Robotic Milker Price

[Scholsey]

All robots do is put cups on, there isn’t many jobs in agriculture that could be easily automated.

Admittedly robots have meant for me there is more of tie and makes it difficult to spend long periods of time away from the farm but it’s far easier to get away for short periods and can spend far more time with my family than my father did with me as a kid.

Staff is far far easier to come by, have numerous college lads keen, none of which would be keen to be stood in a parlour pit at 4am/10pm.

Grazing is more difficult but doable, COP has gone up/litre but sending far more litres than would be if in a parlour milking twice a day.

They aren’t for everyone and can see why people can’t get on with them more so now than I could before we put bots in.

In some ways I wished I looked a bit more into putting a big new parlour in on the side of a greenfield site but I think after a few months of staffing issues/ABs in tank/late starts/no shows I would be wishing I had robots far more than I currently wish I had a parlour.

 

[Agrifool]

Robots suit some farmers very well and parlours suit some dairy farmers well also, thats the conclusion I have come to from being on this forum and from seeing how my neighbours are all managing their own farms , but having done the sums myself Robots will put anywhere from 2-4ppl onto the cost of production.

 

[Barmyfarmer]

Robots suit some farmers very well and parlours suit some dairy farmers well also, thats the conclusion I have come to from being on this forum and from seeing how my neighbours are all managing their own farms , but having done the sums myself Robots will put anywhere from 2-4ppl onto the cost of production.

I came to a similar conclusion, so many unknowns with running costs and reliance on dealerships/parts.
An efficient well setup one man parlour will be the way forward for us

 

[applejack]

@Scholsey's post is just about the most honest appraisal of bots I've seen!

 

[Scholsey]

@Scholsey's post is just about the most honest appraisal of bots I've seen!

Guaranteed I have a huge breakdown tonight and trash the living shite out of them with a huge branch basil fawlty style.

 

[Grassman247]

Conventional milking parlours aren't cheap either plus you need a bigger shed and a collecting pen, whereas robots will fit into an extra bay at the end of your cubicle house. Then you are also getting the benefit of 3x a day milking, which on a conventional parlour would need extra labour. The increase in yield helps to cover some of the service costs.

240k for a 50 point rotary vs 400 plus for 4 robots to milk 300 cows. The rotary is a no brainier, wouldn’t even need to start milking until 7am. No breakdowns to deal with and not a constant payment going out to Lely or the others.

After going to Germany looking at robots and visiting several sites I can’t get my head round why people are prepared to constantly pay out for breakdowns. We as an industry seem to rely on these companies and all they do is get people hooked on handy over there hard earned money every month. If it was a brand new house that did that you’d want your money back. The mind boggles.

 

[Bald Rick]

240k for a 50 point rotary vs 400 plus for 4 robots to milk 300 cows. The rotary is a no brainier, wouldn’t even need to start milking until 7am. No breakdowns to deal with and not a constant payment going out to Lely or the others.

After going to Germany looking at robots and visiting several sites I can’t get my head round why people are prepared to constantly pay out for breakdowns. We as an industry seem to rely on these companies and all they do is get people hooked on handy over there hard earned money every month. If it was a brand new house that did that you’d want your money back. The mind boggles.

Breakdowns are comparatively rare - or at least breakdowns that are beyond the ken of the farmer. I was always surprised how reliable robots were tbh. The problems mainly arise because you are trying to work with a sentient animal with an autonomous machine so 80% of our alarms were for sh!t in the laser lens, twisted cups or cupping failures due to misbehaving cows.

Robots will outperform a parlour system in terms of yield but they are more expensive as they do require more regular servicing due to the amount they are in use - generally 23 hours per 24
Lifestyle- I far prefer the rotary simply because I can sleep without fear

 

[Beef farmer]

Breakdowns are comparatively rare - or at least breakdowns that are beyond the ken of the farmer. I was always surprised how reliable robots were tbh. The problems mainly arise because you are trying to work with a sentient animal with an autonomous machine so 80% of our alarms were for sh!t in the laser lens, twisted cups or cupping failures due to misbehaving cows.

Robots will outperform a parlour system in terms of yield but they are more expensive as they do require more regular servicing due to the amount they are in use - generally 23 hours per 24
Lifestyle- I far prefer the rotary simply because I can sleep without fear

Money? Better off now?

 

[Bald Rick]

Money? Better off now?

Milking lot more cows now so if we were still on bots, there would have been no sleep at all

Still bedding things in so too early to comment if we are better off. I will say that robots remove the variables of human actions though

 

[ollie989898]

240k for a 50 point rotary vs 400 plus for 4 robots to milk 300 cows. The rotary is a no brainier, wouldn’t even need to start milking until 7am. No breakdowns to deal with and not a constant payment going out to Lely or the others.

After going to Germany looking at robots and visiting several sites I can’t get my head round why people are prepared to constantly pay out for breakdowns. We as an industry seem to rely on these companies and all they do is get people hooked on handy over there hard earned money every month. If it was a brand new house that did that you’d want your money back. The mind boggles.

Yeah now go and find the labour for your 50 point rotary and write the cheques for it.

Suddenly 400K seems cheap. Its even worth something after 10 years.

If robots and automation were so categorically hopeless they would never be found in other industries.

