Dairy Innovation with Technology

Today, the farm is living up to the name I have on the blog. I like to think I grew up on an innovative farm, with parents who liked to push the envelope and think uniquely about challenges. Two weeks ago when we started our newest project I think we have really pushed the envelope.

I am so excited to share this news with all of you. We have started renovating the farm to get ready for our milking robots! That’s right, in a few months we will be shutting the power off to our parlor forever and robots will be milking our cows. Talk about cool and exciting news!

Two Lely A4 milking robots will sit in this part of our barn.

Our family will be installing 4 Lely A4 robots and we are very happy to have started this project. This will allow us to have some flexibility in our lives and we should be able to milk our cows with only one employee. If you want to learn more about our brand of robots you can check out the Lely brand on their website or their Facebook page.

It’s going to take us a while to get the robots and get them working and hooked up but we are trying to move this project along quickly. I cannot wait to share how they work! One of the coolest parts of it is I remember years ago when we milked in our stanchions. I was too young to help milk but I remember my parents milking while I played in the barn.

This is where it all began with me! The memories with the family.

I obviously know what it’s like to milk in our parlor, seeing as I’ve helped since I was a kid. And now I get to see to see and be a part of the third step. I get to give this to the future generations on the farm with help from my parents.

Until then, I want to share with you this video. This is of a farm in Indiana that I visited a while ago. They are wonderful dairy farmers and have done a wonderful job with their Lely Robots. When you watch the video, they have Holsteins and Brown Swiss cows, which we don’t have any Brown Swiss so make sure to check out their cuteness too!