A perfect fit

SULLIVAN, Wis. — When switching to a robotic milking system, the Payne family made sure it could be done with minimal disruption to current facilities. They had built their freestall barn in 2016, so they wanted to maintain the integrity of a setup that was relatively new.

By creating an addition to the barn, the Paynes made room for four DeLaval VMS V300 robotic milking units. They added two matching buildings onto the ends of their freestall barn — one on the left side and one on the right side — to house the robots.

“We made it fit into our barn that was there, and by adding robots on the end, we only lost two stalls on each side of the barn to make our fetch pens,” Daryl Payne said. “Removing the alley that led to the parlor was the only other modification we needed to make.”

Daryl and his wife, Tammy, farm with their son, Brent, at Payne Farms near Sullivan. The Paynes, who milk around 200 cows and farm 650 acres, began milking with robots in November 2023.

“It takes time for some cows to adjust, but things are going fairly smooth,” Daryl said. “We’re starting to see more of an increase in milk production now.”

Cows are averaging 2.6 milkings per day in the robots. The barn contains two groups of cows, with older cows on one side and younger cows on the other. Each pen has two robots, and each robot serves about 50 cows in a free-flow system. The robots sit side by side on the end of each freestall group.

“The way in which cows enter the robot makes it easier to do this kind of side-by-side setup,” Daryl said. “This type of robot fits into the space better than other robots might.”

Within each pen, cows enter the robots from the same direction. The entrance for the robots in one pen is on the right side, while cows in the other pen enter robots on the left side.

“Everything is located on one end closest to the front of the barn,” Daryl said. “We don’t have to walk through the barn to get to the robots. We like this layout better as the robots are easily accessible versus being in the middle of the barn. The cows don’t seem to mind the walk. It’s a lot shorter walk than going to the parlor.”

The family previously milked twice a day in their double-8 parlor, which has been retired.

“We make everyone go through the robot,” Daryl said.

Lack of labor and unreliable labor were motivating factors for installing robots.

“It’s only the three of us here, and it was very hard to find help,” Daryl said. “When we did have help, they didn’t always show up.”

The Paynes initially looked at building a new parlor, but Daryl said there was not much difference in cost between a parlor and robots.

“We had always talked about robots, and with the difference in price, we decided we might as well go with robots and cut the labor,” he said.

The Paynes put in a two-feed system to feed two different pellets in the robot — a standard robot pellet and a corn gluten pellet.

“Corn gluten was in the total mixed ration, but we pulled that out and cows now get it in the robot instead,” Daryl said.

The amount of pellets fed depends on a cow’s stage of lactation. When at peak production, the robot pellet kicks in more, Daryl said.

The Paynes use gates that swing out to create a fetch pen in the corner near the robots.

“With having a free-flow system, we need that space for training cows and helping them adapt to the robots,” Daryl said. “The fetch pen is very helpful — it would be difficult without it.”

Brent said that looking at data generated by the robots is useful in managing their operation.

“Robots keep track of a lot of information,” Brent said. “It tells you anytime there is some sort of deviation, which helps me identify any problems with a cow. In the parlor, it was harder to remember every single cow, but now the info is automatically reported and is all right there to see.”

In addition to data collected by the robots, the Paynes use the smaXtec system for heat detection and monitoring cow health. The technology measures feed and water intake, body temperature, rumination and activity through a bolus that is placed in the cow’s stomach.

“I think it’s far more accurate than ear tags or collars,” Daryl said. “It picks up changes a lot faster and is better than our previous system. You know something is wrong at least a day before you physically see it.”

Last year, the system detected a dry cow with mastitis, so the Paynes treated her.

“She would have lost a quarter if the system hadn’t picked that up,” Daryl said.

Every cow and breeding-age heifer on the farm gets a bolus and is tracked by the system.

“We were using CIDRs on our heifers before, but we quit using them and now rely only on smaXtec,” Daryl said. “Heifers are getting bred faster and earlier.”

The Paynes used to be on a double ovsynch program but now give few synchronization shots.

“Taking away the shots and relying on our monitoring system is a lot less work,” Daryl said. “We’re not going around giving shots a couple times a week.”

Brent said they are using the system in conjunction with robot data for optimal results.

“Between the robots and smaXtec, we’re able to pinpoint any issues,” he said.

As tasks shifted from milking to managing, the Paynes said they have found that the amount of time spent in the barn remains the same, but work has become cleaner and easier, and their schedules are more flexible.

“We’re still clean at night because we’re not under the cows milking them,” Daryl said. “It’s easier to sit and look at a computer screen, and the robots also free up time for fieldwork. We can stay out and get things done in the fields without having to worry about coming back for milking.”