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Posted on 09/04/2014 9:59:07 AM PDT by george76
Next time you pour a nice cold glass of milk, you could have a robot to thank. That's because automated milking machines are showing up at more and more dairy farms in Vermont and New Hampshire.
The technology is cutting down on labor costs, increasing yield and teaching farmers more about the health and productivity of their herds.
Just ask Nate Tullar, of Orford, New Hampshire. Cows have been giving milk at his family’s farm, Tullando, since 1956. That’s when his grandparents started the dairy business, and they have often been open to innovation over the years. There are now about 450 Holsteins to milk several times a day, plus a lot of calves to move from outdoor nursery pens into stalls.
That’s pretty labor-intensive. So about two months ago the Tullar family bought four robotic milkers and moved them into the new red barn. Interior fences guide cows to platforms beside the robots—they look like red refrigerators—in the center of the building, as Nate Tullar looks on.
...
Tullar’s cows produce more milk than they did before the robots arrived. The computer keeps track of how much. It can detect also abnormalities in the milk, check the cow’s health and even give the exact period of time when optimal insemination should take place.
(Excerpt) Read more at digital.vpr.net ...
Milk! It does a botty good!
No more getting up at 3am to milk the cows!
Do they make at least minimum wage?
How about their health care?
How about their birth control pills?
Are they unionized?
Or are the robots being exploited?
Robotic milkers are a huge investment but if the farmer wants to milk three times a day the only other choice is to hire helpers.
Don’t have to pay health insurance for robots
I DEMAND an increase to the minimum wage!
WAIT!! I’ve been replace by a robot?
Domo arigato, Mr. Milkboto.
I saw machines like this 40 years ago in upstate New York. Hardly a new idea.
No.
You still get up at 0300. But you can plug the cows in and go back to sleep.
Welcome to the 20th century. Been doing this in the South for 40 years.
No. They don’t get any of these benefits. They are not illegal aliens.
Well, one or two humans have to be there to oversee things, but those humans can oversee the milking of a much larger herd of cows.
New Orleans cows are the best.
Why not keep them up at night late, (watching westerns on TV would keep them interested) then milk them at 8 or 9 after they have slept in a little more?
It's the best time to catch them in REM sleep when they're having erotic dreams...good milk.
Tried that Western video thing. Too many damn stampedes, got 'em all riled up the next day, running all over the place looking for the Duke or Rowdy Yates.
Banned in schools by Michelle Obama.
Never thought of the stampede scenes!
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