 

[fgc325j]

Yeah now go and find the labour for your 50 point rotary and write the cheques for it.

Suddenly 400K seems cheap. Its even worth something after 10 years.

If robots and automation were so categorically hopeless they would never be found in other industries.

Yes- but in a factory robots are suited for a production line, where the next widget turns up at precise
intervals, in precisely the same location - measured to the 1/20th millimetre. Can you get a cow to
stand in a robot, with her legs spaced apart at exactly the same position every milking.

 

[ollie989898]

Yes- but in a factory robots are suited for a production line, where the next widget turns up at precise
intervals, in precisely the same location - measured to the 1/20th millimetre. Can you get a cow to
stand in a robot, with her legs spaced apart at exactly the same position every milking.

Plenty of robots manage... latest ones don't even have shape or placement of a cows teats held in memory, just looks for them with sensors. Very clever, quite quick and very quiet too.

 

[holstein654]

Milking lot more cows now so if we were still on bots, there would have been no sleep at all

Still bedding things in so too early to comment if we are better off. I will say that robots remove the variables of human actions though

Did you ever consider adding more robots and employing a night man? My worry is that finding labour that actually give a sh!t is going to become nigh on impossible. Even if the night guy could do a small amount of repetitive jobs that wouldn’t have to be done on days. Plus allow day workers uninterrupted sleep except in extreme problem cases. Clearly this would have to be at a scale to justify. Kinda what happens in industry I think

 

[yin ewe]

240k for a 50 point rotary vs 400 plus for 4 robots to milk 300 cows. The rotary is a no brainier, wouldn’t even need to start milking until 7am. No breakdowns to deal with and not a constant payment going out to Lely or the others.

After going to Germany looking at robots and visiting several sites I can’t get my head round why people are prepared to constantly pay out for breakdowns. We as an industry seem to rely on these companies and all they do is get people hooked on handy over there hard earned money every month. If it was a brand new house that did that you’d want your money back. The mind boggles.

Does 240k include a shed for the rotary as well?
I can't honestly remember the last time when an engineer was in my yard other than a service, I know I have just jinxed myself, most times I get a breakdown I meet them somewhere ro collect the part and fit it myself.
Grant it I only have 1 robot but imo robots come into there own where labour is mostly family and 1 or 2 people do all the milking. If you go above 4 robots/300 cows then you are going to be employing a fair few staff anyway so perhaps a rotary or big parlour would be the way to go, having a rota so that everyone has their weekends off etc. In our case I was the rota.

 

[Scholsey]

Does 240k include a shed for the rotary as well?
I can't honestly remember the last time when an engineer was in my yard other than a service, I know I have just jinxed myself, most times I get a breakdown I meet them somewhere ro collect the part and fit it myself.
Grant it I only have 1 robot but imo robots come into there own where labour is mostly family and 1 or 2 people do all the milking. If you go above 4 robots/300 cows then you are going to be employing a fair few staff anyway so perhaps a rotary or big parlour would be the way to go, having a rota so that everyone has their weekends off etc. In our case I was the rota.

Totally agree, any more than 4 boxes and think you are buying work but near me a 600 cow herd has put 10 a5s in because fed up of unreliable parlour staff, another has dropped to x2 from x3 a day for the same reason, neither would be bad employers before anyone starts placarding outside their farm gates.

 

[Bald Rick]

Did you ever consider adding more robots and employing a night man? My worry is that finding labour that actually give a sh!t is going to become nigh on impossible. Even if the night guy could do a small amount of repetitive jobs that wouldn’t have to be done on days. Plus allow day workers uninterrupted sleep except in extreme problem cases. Clearly this would have to be at a scale to justify. Kinda what happens in industry I think

Yes, we had built our sheds with the aim of getting to 12 bots but in the end, it was the sheer cost of buying the bots & the cows plus other factors that made the switch to a rotary a simple decision. We are also in an area where there are not a lot of choices regarding employment if you want to stay on the Island but getting the right staff is ongoing

 

[ollie989898]

Yes, we had built our sheds with the aim of getting to 12 bots but in the end, it was the sheer cost of buying the bots & the cows plus other factors that made the switch to a rotary a simple decision. We are also in an area where there are not a lot of choices regarding employment if you want to stay on the Island but getting the right staff is ongoing

I think most of us would agree you appear to be the kind of guy that would be good to work for. As opposed to the sort that have a Bosnian war crimimal as a gang master lording over 3/4 of an acre of tents.

 

[Bald Rick]

I think most of us would agree you appear to be the kind of guy that would be good to work for. .....

You may say that, I couldn’t possibly comment.

In truth, son keeps me in background for when he needs the odd missile launching. Apparently I have a reputation for going nuclear.

 

[Magners]

OK. What about a new offer?
£10k per vms as deposit and cover install. Then £50 a day to lease the robot? This includes all parts and labour for breakdowns and service., all consumables and all cleaning chemicals and teat sprays?
If you're interested take a look at this. https:/adrianjose.co.uk

 

[ollie989898]

OK. What about a new offer?
£10k per vms as deposit and cover install. Then £50 a day to lease the robot? This includes all parts and labour for breakdowns and service., all consumables and all cleaning chemicals and teat sprays?
If you're interested take a look at this. https:/adrianjose.co.uk

That would take a lot of the scary out of it for many people?