Barns & Equipment

The right combination of management techniques, a good support system and optimal barn design makes it both possible and effective to incorporate robots into a grazing dairy operation.

Efficiency, innovation and automation are all under one roof in a 12-robot, 900-cow barn at Herrema Dairy.

A list of risk factors for the most common infectious foot lesion, digital dermatitis (DD, also known as hairy heel warts, Mortellaro’s disease), includes multiple aspects related to the cow, the farm’s management and environment.

There are many different factors that can contribute to a liner’s performance and, with the variety of brands and models out there, it could be as difficult as finding your next car. Today, you can choose shapes ranging from round to triangle to square – and even hybrid shapes in between.

Robotics have gained momentum in nearly every industry, and dairy technology is leading the charge. Several companies are successfully installing their robotic milking systems on dairy farms throughout the U.S.

When working with dairies that are learning about robotic milking equipment, we always discuss maintenance costs. People tell me they’ve heard this cost is high. They want to know if this is true and, if so, why.