Old farm, new tech

LUANA, Iowa — Fifth-generation farmer Mark Lamborn has found a way to balance his desire to milk cows with wanting to have more freedom. While penciling in costs, he discovered it was the same price to hire the employees needed as to take the next step in farm technology and install robotic milking units.

Lamborn and Tim Phipps work side by side on Lamborn Farms. They have been business partners for eight years. Phipps also works as a fitter. Though twice-a-day milking was beginning to wear on the pair, with the addition of the robots, they have seen an influx in freedom, allowing them to be more efficient in other areas.

“It’s nice that when you’re chopping or combining, you can keep going with what you’re doing,” Lamborn said. “You don’t have to stop at 4 to go milk. We can send one guy back to fetch cows and scrape, and he’s only gone for an hour and a half. When we were in the parlor, it would take them four or five hours to get everything finished up.

Lamborn had an opportunity to get chores done with additional labor instead of robots.

“A friend of mine was getting out (of farming) and he had some workers who were going to be looking for a place,” Lamborn said. “I did the math on it, and with the cost of wages, benefits and everything, I realized that bringing in two laborers would be the same as a robot payment.”

The decision came in early March 2020, and by the end of the month, Lamborn had signed on for the robot project. The project included three robotic milking units, two robot rooms, and an additional room for the new office area.

Lamborn had several options when it came to robotic units and said he discovered there were pros and cons with each.

“I checked on a couple of different models and decided to put in DeLavals,” Lamborn said. “I like the DeLavals because they have individual teat cups.”

Another deciding factor was that United Dairy Systems Inc. out of West Union, who installed Lamborn’s DeLaval double-8 parlor 20 years ago, would be the same company he would work with for his robots.

“I like working with United Dairy because if there’s a problem that comes up, I can open up the cabinet and have some familiarity with (DeLaval),” Lamborn said. “I have enough background knowledge that I can work on some things.”

With the addition of the robots, Lamborn and Phipps reduced their herd size to 168.

“Initially, production dropped a bit, but it came back quickly,” Lamborn said. “We’re actually averaging more per day now with about 30 fewer cows than when we were milking in the parlor. They’re averaging 2.7 milkings per day with the robots.”

The robots record expected pounds of milk per session by quarter.

“It’s crazy to see how these cows can give 20 pounds off of one quarter, and just six off of another,” Lamborn said. “It’s really cool to have that data and know the why of it. … Production isn’t just a fluke, but its something that you can expect.”

As far as the daily interaction with the cows, Lamborn said the herd has become more mellow since the installation of the robotic units.

“It’s turned every cow into a fair calf,” Lamborn said. “They’re just so much more used to you being in there with them. It used to be you go into the holding pen, you milk them, you scrape while they’re gone. Now you’re in there with them more often. We have a little compact tractor that we scrape with and once they got used to it, they’ve been great.”

Installing the robotic milking units led to a change in the day-to-day operations.

“I miss milking cows,” Lamborn said. “My body doesn’t, but I do. Tim is the same way. We both enjoyed milking, but our shoulders, our lower backs, this just helps.”

While robots are the newest addition of technology to Lamborn Farms, Lamborn remembers milking in a round barn with 32 stanchions before his family installed a parlor.

“It was floor pails, no gutter cleaner; it was labor intensive,” Lamborn said. “Your whole body hurt. When we installed the parlor, it was shoulders and lower back. Yeah, it’s easier on our knees, but you’re still doing enough of the same consistent motion that your body can wear down.”

The robots give Lamborn the freedom he said to adjust his schedule as needed for the day or time of year. Working in conjunction with Phipps, Lamborn has brought a modern approach to a farm that has been in his family for more than 175 years.