Batch milking with robots

Although you might be thinking that there is little to be gained financially, because you need the same number of machines, as a voluntary system, there are actually some savings to be made here, where the manufacturers can centralise some of the equipment on the machines, such as milk and vacuum pumps and so the costs per unit reduces.

 If we take our 440 cow example above ,on a voluntary system, this will typically be run as 4 micro herds of 110 cows, each with a combination of early, mid and late lactation cows, in each group. 

With a new build this can be planned for, but when you are trying to retro fit this in to an existing building, it is not always possible and it ends up being a compromise.

This can also lead to some serious building costs, which you will not incur with batch milking because the groups can remain the same, as they would for a conventional milking. Handling and separation can also be centralised rather than replicating in every micro herd.

It can be hard with large herds on a voluntary system, to keep all of the mirco herds running at full capacity, as it requires a certain amount of juggling with cows numbers, which you don’t have with batch milking.

Voluntary systems will have an impact on feed costs, if you have been using a total mixed  ration, as you have to reduce the concentrates outside to get enough visits in the robots. The maximum recommended on the feed fence, is the average yield of the group, minus 7 litres. So more concentrates have to be fed in this situation.

Batch milking with robots on the other hand, allows you to manage your groups as you would if you were milking through a conventional parlour and so you can feed more heavily outside. Some concentrates will be required in the robots but at a reduced rate.

Another option that you have with batch milking, is to milk some groups more often than others. So, early lactation cows could be taken to the robots four times a day, mid lactation three times and your lates, just twice.

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Manpower will be constantly required to move groups of cows to the robot collecting area, to oversee the milking operation and to clean down the machines. So, this is a major consideration.

Whilst voluntary systems do not require any manpower at night, apart from responding to any alarms.

With voluntary milking, cows become very quiet because they are not being herded two or three times a day but you will not see the benefit of this with batch milking.

Although the herd was being milked three times a day before the robots were installed the Jensens have seen an increase in milk yield from13,500Kg per cow to just over 15,000 Kg which they put down to increased cow comfort and less stress on the cows. This has equated to around 4Kg per cow per day which has been an additional bonus.

Initially it was felt that the herd would have to be fed at around 2Kg per milking in order to attract them through the robots, as would be expected on a voluntary milking system. However, over time they realised that they were able to reduce the amount fed down to 0.3Kg per visit with no feed at all for last 120 days of lactation. “We now feel that we could actually cut the concentrates completely in the robots,” explains Lene  “because this is not the incentive for the cows to enter the robots, it is actually the desire to return to the feed fence.”

The herd is fed a total mixed ration outside which is worth maintenance plus 40Kg, consisting of 60:40 maize to grass silage and a concentrate blend.

The herd comprises of 73% Friesian Holsteins and 23% Danish Reds, which combined are producing excellent milk quality with the following twelve-month rolling averages:

4.6%  Fat
3.88%  Protein
15  Bactoscan
90 Somatic cell count

We are delighted with how our first two years have gone” continues Lene “and we still have some spare capacity if we want to increase our numbers further, simply by reducing the down time between milkings. We have also left space for two more robots to give us additional flexibility. We have found, there are many benefits for batch milking with larger herds and I am sure it will be adopted more widely in the future.”

The Hansens looked at various manufacturers but decided on Boumatic for several reasons. ”Firstly we had a good working relationship with Ole and Torben from Pro Milking and Carsten Dideriksen from BouMatic sales in Denmark, so we were confident that they could deliver this project for us.” Explains Mogan “In addition we also liked the Gemini double box as it was going to give us more milking points for our money, then buying single robots and finally the modular concept of the machines leant itself perfectly to batch milking.”

The Hansens ordered 6 Gemini double boxes in 2023 to milk their herd of 250 cows in around three and a half hours, twice a day, in the knowledge that they had plenty of spare capacity to allow for an increase in cow numbers at a later date.

The installation was completed in two stages with the first three machines up and running in April 2024, at which point the parlour was switched off and then the further three machines were installed on its footprint.

The transition has gone really well and the herd is now bought to the robots in two groups of 125 cows, twice a day where they are left to get milked automatically. Each station can milk approximately 7 cows an hour and so the whole operation is completed in around 3 hours with half an hour to clean down. It is all overseen by one person and so there has been a labour saving of 1.5 labour units.

 “The move to batch milking with robots has been great for us,” says Mogan “ it has really delivered everything to our business that we were hoping for. In addition, we still have spare capacity on the machines and so we have flexibility moving forward if we want to further increase our cow numbers.”