Robotic milking

The A3 Astronaut, a new robot that automatically milks dairy cows without human assistance, is now available to dairy farmers in Iowa. However, some at the university are skeptical of the impact the machine will have on Iowa farms.

The first unit in Iowa was installed last winter in Buffalo Center. Although the new technology is cutting-edge, the university is not currently considering buying one of these units for its dairy farm.

Wendy Wintersteen, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said the college did not see it as a necessary expense.

“It’s possible we might [consider buying an A3 Astronaut unit]. You never want to say no,” said Maynard Hogberg, department chair of animal science.

The only way a purchase would be considered is if the college could look at the purchase from a research standpoint that would lower the cost of production, Hoberg said.

Currently, milking at the ISU Dairy Farm takes two people five hours in the morning and five hours at night.

Each robotic unit can milk about 60 cows a day and can increase milk production by 10 to 15 percent. The units are designed for farms with 60 to 600 milking cows, said Craig Maltby with AKC Marketing.

Maltby said the market for such a technology in Iowa looks promising.

Each unit, depending on the options chosen, can vary in cost from $160,000 to $200,000 per unit. Around 7000 units have been installed in Europe, but the technology is fairly new to the United States.

Dave Swenson, associate scientist in economics, said although this kind of technology may give the individual dairy farmer the edge, it is not going to help boost Iowa’s dairy economy as a whole.

Swenson said, “This kind of an investment is the kind of thing that would make sense if your long-term prospects were on an industry that was expanding slowly, and you were going to try to remain competitive within that industry to pay off that kind of technology.”

He said that, in terms of the dairy industry, Iowa does not look prone to expand sharply enough to warrant the purchase of the new machines.

The A3 Astronaut uses lasers to attach itself to each cow’s udders. The machine then records and processes data from each teat. The information is then sent to the farmer’s laptop. The A3 analyzes milk chemistry and keeps track of the milk production of each teat. The A3 can tell if one particular teat is over-milked.

The machine operates with a free cow traffic flow, according to the product’s Web site. The cows are trained to go into the stall themselves, where they eat a special feed. After the milking is done, they exit the stalls on their own.

It takes anywhere from two days to a week to train the cows how to use the machine, depending on each cow’s personality, Maltby said.

The machines are not built to accommodate thousands of milking cows, because the mechanical capabilities are just not there, he said. Two to four units fit in a standard-size barn.

If there is a mechanical problem with the unit, a message is automatically sent to the farmer’s cell phone.

Maltby said one of the major benefits of buying this technology is the fact that the farmer does not have to be on the farm at all times. Farmers can afford to take some vacation with their families and don’t have to hire as much help during their absences. The increased milk production also helps each farmer get more from his or her herd.

Maltby said this is especially important considering milk prices have plummeted in the past few years.