Tri-State Neighbor: South Dakota Farm Newspaper

When it comes to milking their cows, the Goblirsch brothers take a hands-off approach - Nels, 34, and Matt, 30, let robots do the work.

“Every generation wants to build their own - make their own decisions. Dad just said it better work,” said Nels Goblirsch, a third-generation dairyman, who partnered with his younger brother, Matt, and parents, Bernard and Mary Clare, in 2005 to run Goblirsch Dairy, LLC, near Wabasso, Minn.

The brothers' decision to increase their family's 100-cow dairy herd to a 150-cow herd and replace the old stanchion barn with a new, climate-controlled freestall barn with robotic milkers was based on economics and cow comfort.

Title: Goblirsch Dairy
Date: Jun. 19th, 2008
Goblirsch Dairy near Wabasso, Minn., installed robotic milkers on their family dairy.
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“When my dad took over from his dad, he went from 20 cows to 100. At that time 100 cows was a good income for a family,” said Nels, who is one of nine children. “When we partnered together, we realized that 100 cows was not enough to support three families.”

At first the brothers wanted to expand to a 300-cow dairy. However, after doing some research and talking with their banker, the brothers quickly realized that milking 300 cows in a traditional parlor system would not be economical because it would mean hiring help.

“Banks don't like loaning money if you are doing only 300. You may as well do 600 cows,” Nels said. “Milking 300 cows with a robot barn is perfect. The robots take care of the labor.”

Nels says that he and his brother first learned about robotic milking at the 2000 World Dairy Expo.

Each robot can milk up to 70 cows. When they crunched the numbers, they realized that it made economical sense for their dairy - they would not need to hire additional labor. They incorporated four Lely Astronaut/A3 robotic milkers into the design of their new 140-foot-by-209-foot freestall barn.

Two years after the cows moved in, he says the dairy does a good job supporting all three families.

“We are earning what we want to and doing it on a barn that isn't full right now. We have 150 cows and are able to provide an income for all three families,” Nels said.

He adds that he or his brother are able to run everything by themselves if they need to. They choose to split the duties and have one employee.

“The whole barn can be run by one person. Matt does all the feeding of cows and calves, I manage the barn and we have a hired man who fills in. In reality we could get by without him, but it's nice to have someone dependable to rely on,” Nels said.

Voluntary milking equals cow comfort

The robotic milkers allow cows to choose when and how often they are milked. Nels says that some of his cows voluntarily milk twice a day, most milk three times a day and some visit the robotic milker five times a day.

“Cows love it,” he said. “The robot takes the human out of the milking equation.”

His brother Matt adds that it is difficult for a person to compete with the robot when it comes to consistency.

“No one can milk a cow consistently every time - not like the robot,” Matt Goblirsch said. “I don't think they like the human milking once they have experienced the robot.”

Nels explains that cows go into the robotic milker because that is where they get what he refers to as “dessert.”

Their cows are fed only a partial mixed ration of chopped silage and roughage in the feed alley. They get the rest of their ration in pellet form, individually rationed when they walk into the robotic milker.

“The cow comes to get itself milked because she gets a treat when she steps into the robot stall,” he said.

He says that when they first introduced their cows to this new system, they did it in groups of 20. Training cows to the new system took anywhere from three days, with young heifers, to three weeks, with some of the older cows.

Once the cow steps onto the floating floor of the robotic milking stall, the robot reads the identification tag the cow wears around her neck. It then deposits her feed ration. Then, based on her weight allocation - which is detected by the floating scale floor - the milker approaches her udder.

“Other robotic systems know where the udder is because they squeeze the cow when it comes into the stall,” Nels said. “We went with the Lely system because it does it without touching the cow. Cows don't like to be squeezed.”

Robotic milking starts by first automatically cleaning her udder with two brushes and solution. Then the robot massages the cow's udder to stimulate milk let-down. At this point, using lasers similar to those used in the check-out at a grocery store, the robot draws a three-demential picture of each teat.

