Dairy Farm to Install 64 Cow Milking Robots to Replace Inefficient Workers

A dairy farm in Chile is set to become the biggest robotic milking farm. The farm is estimated to employ robots to milk 4,500 of the 6,500 cows residing there. Currently, the Chilean dairy farm has only 16 autonomous robots milking their cows, but when the installations are fully complete, they will have a total of 64 robots.

Studies show that robots are superior to humans at milking cows. Cows are less stressed around robots, and milking times by robots are more efficient which help cows’ longevity as well as combatting lameness, and the numbers show. Only with their 16 currently installed robots, the Agricola Ancali’s 6,500 cow dairy farm has seen a 10% increase in milk production and a reduction in labor costs. The number one reason for the efficiency is the time it takes for robots to complete the cow’s milking. Robots take an average of only 6 minutes and 49 seconds to milk each cow.

Agricola Ancali’s robot vender is the notable DeLaval Company which specializes in automotive technology for farms and dairies alike. DeLaval’s first installation of a cow milking robot at Agricola Ancali’s dairy farm was in 2014 and is set to have all installations complete by 2017.

Featured Photo: DeLeval