OptiRobot
Optimising the performance of robots and maximising the productive potential of the milking herd are key objectives on any automated dairy unit.
Optimising the performance of robots and maximising the productive potential of the milking herd are key objectives on any automated dairy unit.
To achieve these goals, changes to milking robot settings and cow management often need to take place. But identifying the areas to focus on can be difficult when faced with the large volumes of digital management data generated by milking robots.
To aid this decision-making process, ForFarmers now runs a specialist Robot Analysis Programme. This collects real-time data from milking robots, which is remotely accessed by ForFarmers for detailed analysis. This enables specialists to recommend changes to robot settings, nutrition, and herd management, which will maximise both robot and cow performance.
“The exciting thing about OptiRobot is that it can allow us to recommend changes which can maximise both robot and cow performance,” says Michael Duncan, Robotic Milking Specialist at ForFarmers.
“Using the programme means we now have daily access to huge amounts of data, everything from feed intakes, to number of robot visits, to yields per cow. We can use this information to highlight areas with potential for improvement and flag any outliers. It really helps us ensure that our customers are operating efficiently and getting the most they can out of their robots.”
“Previously, accessing data from customer’s robots meant we had to be on farm,” says Michael. “This could sometimes also be a time-consuming process and with some systems we would only be able to access the last 24 hours’ worth of data. But once a farm is set up on the system, their ForFarmers Account Manager receives a daily report remotely. This makes it easier for use to spot trends, as well as drill down into the details about what is happening on farm.”
The overall aim of the programme is to help automated dairy units refine their feed optimisation and robot performance. “The idea is that it almost provides an extra set of eyes on farm,” explains Michael. “We are able delve into the analysis and suggest potential changes to enhance performance, giving the farmer time to focus on the day-to-day farm management.”
