Posted on 09/12/2015 11:11:35 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Robots have taken up residence at some small- and medium-sized dairy farms across the country, providing reliable and more efficient labor and helping the businesses remain viable. Plus, farmers say, the milking technology makes for happier, more productive cows.
Dairy operations here and abroad have used robotic milkers for more than a decade. But with more manufacturers and dealerships emerging the U.S., the number of smaller farms in Iowa with the technology has doubled over the last two years, from roughly 20 to more than 40, and family farms in the Northeast also are plugging in.
The cost of not automating the milking process may be greater for some farmers than shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars, experts say. The technology supplants paying for hard-to-find and migrant labor, creates time for other farm duties and collects vital data about the animals. Perhaps most of all, it boosts the number of gallons of milk being produced because cows get milked when and as often as they want, though it doesn’t affect consumer milk prices.
The reason robots might make sense for many small- and medium-sized farms in the Northeast is because of the challenge of finding reliable workers and outdated infrastructure that makes the operations inefficient, said Richard Kersbergen with the University of Maine Extension. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Udder destruction of labor.
Wanna bet the nitwit that wrote has never been on a dairy farm?
Actually reads like a pretty well-done article to me—and I grew up on a dairy farm.
References to “migrant labor” and all?
There wasn’t any when I was farming in the Northeast—and now it’s the norm. “Migrant” labor has allowed farms to pay only dirt-cheap wages and not consider working conditions or the attractiveness of their jobs much at all. Thus, the automation was able to replace a full-time and part-time worker that combined—including payroll taxes and benefits—were only costing the farmers $60K a year. Like all illegal-infested industry sectors, the cheap labor has led to stalled capital investments, low wages, and relatively poor working conditions.
Two things ... When I was in a conversational Spanish class, most of my classmates were farm family members who needed to commuicate with the help.
Also, DeLaval has a robotic milker on display at our county fair every year. A couple of local farms are using them and they are working out well.
Once the farm is too big for the family to take care of, you either have to hire people or mechanize/automate.
The robotic milker won’t be no-call, no-show; won’t show up drunk or high or hung-over; won’t have paperwork and immigration problems; neither you nor the robot have to speak Spanglish; and the heavier producing cows are able to get milked more often and be more comfortable.
The American way is to throw technology at it, which is why US agriculture is so productive.
Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country. …It is not typically the American way at its core.
My question is what do they do if the robot goes down? You could easily end up with more cows than you could handle by hand when you hit the blue screen of death.
US dairy farming used to be the most technologically advanced in the world, but the abundance of illegal aliens has destroyed our technology advantage. In the Low Countries of Europe, they are almost entirely robotic.
Better buy your robotic milking systems now before Trump makes them really expensive...
Time to start thinking about positioning your investment portfolios accordingly. The real robot revolution will bring a level of universal prosperity unparalleled in history.
This is the socio-economic challenge of the 21st century at a global level, and unless America leads we will be relegated to becoming the 21st century equivalent of a third-world country.
What kind of commercial ag are you familiar with? Isn’t it already ‘automated’?
This seems like a good idea. And if I recall correctly, Japan’s interest in robotics and automation after World War II was precisely to avoid having to import foreign labor.
I watched a “How it was made” doc show, the cows actually decide when they want to be milked, they walk over and get in line.
They like it.
The “Low Countries” are also under the social market economy.
My understanding is that when the cows get full of milk they seek to get milked to relieve the pressure. They learn the pattern and routine.
They are not smart.
Last week I was in Alvin helping a friend replace 600 feet of barb wire fence. A baby cow came up and licked me. That has never happened before. The adults were kinda scary. Too big to pet. I was told to not be nice to them because they’ll lean on the fence trying to get attention after they are habituated.
Right on, exactly right
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.