Automatic milking system
An automatic milking system (short: AMS ) (also milking robot ) is an automated system for milking of cows .
The milking cluster will automatically and without any manual help with detection systems based on ultrasound , laser and optical sensors to the udder of the cow connected. The milking robot usually works with a partial mixed ration . It is therefore concentrated feed used as bait and received simultaneously by the choice of the amount of the individual animal needs.
advantages
Automatic milking systems hardly require any heavy physical labor. The farm manager is not bound by time, because with conventional milking technology he has to milk twice a day with an interval of 10 to 14 hours. Due to the functional principle, milking robots are automatically equipped with extensive data acquisition. The main purpose of the technology is to track down milk that cannot be marketed. The robot also has to list the cows that have not appeared for milking for a long time. The farmer then has to look for this in the stable and bring it to the robot.
The technology also serves to better control animal health and control oestrus . Claws with sick cows are quickly tracked down as they visit the robot less often due to the pain caused by the illness. Milk temperature, milk ingredients, milk quantity and, in some cases, body weight are recorded with every milking. Since the milking robot knows the data from the previous day, and, for example, during attacks of fever, the milk yield of a cow drops from 35 to 30 liters per day, this cow is put on a list as potentially ill. The farmer can now start an intensive inspection of the animal and, if necessary, call the veterinarian or correct the feeding. This data acquisition is often not built into milking parlors . This ensures early detection of diseases even with large numbers of cows.
Key figures such as concentrate consumption per kilogram of milk or milking speed per minute are used in the long term to select high-performance, healthy cows and enable breeding to be monitored.
The vacuum, the pulsation, the time of the decrease and the stimulation intensity can be customized. So z. B. Cows that have problems with oxytocin production need more stimulation. In addition, an incipient mastitis can be milked out early by extending the milking process.
Because a milking robot is a closed area, the cow can eat concentrated feed in peace without being displaced by higher-ranking cows. This occurs occasionally with pure transponder feeding. The remaining concentrate amounts are listed so that you always have an overview of the amount actually fed. This, too, was rarely possible with the transponder stations of the 1990s.
With high herd performance, there is the option of milking several times a day without additional effort. The space required for robots is very small.
disadvantage
The initial investment costs are often mentioned as disadvantages. A milking robot place for around 60 cows costs between 50,000 and 150,000 euros to purchase. Milking parlors for the same number of cows are often cheaper. When making a comparison, to be fair, one has to add the costs of transponder feeding. The costs of a waiting room in front of the milking parlor, where the entire herd is huddled together and waiting to enter the milking parlor, are company-specific. Due to the shape of the udder, individual cows cannot be milked with milking robots. However, such a low-hanging udder is no longer part of current breeding lines.
history
Attempts to develop an automatic milking system have been made since the 1980's. A prototype was presented for the first time to the specialist agricultural audience at the 3rd Agritechnica in 1989 by the Düvelsdorf company. The first milking robots have been installed on farms since 1992. Three years later, sales were pushed by the Lely company , which is still the market leader today. In the Scandinavian countries, more than 80% of the new stables are now equipped with milking robots, as the factors for acquisition are best met there in that the farms have sufficient space with good animal performance and can often save external labor. At the end of 2008, around 9,000 systems were in operation in Germany. Milking robots are rarely used outside of Europe. In countries like the USA, Japan or New Zealand, either the farms are too big, the labor too cheap or the milk price is too uncertain to risk this high investment (in spring 2009 a single box system cost around 150,000 euros).
System types
Modern automatic milking systems are offered as single or multiple box systems.
In single box systems, the attachment robot is firmly connected to the milking box. With multi-box systems, the joining robot moves from box to box on rails attached to the side. A large number of electronic assemblies ensures the control of the entire system and the effective evaluation of all relevant data on milk and the animal.
Functions
The daily output (depending on the manufacturer) of a one-box system is around 170 to 200 milkings per day, ie around 60 to 70 cows can be milked per milk box. With a five-box system, up to 700 milking processes can be carried out per day.
In most cases, the cows in free cow traffic are attracted by concentrated feed in the milking station. The animal is recognized by a transponder . If the cow is entitled to milk, up to three types of concentrate are given. However, if the animal has already been milked a short time ago, it will be driven out of the facility by machine without getting any concentrate. Accordingly, it takes a certain amount of time before the cows can realistically assess for themselves how often they are fed and milked. After the teats have been cleaned, usually damp, milking begins. The teats are then dipped to protect them from germs.
Modern systems are also able to automatically sort out milk with lumps or blood during the milking process. Tests have shown that these systems can work very precisely and sort out all non-marketable milk without erroneously wasting perfect milk.
Manufacturer
Manufacturers of automatic milking systems are among others
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Information day about the milking robot , in: Allgäuer Bauernblatt 8/2014
- ↑ Evaluation of automatic milking systems, LVLF, Trilk, Zube, Münch, 1996
- ↑ Farmer compares milking systems www.melkroboter.net
- ↑ Evaluation of the application of automatic milking systems Ministry for Rural Development, Environment and Consumer Protection of the State of Brandenburg (MLUV)
- ↑ Milking out mastitis ( memento from March 25, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), State Research Institute Rhineland-Palatinate
- ↑ State Office for the Environment, Ingo Heber, page 8
- ↑ Tänikoner Milking Technology Conference 2009 ( Memento of the original from April 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Swiss Confederation Agroscope
