Robotic Milker Price

[Whitewalker]

Chips of concrete off panels is my usual culprit. Not 100% sure Where they come from but i suspect a excited loader driver in the ports or feed mill. You would normally get away with it but not on robots.
@ Whitewalker some of us having been doing this a little while (nearly 12 years here) and been over similar threads dozens and dozens of times. It gets a bit tedious constantly repeating our thoughts.

I’m sorry you feel obliged to answer tedious questions and having to constantly repeat your thoughts.

I didn’t realise the forum stopped at a few hallowed members who the rest of us minions scrabble for a scrap of your knowledge. I thought there were thousands of members.

If the question is a tedious one , I suggest you ignore it rather than feel annoyed having to reply .

I for one will not ask another tedious question again as I am off .

I hope I haven’t annoyed you too much over the couple of years I have been on the forum .

I wish you all the best for the next 12 years on here .

 

[happycows]

Ask away but don’t have a go because you didn’t get a 100 response’s. I’m just explaining why that might be.
Probably everything you could possibly need need to know is on here if you can find it.

 

[vantage]

Chips of concrete off panels is my usual culprit. Not 100% sure Where they come from but i suspect a excited loader driver in the ports or feed mill. You would normally get away with it but not on robots.
@ Whitewalker some of us having been doing this a little while (nearly 12 years here) and been over similar threads dozens and dozens of times. It gets a bit tedious constantly repeating our thoughts.

And not gone bust yet?!!!!!

 

[upnortheast]

Probably everything you could possibly need need to know is on here if you can find it.

Exactly.
I can frequently find what I need to know by searching the forums, & find the subject has already been covered in depth. rather than starting a new thread

 

[yin ewe]

@Whitewalker your line of questioning came across as basically 'can I hear your robot costs so I can do some robot bashing' sorry if I have got that wrong. Also a question like 'are you happy ecstatic dissappointed with what you have left at the end of the year' is a bit vague.
Having been roboting 7 years tomorrow, I can honestly say I wouldn't go back to a parlour, but everyone's situation is different. As a OMB spending 6 hours/day in the parlour, something had to be done. We decided to go down the robot route and are pleased with how it has worked out. COP is higher than on the parlour but this is offset to some degree by the higher yields we are getting and the fact that we don't need to pay regular relief milkers.

 

[upnortheast]

So many folk seem to think that the answer to every question is to be found on the screen of a calculator. Often in life, & especially livestock farming, there are other factors that come into play to make the job bearable / enjoyable / satisfying IMO

 

[thewalrus]

As I’ve said before the cheapest most profitable(in a profit and loss account way) way to milk cows is in an old parlour and do all the milkings yourself. Basically zero depreciation, zero outside labour/relief milking costs, low maintenance no fancy gadgets to replace. The only real cost is probably human!

If you don’t fancy it you have to spend a bit of money and why not it’s the most important bit of equipment on the farm.

 

[upnortheast]

Lot of folk seem hung up on the running costs of robots.
Wonder what the tractor boys would consider a reasonable annual running & service cost if their Fendt was running 8760 hours a year.
Bet it would make a milking robot seem a bargain

 

[Grassman247]

Lot of folk seem hung up on the running costs of robots.
Wonder what the tractor boys would consider a reasonable annual running & service cost if their Fendt was running 8760 hours a year.
Bet it would make a milking robot seem a bargain

Bet that tractor wouldn’t brake down as much though. There’s also other ways to milk cows and feed calves than the automatic route.

Why would you want to tie yourself in to a monthly cost to be able to milk your cows and feed your calves.

Reliability is where the real money is

 

[yin ewe]

On a bigger unit where there are plenty of staff/cover available then a parlour would be the way forward IMO, in our situation the cost of a relief milker to do 2/3 milkings a week covers the cost of servicing and breakdowns and without the hassle of someone letting you down at the last minute.
As has been said the human factor can come into it, nice to be able to take a notion
on a Saturday afternoon of taking the kids away without having to organise someone to milk at short notice.

 

[ollie989898]

Not usually but then a gurt bolt jamming the cake auger and a washer in each of two robot feed dispensers never really helps at 2am. Mind I'm sure Ollie will be along shortly to make it all better with a flick of his iPad [emoji23][emoji23]

A feeder breakdown or blockage is surely going to bork a conventional parlour as much as a robot. A lame cow etc is similarly not robot specific. At no point have I talked about need for stockmanship. I said I believed a robot would be easier to run and operate all things being equal. I can run the touch screen or train a cow quite well. A serious breakdown would require a techie either way. A cow not milked is readily identifiable as it is monitored in real time. By contrast someone falling asleep in the parlour can soon put antibiotic milk in the tank or a cow with mastitis is unnoticed. It would be flagged in a robot would it not?

