Automatic milking

13 languages
 Article
 Talk
 Read
 Edit
 View history
Tools

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Milking machine)
 A Fullwood Merlin AMS unit from the 1990s,
exhibit at the Deutsches Museum in Germany

Automatic milking is the milking of dairy animals, especially of dairy cattle,

without human labour. Automatic milking systems (AMS), also
called voluntary milking systems (VMS), were developed in the late 20th
century. They have been commercially available since the early 1990s. The core
of such systems that allows complete automation of the milking process is a
type of agricultural robot. Automated milking is therefore also called robotic
milking.[1] Common systems rely on the use of computers and special herd
management software. They can also be used to monitor the health status of
cows.

Automated milking[edit]
 A cow and a milking machine – partial automation

compared to hand milking A rotary milking parlor –

higher efficiency compared to stationary milking parlors, but still requiring
manual labour with milking machines etc.

Basics – milking process and milking schedules[edit]

The milking process is the collection of tasks specifically devoted to

extracting milk from an animal (rather than the broader field of dairy animal
husbandry). This process may be broken down into several sub-tasks:
collecting animals before milking, routing animals into the parlour, inspection
and cleaning of teats, attachment of milking equipment to teats, and often
massaging the back of the udder to relieve any held back milk, extraction of
milk, removal of milking equipment, and routing of animals out of the parlour.

Maintaining milk yield during the lactation period (approximately 300 days)
requires consistent milking intervals, usually twice daily and with maximum
time spacing between milkings.[2] In fact, all activities on the dairy farm must be
scheduled around the milking process. Such a milking routine imposes
restrictions on the time management and personal life of an individual farmer,
as the farmer is committed to milking in the early morning and in the evening
for seven days a week, regardless of personal health, family responsibilities or
social schedule. This time restriction is exacerbated for lone farmers and farm
families if extra labour cannot easily or economically be obtained, and is a
factor in the decline in small-scale dairy farming. Techniques such as once-a-
day milking and voluntary milking (see below) have been investigated to reduce
these time constraints.

Automation progress in the 20th century[edit]

To alleviate the labour involved in milking, much of the milking process has
been automated during the 20th century: many farmers use semi-automatic or
automatic cow traffic control (powered gates, etc.), the milking machine (a
basic form was developed in the late 19th century) has entirely automated milk
extraction, and automatic cluster removal is available to remove milking
equipment after milking. Automatic teat spraying systems are available,
however, there is some debate over the cleaning effectiveness of these. [citation needed]

Machine milking works by using vacuum pressure to extract milk from cows.
Specialized machines apply a steady vacuum to the cow's teat, gently sucking
out the milk and transferring it to a container. Additionally, these machines
periodically apply external pressure to the entire teat, which helps maintain
proper blood circulation.[3]

The final manual labour tasks remaining in the milking process were cleaning
and inspection of teats and attachment of milking equipment (milking cups) to
teats. Automatic cleaning and attachment of milking cups is a complex task,
requiring accurate detection of teat position and a dexterous mechanical
manipulator. These tasks have been automated successfully in the voluntary
milking system (VMS), or automatic milking system (AMS).

Automatic milking systems (AMS)[edit]

 An older Lely Astronaut AMS unit at work (milking)

Since the 1970s, much research effort has been expended in investigating
methods to alleviate time management constraints in conventional dairy
farming, culminating in the development of the automated voluntary milking
system. There is a video of the historical development of the milking robot at
Silsoe Research Institute.

Voluntary milking allows the cow to decide her own milking time and interval,
rather than being milked as part of a group at set milking times. AMS requires
complete automation of the milking process as the cow may elect to be milked
at any time.

The milking unit comprises a milking machine, a teat position sensor (usually
a laser), a robotic arm for automatic teat-cup application and removal, and a
gate system for controlling cow traffic. The cows may be permanently housed in
a barn, and spend most of their time resting or feeding in the free-stall area. If
cows are to be grazed as well, using a selection gate to allow only those cows
that have been milked to the outside pastures has been advised by some AMS
manufacturers.

When the cow elects to enter the milking unit (due to highly palatable feed that
she finds in the milking box), a cow ID sensor reads an identification tag
(transponder) on the cow and passes the cow ID to the control system. If the
cow has been milked too recently, the automatic gate system sends the cow out
of the unit. If the cow may be milked, automatic teat cleaning, milking cup
application, milking, and teatspraying takes place. As an incentive to attend
the milking unit, concentrated feedstuffs needs to be fed to the cow in the
milking unit.
 Typical VMS stall layout (forced cow traffic layout)

The barn may be arranged such that access to the main feeding area can only
be obtained by passing the milking unit. This layout is referred to as guided
cow traffic. Alternatively, the barn may be set up such that the cow always has
access to feed, water, and a comfortable place to lie down, and is only
motivated to visit the milking system by the palatable feed available there. This
is referred to as free cow traffic.

