the theory behind it was letting the cows go & be milked when they felt they needed to, by the robot instead of us going & milking them for them, so I suppose its sort of based on the idea of when a cows udder is full & needs emptying the calve would normally be doing this throughout the day, but the robot takes the calves place in this way. Isn't science & technology fascinating???

[devonlady]

But, can the robot detect a scratched teat or a bit of mastitis? Technology goes too far in my opinion. (but, then I am old and yearn for the old days of lamplit sheds and hand milking!)

[Shropshirelass]

With response to that I don't know their supposed to be able to detect heat, & abnormalities in that, so it could indicate infection & it keeps a computerised track record of every cows health data - e.g how much she yields, breeds, what sort of progeny she throws, how healthy it is ect. So thats got to be good for record keeping of our overall herd health both individual & nationwide, to help with health problems & selective breeding. I know they all clean the teats ect, but I think some robots are also designed to scan & measure the teats for defects ect, I may be wrong but for 2-3 people milking 200+ animals in a shed thats even well lit, there are somethings that we may not be able to detect as early as robots but also vice versa.

Don't get me wrong I'm old fashioned too & prefer to put my notes on pen to paper, but I'm of a younger generation, & I've hand milked & my parents / grandparents - milked with both machines & by hand. I agree that there are limits that technology can be taken, & it should never be fully trusted like humans & animals alike & a good farmer will always trust their human instincts. So old methods & techniques must never be forgotten or not used, but they should coincide with the new. There is stuff that is out there that makes stuff farming easier, more traceable for things like rural crime & diseases that can be helped to prevent it. So why shouldn't I do something that would result in me knowing where I can improve on my farm work & help my income & that would have taken me twice as long to do in my grandfathers day & where we relied purely on instincts which are always good to trust but even we make mistakes.

[Louise Gaunt]

I agree with using technology where it is proven to be of benefit, and I am sure that all caring stockmen and women will use their common sense, eyes, ears and noses alongside the technology to ensure good health and husbandry. My concern is that big business might see automated milking, feeding etc, as a way to maximise profit by utilising few or poorly trained staff, to the detriment of animal health, and ultimately, the final product.

[Penninehillbilly]

Interesting point on mastitis, we always brought any problem ones in last for milking, so cross contamination could be a problem?  Or are they all pumped with antibiotics anyway?

[harmony]

Whether you like progress or not and profit margins aside instead of 2/3 people having a full time job you now have one.


Rather like our bank. They used to have four counter staff then two then one and someone telling you to use the automated service. And guess what? Very soon our branch will be closed!

[Buttermilk]

The robots can detect mastitis quicker than a milkmaid can as they sample the milk from each quarter and find the subclinical cases.  They are let down when the software fails or the electric goes off but most modern parlours suffer from the same faults.

The robots have a dump system for milk that does not go into the tank and are flushed through between all animals.

They flag up any cows that have a problem, from failing to come in through to raised temperature.  They can detect when cattle are bulling even and let you know when yields are down.  In some ways they are better than a person on the ground but as in all things it is the way the rest of the system is run that determines how good they are.