Lame/sick cow similarly applicable to both systems.

From what I have seen I do not believe robots present any huge managerial challenge that is insurmountable by farmers who are already technically proficient at their trade.

As soon as real labour costs are put in black and white investment in robots becomes acute focused if you ask me. That is if you can even find the labour to begin with.

 

[happycows]

Bet that tractor wouldn’t brake down as much though. There’s also other ways to milk cows and feed calves than the automatic route.

Why would you want to tie yourself in to a monthly cost to be able to milk your cows and feed your calves.

Reliability is where the real money is

There are other ways without the monthly cost and I find them very reliable and find mine easily repairable when needed.
I bought 2 second hand Merlin 225’s 3 years ago for £40k. Apart from £35 for a test certification for farm assurance I’ve not had to see a engineer.
Not everyone’s cup of tea but suited me after I’d had 9 years with previous model.

 

[ollie989898]

As I’ve said before the cheapest most profitable(in a profit and loss account way) way to milk cows is in an old parlour and do all the milkings yourself. Basically zero depreciation, zero outside labour/relief milking costs, low maintenance no fancy gadgets to replace. The only real cost is probably human!

If you don’t fancy it you have to spend a bit of money and why not it’s the most important bit of equipment on the farm.

Absolutely agree on this.....


.....Right up until people take a long hard look at what their own labour is valued at and what it really costs them.

 

[ollie989898]

Lot of folk seem hung up on the running costs of robots.
Wonder what the tractor boys would consider a reasonable annual running & service cost if their Fendt was running 8760 hours a year.
Bet it would make a milking robot seem a bargain

Ive said that for a long time. Whether robots or parlour buy the biggest/poshest you like because its the hardest working machine in a farm by miles. Arable farmers dont worry too much about a combine they run 6 weeks a year. A parlour runs a lot more than that.

 

[vantage]

Ive said that for a long time. Whether robots or parlour buy the biggest/poshest you like because its the hardest working machine in a farm by miles. Arable farmers dont worry too much about a combine they run 6 weeks a year. A parlour runs a lot more than that.

Buy the one you like that does what you want at an acceptable cost, both in time and cash.
The comparison with a parlour and a combine is not valid as no dairy farmer harvests all their herd’s output over a six week period.

 

[ollie989898]

Buy the one you like that does what you want at an acceptable cost, both in time and cash.
The comparison with a parlour and a combine is not valid as no dairy farmer harvests all their herd’s output over a six week period.

It is entirely valid in my view as both are critical and capital intensive. A parlour also tends to handle a darn sight more moneys worth in its lifetime making it ever more critical, particularly considering the labour angle. Just saving 10 minutes a day of a mans time is worth having.

 

[Happy at it]

Easy to understand why people have doubts and so many questions regarding the costs of robots. The thing that gets me is the willingness that new entrants in ni have, to take on high levels of debt. Men are taking on 500/600 k of debt to milk 120cows on robots. Factor in interest, cap repayments and the tax man before you take a pound for yourself, is it really such a sensible thing to commit to?

 

[ollie989898]

Easy to understand why people have doubts and so many questions regarding the costs of robots. The thing that gets me is the willingness that new entrants in ni have, to take on high levels of debt. Men are taking on 500/600 k of debt to milk 120cows on robots. Factor in interest, cap repayments and the tax man before you take a pound for yourself, is it really such a sensible thing to commit to?

Depends on:

1. Their long term view of prospects for the industry.

2. Long term value of any asset base they have.

3. Their age or desires of any successors.

4. Relative costs of borrowing money today and anticipated rate of repayment.

5. Their attitude to risk.

6. Their level of technical and financial acumen.

500K of debt would not be considered excessive by many people I know for a variety of reasons and I can tell you that because I have had discussions to that effect.

What keeps me awake at night might leave someone else with no issue.

 

[yin ewe]

Easy to understand why people have doubts and so many questions regarding the costs of robots. The thing that gets me is the willingness that new entrants in ni have, to take on high levels of debt. Men are taking on 500/600 k of debt to milk 120cows on robots. Factor in interest, cap repayments and the tax man before you take a pound for yourself, is it really such a sensible thing to commit to?

A lot of them are changing from sucklers so they will have the security of a large sfp to fall back on. Milk has been quite good for the last couple of years, a year at 17p might take the shine off.

 

[Agrifool]

The worrying thing is quite alot of suckler men are converting to dairying and robots in particular thinking well, if the robot can milk them then they will just manage them like the suckler cow the rest of the time. Id suggest that anyone thinking of jumping enterprise should go work on a few dairy farms first then reassess and see if dairying is for them before embarking on huge debt levels.