The innovative core of the AMS system is the robotic manipulator in the
milking unit. This robotic arm automates the tasks of teat cleaning and milking
attachment and removes the final elements of manual labour from the milking
process. Careful design of the robot arm and associated sensors and controls
allows robust unsupervised performance, such that the farmer is only required
to attend the cows for condition inspection and when a cow has not attended
for milking.[4]

Typical capacity for an AMS is 50–70 cows per milking unit. [5] AMS usually
achieve milking frequencies between 2 and 3 times per day, so a single milking
unit handling 60 cows and milking each cow 3 times per day has a capacity of
7.5 cows per hour. This low capacity is convenient for lower-cost design of the
robot arm and associated control system, as a window of several minutes is
available for each cow and high-speed operation is not required.

AMS units have been available commercially since the early 1990s, and have
proved relatively successful in implementing the voluntary milking method.
Much of the research and development has taken place in the Netherlands. The
most farms with AMS are located in the Netherlands, and Denmark.
A new variation on the theme of robotic milking includes a similar robotic arm
system, but coupled with a rotary platform, improving the number of cows that
can be handled per robot arm. [6] A mobile variation of robotic milking, adapted
to tie-stall configuration (stanchion barns), is used in Canada. In this
configuration, the AMS travels in the centre isle of the barn approaching cows
from behind to milk them in their stalls.

A portable milking machine is an AMS on wheels. Portable milking machines

have gained popularity with their low cost of installation and ability to take
them neat to animals who cannot be taken to the barn to milk. [7] However they
are reliant on manual labour to do the milking and may not be suitable as the
only method of milking in large farms.

Advantages[edit]

An AMS unit at work (teat cleaning)

 Elimination of labour - The farmer is freed from the milking process and
associated rigid schedule, and labour is devoted to supervision of animals,
feeding, etc.
 Milking consistency – The milking process is consistent for every cow and
every visit, and is not influenced by different persons milking the cows. The
four separate milking cups are removed individually, meaning that an
 empty quarter does not stay attached while the other three are finishing,
resulting in less threat of injury. The newest models of automatic milkers
can vary the pulsation rate and vacuum level based on milk flow from each
quarter.
 Increased milking frequency – Milking frequency may increase to three
times per day, however typically 2.5 times per day is achieved. [8] This may
result in less stress on the udder and increased comfort for the cow, as on
average less milk is stored. Higher frequency milking increases milk yield
per cow, however much of this increase is water rather than solids. [citation needed]
 Perceived lower stress environment – There is a perception that elective
milking schedules reduce cow stress.
 Herd management – The use of computer control allows greater scope for
data collection. Such data allows the farmer to improve management
through analysis of trends in the herd, for example response of milk
production to changes in feedstuffs. Individual cow histories may also be
examined, and alerts set to warn the farmer of unusual changes indicating
illness or injury. Information gathering provides added value for AMS,
however correct interpretation and use of such information is highly
dependent on the skills of the user or the accuracy of computer algorithms
to create attention reports.

Considerations and disadvantages[edit]

 Higher initial cost – AMS systems cost approximately €120,000 ($190,524)

per milking unit as of 2003 (presuming barn space is already available for
loose-stall housing). Equipment costs decreased from $175,000 for the first
stall to $158,000. Equipment costs decreased from $10,000/stall for a
double-six parlor to $9000/stall for a double-ten parlor with a cost of
$1200/stall for pipeline milking. Initial parlor cost was increased
$5000/stall to represent a high cost parlor. [9] Whether it is economically
beneficial to invest in an AMS instead of a conventional milking parlor
 depends on constructions costs, investments in the milking system and
costs of labour. Besides costs of labour, the availability of labour should
also be taken into account. In general, an AMS is economically beneficial for
smaller scale farms, and large dairies can usually operate more cheaply
with a milking parlor.
 Increased electricity costs - to operate the robots, but this can be more
than outweighed by reduced labour input.

