TEAM MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
The switch to robotics
Dieball decided to invest in robotic milking systems about seven years ago. With the dairy industry facing labor shortages and rising expenses, he saw robotic milking as a way to replace variable labor costs with a set cost.
“ When I talk about it with other dairymen, I always say that when I signed the dotted line for the robots years ago, our milking labor essentially became a fixed cost,” Dieball said.“ Imagine what labor costs were like back then and compare it to what it is today – our payments haven’ t changed, so we basically have an eightyear-old labor cost.”
Agricultural labor costs have continued to rise in the time since, while shortages have become increasingly common in many areas, according to the US Department of Agriculture( USDA).
The agency has also found that non-citizens from Mexico make up about half of the agricultural labor force in the US, and with the current political climate, a lot of farmers utilizing foreign workers through visa programs or other means are worried they may lose these employees.
Thanks to his robots, Dieball is not one of these farmers. His robotic milking systems have also provided several other benefits.
Before switching over, Dieball Dairy had about 100 to 120 heifers and cows. Following the transition, Dieball was able to double the size of his herd to about 240.
Each cow is producing more milk than before. When he was milking by hand, Dieball typically got two milkings per day from each cow. With his robots, most of his cows are milked three times per day, with some averaging closer to three-and-a-half milkings.
Dieball said that while his robots require less from him physically and allow him to be more hands-off, the trade-off is that they demand more from him mentally. Rather than having to milk more than 100 cows each day, he now has to keep tabs on the cow reports from the machine and maintain the robots.
The main chore on the farm now is guiding new cows close to going dry into the AMS twice a day. With the added flexibility the robots offer, Dieball can spend more time in the field overseeing his crops.
Making sure robots are the right fit
Dieball said that while switching to robotic milking has worked out great for his operation, it isn’ t a move that every dairy farmer should
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SUBMITTED PHOTOS
One of Dieball Dairy’ s cows stands comfortably in one of the farm’ s Lely Astronaut robotic milking systems while the machine’ s hybrid arm milks the cow using four suction cups, one for each teat. The system replaces humans in the milking process, resulting in better efficiency, higher production, and higher milk quality. The robots dispense grain for the cow in them, which incentivizes the animals to enter the milking areas on their own.
make.
For starters, it required a huge financial investment from Dieball to both purchase the necessary equipment and construct a new, 20,000- plus square-feet free-stall parlor to house it. He initially installed three robots and added two more about a year ago.
The robots cost hundreds of thousands of dollars each, and while constructing a new parlor isn’ t always necessary, most farmers would at least need to renovate their parlors to accommodate the machines.
Dieball said that though the cost can be worth it, farmers purchasing robots should do their due diligence when looking at the scale they will need for their herds and the production they can realistically expect post-transition. If a farmer overestimates the production robots can provide, things can go downhill quickly.
“ You’ ve got to know what your break-even cost is on your current operation before you’ re even thinking about investing in robots,” Dieball said.“ It’ s the type of thing where if you don’ t know what your cost of production is today, then how can you plan to invest to do something tomorrow? You’ ve got to know your numbers and be realistic with yourself about your management ability.”
Shelby Dieball performs maintenance work on one of the farm’ s robotic milkers. While the systems replace humans in the milking process, each robot must be maintained by its owners.
Each machine has a capacity of about 50 to 60 cows per day, and pushing that limit can reduce the efficiency of the robots, resulting in lower milk production.
Dieball said those who want to make the switch must be open to new technologies and how they work.
“ If you’ re afraid of technology, it might not be something for an individual that doesn’ t want to grasp it,” he said.
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