HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-04-19, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2000.
Robotic milkers give dairy operators flexibility
Freeing up the farmer
The newly-installed robotic milkers at Bellestein Farms, north-west of Blyth, after some initial
growing pains, have brought some freedom to the operators of this dairy operation, Henry and
Sandy Bos, with daughter Brookelynn. Also pictured is Henry’s father Art, who first saw the
robotics in Holland several years ago.
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
To a casual passer-by on an early
morning or to a mid-afternoon visi
tor, life at Bellestein Farms outside
Blyth may seem a typical dairy oper
ation. For the Bos family, Henry and
Sandy, aided by his now ‘retired’
father, Art and mother Corrie, with
chores to do, animals to feed and
calves to tend, the work day is of
course long and full.
However, while other dairy pro
ducers are milking at 5:30 a.m. and
again before supper, the Boses you
might say are ‘udderly’ free.
The future has arrived at Bellestein
in the form of a robotic milker, the
third installed in Canada. Though an
extremely popular innovation for
some time now in Europe, the robots
have only come to this country in the
past few years.
Art Bos saw them first while visit
ing family in Holland seven years
ago. “His brother-in-law kept taking
him to different farms where they
had robotics and telling him he
should try them,” says Henry.
Though impressed by what he saw,
the real push to install them at
Bellestein came when the Boses’
older son Arthur, who had helped
with the milking of the 90 Holstein
herd, said he wanted out to concen
trate on his poultry operation.
“With Henry taking the farm over,
we knew he couldn’t do it alone, so
we were either going to have to hire
someone or buy the robots,” says
Sandy.
Justifying the cost wasn’t difficult,
she says. “We figured in the long run
it was cheaper to get the robotics
than hire someone and it came with
less headaches. These don’t want
weekends off, summer vacations,
nor do they call in sick. They just
don’t quit.”
The concept of the robots is that of
free choice for the cows. The ani
mals must be trained to go into the
robotic milker’s square box. Once
inside, they get a ration of feed as a
reward.
The robotic is on a grid sheet with
a key pad much like a remote con
trol. An eye is run with a lazer. To
find the location of the teats on each
cow, the eye has to be placed within
so many inches of the udder.
“The robot basically remembers
where it started so the next time that
cow comes in it looks for the same
position,” says Sandy.
Cows are identified to the robot by
a responder on their neck.
The robot washes, milks and
sprays the cow. “Everything that is
normally done in a parlour,” says
Sandy.
The robot also keeps records. “It
remembers exactly what every cow
gives for the last 14 days and when it
milks,” says Henry. That information
is stored in the computer system in
the bam.
With the cows able to enter the box
any time they please, the animals are
averaging three milkings a day,
which is expected will increase pro
duction. Bellestein Holsteins have a
herd average at this point of 31.5
litres per day per cow, which is a
slight increase since the installation
in September. “It’s good production.
We’re not doing too bad,” says
Henry.
While it’s said the cows have free
choice with regards to milking the
robot does have some control. “If
they come too early they’re reject
ed,” says Henry. “The robot opens
the next gate and the cow just walks
through.”
It also lets the producer know if
there are any problems. “I have a
pager. If the robot stands still for
more than one hour it will tell me.
Then I call and ask why.”
This happened once in the early
stages when a gate shifted trapping a
cow. This particular problem has
been eliminated, however, since the
cattle are trained, allowing for the
removal of those gates.
While the introduction of robots
on the farm has brought a flexibility
uncommon to dairy operations, it
was not without its growing pains.
Though Henry says they were told
there would be headaches at first,
both he and Sandy admit that didn’t
really prepare them for what to
expect. “You needed someone 24
hours a day to train the cows and
show them how the robot works,”
says Sandy. “They were scared of the
box and didn’t want to go in.”
“With the idea of free choice we
chased them for 24 hours a day so
that they learned they could go in
when they pleased,” says Henry.
Basically they learn to come in
before they’re uncomfortable.”
Saying it took about three weeks
for the cattle to catch on, and for
Henry to finally be able to go to bed
at night, Sandy admitted that in those
days there were some moments spent
wondering if they had made the right
choice.
However, in retrospect they think
the problems could simply have been
lessened with more help. “We should
have maybe hired more people so
that everyone could have had some
breaks,” says Sandy.
Despite the blips of the past, there
is no question in the young couple’s
mind of the robots’ value to the
industry. Asked if they are the future
of the dairy industry, Henry’s
response is an emphatic yes.
Others may be just as certain if the
interest from both inside the industry
and outside are any indication. And
the Boses are doing what they can to
educate and inform others about the
robotics’ value. Having had many
inquiries, the family, after getting
comfortable with the system, decid
ed to host an open house for neigh
bours. They have also conducted
farm tours, one for the Kent County
Holstein Club and one for 16 people
from Quebec who came to see the
robots installed in an old bam. “The
only robots in this country have been
in new bams. They didn’t think it
could be done in an old barn, but
they do it in Europe all the time,”
says Henry. ,
And with the trials behind them,
discussing the robots and the
changes the system has brought to
their lives illicits nothing but smiles.
“It is great,” Sandy beams. “We're
freer. There is no more having to be
back from somewhere to milk, not
on Christmas Day, not in the sum
mer. If we’re a little later it doesn’t
matter. The cows have already been
milked.”
The robots also give a busy farmer
time to do other things, says
Sandy. “Now for example Henry
doesn’t have to stop baling hay to go
milk.”
With the help in place in the bam,
the Boses future is the hope of one
day being able to expand their herd.
The robots are capable of doing 60
cows apiece which means they could
add another 30 milking cows. “We
have room to grow but with quota
the price it is, it will be some time,”
says Henry.
Yet, with the excitement generated
by this progressive move, one can’t
help thinking the young couple
won’t be held in one place for long.”
Trucker’s quick action avoids serious collision
Through quick reactions and con
sideration for the least damaging
alternative, a Walton-area man was
able to avoid a serious collision,
April 4.
Doug Mitchell was returning to
Listowel around 4:30 p.m. after
driving an Allan Johnston Ltd. milk
truck to Toronto. Cresting a hill in
the westbound lane of Hwy. 86 just
east of the community, near Carson
Farms and Auction Services Ltd.,
Mitchell saw a stopped school bus
with two cars behind it.
Realizing he would not be able to
stop in time, Mitchell pulled the
tanker onto the shoulder, crossed a
laneway and Wallace Road 152
before smashing through a wire
fence and entering a field occupied
by horses.
The student exiting the bus, Cody
Beimes was not injured as he had
checked the traffic and run for the
house.
The milk truck damage was not
extensive, Mitchell was unhurt and
no animals in the field were affect
ed.
North Perth OPP Sergeant Don
Seim said OPP do not believe
excessive speed was a factor in the
incident.
Tools taken
from workshop
On April 13 at approximately
7:15 a.m. a break-in was reported at
the Airtight Storage business on
Cranbrook Road in Morris Twp.
Sometime between April 12 after
8 p.m. and before 7 a.m. on April
13 a workshop on the property was
entered after a door was forced
open. Taken was a pressure washer,
acetylene torches, impact
wrenches, two air impact guns, air
die grinders, ratchet sets, welder
and numerous hand tools valued at
over $5,000
Anyone who can help OPP
officers in this case is asked to call
police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-
222-8477(TIPS).
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