ALBANY, Minn. - The days of hand milking cows are over on this dairy farm. Since 2009, the Groetsch Dairy Farm has switched over to complete automation. Today, all 260 cows are milked by robots.
It took the dairy farm about a year to train the cows to use the robot milker.
"When she goes into the robot it knows which cow it is and if she needs to be milked or not." said Steve Groetsch.
When a cow enters the robot, it scans its collar to see if it needs to be milked, then tracks how much milk it produces and can keep a close eye on the health of the cow. Cows are lined up to be milked mostly because of what is waiting for them inside.
"They actually like the feed we put in there and that is the important part. To make sure the feed that we feed them is palatable and kind of a treat for them," said Lisa Groetsch.
On the other side of the farm, the calves are also fed automatically by a robot which gives them a milk with added nutrients to it.
Having a full system of robots working the barn gives Steve and Lisa Groetsch more information about their cows and scheduling flexibility, which may be the norm for future dairy producers.
"They don't want to work seven days a week anymore. They want their weekends off. This is something they can have because of the flexibility of scheduling," said Lisa.