Carroll County Times Articles
Robots and Lasers
Transform Modern Dairy Business
by Mike Bell – June 19, 2005
During a recent vacation to California, I visited Ollimac Dairy in northern Merced County. The owner, Rob Morelli, was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to give a tour of his new business - raising 2,000 Jersey cows.
He found it necessary to "think outside the box" when deciding what to do about being landlocked, but with the need to expand. After looking at alternatives, visiting new operations, and talking to many people about the dairy business, he decided to build a new facility six miles east of his existing dairy farm.
After reviewing budgets, using a demonstration unit, and visiting operations that use robotic milking systems, Rob decided to go with an automated milking system. His decision was based primarily on economics, but challenges of labor were also a factor.
Ollimac Dairy uses 32 robotic units to milk their 2,000 Jersey cows 2.7 - 2.8 times per day. Their 32 units are five more than the total number of units used throughout the rest of the United States.
Rob filled the corrals as construction progressed. The first corral was filled May 2003; the last August 2004; with a total of eight corrals, each holding 250 cows, and each milked by four robotic units. Each corral is a closed unit where the cows eat, drink, rest and are milked. A training corral is used to train the cows on the system.
There are 250 cows per corral, on 250 different schedules for milking, feeding, drinking, etc. This would be impossible without the automated milking system, which tracks each cow individually. Each robotic unit uses its own computer for tracking management information.
Cows must pass through an automatic gatekeeper to get to food, water and an open stall. The computer estimates milk production in each cow's udder by the hour to determine if she should be milked.
After cows eat and move to free stalls, they are sorted by a computer linked gate system as they pass through the sorting arch. Lasers are used to locate teats - two front and two rear. Each cow is fed her own specific combination of energy and protein while she stands in the box to be milked.
The milk goes from the cows' udders, to the robot, through a tunnel, to a tank house (two 7,000 gallon tanks) and finally to a tanker truck. The 700-foot-long tunnel runs perpendicular under the barns. Milk lines, receiver jars, vacuum pumps, electronics, water, etc. run through the tunnel.
On the surface, the system is very quiet. Backup systems are included, and an emergency warning system is in place in the event of problems with the robot.
While Rob admits to challenges in the installation and upkeep of this unique system, he takes great pride in the fact that this business should remain functional, profitable, and competitive as his four children join him in the family dairy business.
About the Author
Mike Bell is an Extension Agent with the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension in Carroll County and an advisor for the Carroll Technology Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating businesses, government and residents about technology issues. Questions are welcomed and may be addressed in future articles. E-mail Mike Bell at mbell@umd.edu, or go to www.carrolltechcouncil.org for a list of other advisor categories.
For more information about the Tech Council, as well as a list of the advisors, go to www.carrolltechcouncil.org. This column appears every other week in In Focus.
