Daily Pioneer News

UWP is among the first universities to have robotic milkers, which can milk approximately 50 cows per day.

PLATTEVILLE- The cows on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville's Pioneer Farm are in the process of switching to the new robotic milkers, which are part of the new Dairy Center, a 30,852 square foot $2 million facility, which opened on October 29, 2006. Currently, approximately 20 cows are being milked by the robots regularly. Each robot has the capacity to milk approximately 50 cows per day.

The cows are trained to be milked by the robots by being led through the robotic milking area twice per day for three to four days. In order for the cow to eat, she must walk through the robotic milkers. When she goes through, the robot reads a chip in each cow's ear and milks her if she needs to be. The chip is set to tell the robots to milk each cow a certain number of times per day and tells the robots if the cow has already been milked. The robots automatically clean, milk and post dip the cow's teats with a sanitizer. Once the system is fully running, the robots will be milking 22 to 24 hours per day, only shutting down for cleaning and maintenance.

UWP is among the first universities in the nation to have robotic milkers. Coupled with the robots is a double five-herringbone parlor, allowing visitors, researchers and students to compare new robotic methods of milking with a traditional parlor set up.

"The new facility is more up to date and what more producers are using," said Cory Weigel, dairy herd manager.

Another benefit to the new facility is that it requires less intensive labor. While the number of duties has remained the same, it takes less labor to complete tasks. However, the new system requires more intensive management. Weigel said there is more computer monitoring to check on things like fluctuations in milk production, which can mean illness in the herd.

In addition to technological advances in milking, the facility was designed for greater cow comfort. The facility has 180 padded stalls which will allow Pioneer Farm to increase its herd from 115 originally to approximately 200 which more closely matches the average herd size in Wisconsin. Since the cows are using the stalls and laying down more often, their comfort level has increased, resulting in an increase in milk production.

The Dairy Center is open for tours and milking demonstrations by appointment. Those who would like more information about the Dairy Center or to schedule a tour or demonstration may contact Weigel at (608) 342-1328 or weigelco@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Cory Weigel, dairy herd manager, (608) 342-1328, weigelco@uwplatt.edu

Prepared by: Krystle Kurdi, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, kurdik@uwplatt.edu