There is no doubt in Ireland and Europe that the uptake of automatic milking systems (AMS), or robotic milking, is increasing. At European level, most are integrated with indoor milk production systems and the high input/high output milk production system. Many Irish farmers are asking the question, can they work with our grazing system of milk production?
Teagasc Moorepark, in association with the Irish Grassland Association, acquired EU funding for three years to carry out research on how best to integrate automatic milking with grazing.
I recently spoke to Catriona Foley, who is working on the milking robot trial at the Teagasc research farm in Kilworth, Co Cork.
Automatic milking and grazing
Catriona says: “Automatic milking with grazing relies on the voluntary movement of the cow from the paddock to the automatic milking unit. Cows are motivated to leave the paddock they are in when grass is depleted with the incentive to move to fresh grass in another paddock. Therefore, the grass allocation is critical to optimise cow visits to the robot.”
Research indicates that the ABC system of allocating grass (three-way drafting) is the best method of integrating grazing with the milking robot (see article on pages 6 and 7 by Bernie O’Brien).
The drafting gate in the yard is timed to change every 12 hours in an AB (two-way) system and every eight hours in a three-way ABC system of grazing, permitting access to new grass.
In a two-way system, the farm is divided into two blocks of land, A and B, while in a three-way system the farm is divided into three blocks of land, A, B and C, that are independent of each other.
In order to be granted access to fresh grass, cows must first pass through a drafting gate that determines if the cow:
is due for milking in the automatic milking unit, orhas access to the same paddock she came from, or can progress to a new paddock with fresh grass. Catriona says that the milking robot in Moorepark is integrated with a three-way system of grazing.
The farm has a 24ha milking platform and the land area is divided into three grazing sections of approximately 8ha each (A, B and C). Cows have access to the grazing sections A, B and C at 8am, 4pm and midnight, respectively (Figure 1).
There are separate entry points, each with non-return gates, from each of the three grazing sections to the outer pre-milking yard.
Cows pass through a pre-selection gate and they are drafted to the inner pre-milking yard, if due for milking.
Once milked, they pass through a post-selection gate that directs them to one of the three grazing sections, depending on the time of the day.
If a cow is not due for milking at the pre-selection gate, she is drafted along a bypass lane directly to the post-selection gate and straight out to grass in one of the three grazing sections (Figure 2).
At each drafting gate and in the Fullwood Merlin robot, cows are identified by a tag on their leg, which also serves as a pedometer.
This counts the number of steps a cow takes each day, information which can be used during the breeding season to detect cows in heat.
Depending on the manufacturer, ID tags can also be located on a neck collar or an ear tag.
Milk production: At peak lactation, there were 70 cows on the system, with an average calving date of 24 February. The average EBI of the herd is €189 and the breeds include Holstein Friesians (44), Norwegian Red crosses (14), 100% Jerseys (four) and Jersey Holsteins (eight). At the start of the calving season, cows were indoors for 16 hours, with ad-lib access to silage, and outdoors between 8am and 4pm, with an allocation of 3kg grass DM/cow. Cows received 4kg of concentrate each per day at the robot.
On 27 February, cows were grazing full-time outside, transitioning between paddocks in grazing sections A, B and C at 8am, 4pm and 12am, respectively. During this time, cows were fed 4kg concentrate per day which was reduced to 2kg per day from 27 March and reduced further to 0.5kg per day from 10 April, unless there was a shortage of grass.
The herd reached peak milk yield in April at 1,465kg per day (21 litres per cow/day), on average, with robot yield ranging between 1,176kg and 1,666kg per day.
In May, June and July, the average herd production per day was 1,263kg, ranging between 920kg and 1,492kg per day. During full-time grazing (March to July), the average production per cow per day was 20kg, 21kg, 18kg, 18kg and 19kg and milking frequency was 1.7, 1.7, 1.6, 1.6 and 1.7 per day in March, April, May, June and July, respectively.
A point to note is that an experiment on milking frequency started in May (reported below) and this may have influenced the average milking frequency for the herd.
Milk composition data from March to July indicated average fat, protein and lactose percentages at 4.48%, 3.62% and 4.78%, respectively.
The average milk somatic cell counts have been less than 100,000 for most months
Grazing management: A farm grass walk is undertaken twice a week and a cover is estimated by visual assessment for each paddock in the grazing blocks, which are treated as three independent farmlets with regard to grass budgeting. On the AMS farm, the paddocks are in the seventh rotation in each of the grazing sections. During the first to sixth rotations, the average covers grazed were 1,549kg, 1,439kg and 1,458kg grass DM/ha. Across the three grazing sections, the average pre-grazing height was 11.7cm and post-grazing height was 5cm.
An experiment has been underway since 1 May this year to determine the effect of milking frequency on cow milk production. Two groups of 34 cows each, with similar parity, days in lactation and breed were established. One group of cows had access to the robot twice a day and they achieved a milking frequency of 1.4 milkings per day. The other cow group had access to the robot three times a day and they achieved a milking frequency of 1.8 daily. Preliminary results indicate a similar milk yield per day and per month for cows milking either 1.4 or 1.8 times per day.
Cows milking 1.4 times yielded 18.1kg per day and the other cows milking 1.8 times a day yielded 18.3kg, consuming an average of 0.7kg concentrate per cow per day, for the duration of the trial.
This is an interesting result for those operating an ABC system of grazing. The lower frequency but similar yield obviously would allow more cows to be milked with the robot spreading the initial capital cost over more cows.