Touchscreen display of a milking robot

 Increased complexity – While complexity of equipment is a necessary part

of technological advancement, the increased complexity of the AMS milking
unit over conventional systems, increases the reliance on manufacturer
maintenance services and possibly increasing operating costs. The farmer is
exposed in the event of total system failure, relying on prompt response
from the service provider. In practice AMS systems have proved robust and
manufacturers provide good service networks. Because all milking cows
have to visit the AMS voluntarily, the system requires a high quality of
management. The system also involves a central place for the computer in
the daily working routines.
 Difficult to apply in pasture systems – as a continuous animal presence
is required for an optimal utilization of the AMS unit, AMS works at their
best in zero-grazing systems, in which the cow is housed indoors for most of
the lactation period. Zero-grazing suits areas (e.g., the Netherlands) where
 land is at a premium, as maximum land can be devoted to feed production
which is then collected by the farmer and brought to the animals in the
barn. In pasture systems, cows graze in fields and are required to walk to
the milking parlour. It has been found that it can be challenging to make
cows maintain a high milking frequency if the distance to walk between
pasture and milking unit is too great. Maintaining production on pasture
has, however, been shown to be possible in amongst others the
AUTOGRASSMILK project.[10] There are currently research projects at
the Dexcel facility in New Zealand, University of Sydney's FutureDairy
site, Michigan State University's Kellogg Biological Station and the Swedish
University of Agricultural Sciences's research facility Lövsta Livestock
Research Center, where cattle are on pasture and milked by AMS.
 Lower milk quality –With automatic milking, the number of anaerobic
spores, the freezing point increases, the frequency of milk quality failure
almost doubles, which fully reflects the quality of milk caused by automatic
milking. Although the automatic milking machine cleans the cow's teat and
tests the pre-squeezed milk, there is still a phenomenon that the infected
milk is not transferred, and the device itself is also lack of cleaning, and the
milk is not handled properly. This situation was also confirmed in 2002
when investigating nearly 98 farms in Denmark with automatic milking
systems.[11] Bulk milk total bacteria count (BMTBC) and somatic cell count
(BMSCC) are also affected by automatic milking. These two counts were
studied when introducing an automatic milking system to cows that were
previously milked conventionally. BMSCC was found to not significantly
increase between pre and post-AMS installation but BMTBC was found to
significantly increase in the first three months but then return to normal
levels. BMSCC was found to significantly improve in the third year with
respect to the pre-introduction level. [12]

 Possible increase in stress for some cows – Cows are social animals, and
it has been found that due to dominance of some cows, others will be forced
 to milk only at night.[citation needed]
Such behaviour is inconsistent with the
perception that AMS reduces stress by allowing "free choice" of milking
time.
 Decreased contact between farmer and herd – Effective animal
husbandry requires that the farmer be fully aware of herd condition. In
conventional milking, the cows are observed before milking equipment is
attached, and ill or injured cows can be earmarked for attention. Automatic
milking decreases the time the farmer has such close contact with the
animal, with the possibility that illness may go unnoticed for longer periods
and both milk quality and cow welfare suffer. In practice, milk quality
sensors at the milking unit attempt to detect changes in milk due to
infection, and farmers inspect the herd frequently. (Farmers still need to
provide bedding for the cows, provide reproductive health services,
provide hoof care, feed them, and occasionally repair parts of the barn.)
However this concern has meant that farmers are still tied to a seven-day
schedule. Modern automatic milking systems attempt to rectify this
problem by gathering data that would not be available in many conventional
systems including milk temperature, milk conductivity, milk color including
infrared scan, change in milking speed, change in milking time or milk
letdown by quarter, cow's weight, cow's activity (movements), time spent
ruminating, etc.
 Dependence on the robotics company – maintenance becomes
significantly more time critical and may put the farmer at greater risk. For
example, one farm in Estonia reported losses of over 1 million euros, when
the robots from BouMatic Robotics performed below promised standards
and the company failed to provide maintenance.[13]

Manufacturers[edit]
 A DeLaval VMS unit, 2007

 GEA Farm Technologies (Germany, formerly WestfaliaSurge), MIone AMS

 Lely (Netherlands), Lely Astronaut AMS
 DeLaval (Sweden), DeLaval VMS
 Fullwood (UK), Merlin AMS
 Milkomax (Canada), Tie-Stall AMS
 SAC (Denmark), purchased the Dutch manufacturer of the Galaxy Robot
AMS in 2005, sell under the brands SAC RDS Futureline MARK II, Insentec
Galaxy Starline, BouMatic’s ProFlex
 BoumaticRobotics (NL), MR-S1, MR-D1
 Prompt Softech (Ahmedabad, India) Manufacturer of Automatic Milk
Collection System.
 ADF Milking (UK), Manufacturer of the Automatic Dipping and Flushing
system.
 JSC Mototecha Lithuania, manufacturer of mobile milking parlour systems.