Once the prep-work is done, the milker attaches one teat at a time. Nels says that the milking is done on a quarter-by-quarter basis.

The robot records the volume of milk each quarter produces, records the temperature of the milk and even tests for discolored milk or infection. Their herd runs a 75 pound tank average.

“It is much more effective than I could be,” Nels said. “If a human can see two shades of white, the robot can detect 200.”

It tests milk for infection using two electrical probes. According to Nels, the electrical current tries to jump through the milk between the probes. The more white blood cells found in the milk, the easier it is for it to jump - detecting the first signs of an infection.

“This allows dairy farmers to make decisions based on data rather than hunches,” said Rusty Hartke, president of Gorters Clay and Dairy, a Lely dealer in Pipestone, Minn. “If you are milking her every day, you are only seeing her for a short time and relying on your senses to pick up on problems. Where as, the robot does it with data. The robot weighs the cow every time she enters the stall. It tests her milk for conductivity and color. It takes her temperature and records how much she eats.”

NEls programmed the robot with an alarm system. If any of the tests the robot runs, reach pre-determined levels, the milk goes into a separate compartment and his cell phone rings. He can then decide if the milk should be dumped or go into the tank. His cell phone will also ring if any part of the robot needs maintenance.

The computer program associated with the robotic milkers monitors a long list of information for each cow. The data can be reviewed by the Goblirsches from any computer with Internet access - from anywhere in the world.

“It allows us to go on vacation. We can check on the cows over the Internet and call back and ask if a specific cow has been checked,” Nels said.

Since building the new barn and installing the robotic milkers, Nels says the dairy's average somatic cell count has moved from 250,000-300,000 to 120,000-150,000. He attributes this to decreased stress levels and the clean environment created by the robotic milkers and the state-of-the-art freestall barn.

“I'm a big believer that stress causes high somatic counts. A cow can fight infections, but when she's stressed out all the time, it's more difficult for her,” Nels said.

Along with the robotic milkers, the brothers added to their cows' comfort level by choosing to build their barn on a slatted floor. They use dual-chambered waterbeds for their cows' bedding, horizontal and vertical automatic cow brushes to help keep the cows clean and free of worms or lice and 24-foot fans along with climate controlled curtains to keep the barn at an even 42 degrees year-round.

“The cows are so calm in the new barn. Everyone brags about the fact that the cows are so laid back. I can go out in the barn right now and I have to walk around them - they won't move for me,” Nels said.

Although they spent a lot on cow comfort, about $9,000 to $10,000 per cow, the brothers say they were able to save money in other areas.

“We don't use additional bedding in our stalls. We don't AI. We don't DHIA (Dairy Herd Information Association). We chop all our own feed,” Nels said. “In the end it cash flows a lot easier. I'm a numbers guy. People always have to show me how it can save me at the end of the day.

“We invest money in high quality forage and chopping equipment. At the end of the year we were making money when others weren't,” said Nels, who adds that they raise all their own forage on 1,000 acres of farmland. “My cows get milked three to five times a day and the cost is still the same.”

Nels says that he only spends about an hour each day changing filters and maintaining the robots. If any serious maintenance needs to be done, he calls Hartke.

“Lely is phenomenal in their support. We have local technicians ... if they get really stumped we can link to the guys in the Netherlands and they can take a look at the machine online,” said Hartke, who adds that each robot, with upgrades, has about a 20-year life expectancy.

The Goblirsch Dairy recently hosted a dairy tour/open house for 1,200 visitors, June 7.

Knowing that their barn would get a lot of foot traffic - it's not every day a person has the opportunity to see a cow voluntarily milk herself - they designed their barn with a catwalk so that visitors can view the cows, robotic milkers and barn from all angles without ever stepping foot in the cow's “space.”

To learn more about robotic milking systems visit, www.lelyusa.com and click on the “agriculture” link. To see a slideshow from the Goblirsch Dairy, visit www.tristateneighbor.com.

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