There is no doubt in Ireland and Europe that the uptake of automatic milking systems (AMS), or robotic milking, is increasing. At European level, most are integrated with indoor milk production systems and the high input/high output milk production system. Many Irish farmers are asking the question, can they work with our grazing system of milk production?
Teagasc Moorepark, in association with the Irish Grassland Association, acquired EU funding for three years to carry out research on how best to integrate automatic milking with grazing.
I recently spoke to Catriona Foley, who is working on the milking robot trial at the Teagasc research farm in Kilworth, Co Cork.
Automatic milking and grazing
Catriona says: “Automatic milking with grazing relies on the voluntary movement of the cow from the paddock to the automatic milking unit. Cows are motivated to leave the paddock they are in when grass is depleted with the incentive to move to fresh grass in another paddock. Therefore, the grass allocation is critical to optimise cow visits to the robot.”
Research indicates that the ABC system of allocating grass (three-way drafting) is the best method of integrating grazing with the milking robot (see article on pages 6 and 7 by Bernie O’Brien).
The drafting gate in the yard is timed to change every 12 hours in an AB (two-way) system and every eight hours in a three-way ABC system of grazing, permitting access to new grass.
In a two-way system, the farm is divided into two blocks of land, A and B, while in a three-way system the farm is divided into three blocks of land, A, B and C, that are independent of each other.
In order to be granted access to fresh grass, cows must first pass through a drafting gate that determines if the cow:
is due for milking in the automatic milking unit, orhas access to the same paddock she came from, or can progress to a new paddock with fresh grass. Catriona says that the milking robot in Moorepark is integrated with a three-way system of grazing.
The farm has a 24ha milking platform and the land area is divided into three grazing sections of approximately 8ha each (A, B and C). Cows have access to the grazing sections A, B and C at 8am, 4pm and midnight, respectively (Figure 1).
There are separate entry points, each with non-return gates, from each of the three grazing sections to the outer pre-milking yard.
Cows pass through a pre-selection gate and they are drafted to the inner pre-milking yard, if due for milking.
Once milked, they pass through a post-selection gate that directs them to one of the three grazing sections, depending on the time of the day.
If a cow is not due for milking at the pre-selection gate, she is drafted along a bypass lane directly to the post-selection gate and straight out to grass in one of the three grazing sections (Figure 2).
At each drafting gate and in the Fullwood Merlin robot, cows are identified by a tag on their leg, which also serves as a pedometer.
This counts the number of steps a cow takes each day, information which can be used during the breeding season to detect cows in heat.
Depending on the manufacturer, ID tags can also be located on a neck collar or an ear tag.
Milk production: At peak lactation, there were 70 cows on the system, with an average calving date of 24 February. The average EBI of the herd is €189 and the breeds include Holstein Friesians (44), Norwegian Red crosses (14), 100% Jerseys (four) and Jersey Holsteins (eight). At the start of the calving season, cows were indoors for 16 hours, with ad-lib access to silage, and outdoors between 8am and 4pm, with an allocation of 3kg grass DM/cow. Cows received 4kg of concentrate each per day at the robot.
On 27 February, cows were grazing full-time outside, transitioning between paddocks in grazing sections A, B and C at 8am, 4pm and 12am, respectively. During this time, cows were fed 4kg concentrate per day which was reduced to 2kg per day from 27 March and reduced further to 0.5kg per day from 10 April, unless there was a shortage of grass.
The herd reached peak milk yield in April at 1,465kg per day (21 litres per cow/day), on average, with robot yield ranging between 1,176kg and 1,666kg per day.
In May, June and July, the average herd production per day was 1,263kg, ranging between 920kg and 1,492kg per day. During full-time grazing (March to July), the average production per cow per day was 20kg, 21kg, 18kg, 18kg and 19kg and milking frequency was 1.7, 1.7, 1.6, 1.6 and 1.7 per day in March, April, May, June and July, respectively.
A point to note is that an experiment on milking frequency started in May (reported below) and this may have influenced the average milking frequency for the herd.
Milk composition data from March to July indicated average fat, protein and lactose percentages at 4.48%, 3.62% and 4.78%, respectively.
The average milk somatic cell counts have been less than 100,000 for most months
Grazing management: A farm grass walk is undertaken twice a week and a cover is estimated by visual assessment for each paddock in the grazing blocks, which are treated as three independent farmlets with regard to grass budgeting. On the AMS farm, the paddocks are in the seventh rotation in each of the grazing sections. During the first to sixth rotations, the average covers grazed were 1,549kg, 1,439kg and 1,458kg grass DM/ha. Across the three grazing sections, the average pre-grazing height was 11.7cm and post-grazing height was 5cm.
An experiment has been underway since 1 May this year to determine the effect of milking frequency on cow milk production. Two groups of 34 cows each, with similar parity, days in lactation and breed were established. One group of cows had access to the robot twice a day and they achieved a milking frequency of 1.4 milkings per day. The other cow group had access to the robot three times a day and they achieved a milking frequency of 1.8 daily. Preliminary results indicate a similar milk yield per day and per month for cows milking either 1.4 or 1.8 times per day.
Cows milking 1.4 times yielded 18.1kg per day and the other cows milking 1.8 times a day yielded 18.3kg, consuming an average of 0.7kg concentrate per cow per day, for the duration of the trial.
This is an interesting result for those operating an ABC system of grazing. The lower frequency but similar yield obviously would allow more cows to be milked with the robot spreading the initial capital cost over more cows.
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