MARCH 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


17 Robotic milkers sized up during dairy tour


Dealers played key role in purchase decision, satisfaction


by DAVID SCHMIDT DEWDNEY – A couple of


factors conspired to convince Costante Parapini of Oroby Farms in Dewdney to build a new robotic barn for his 80- cow herd.


When his daughter Silvia finished school, she left home for a short period before returning to work on the farm. “After she worked in the old barn for three years and didn’t leave, I decided we had to do something,” he said during the 2019 BC Dairy Expo Self-Tour. Then, in February 2017,


after making the decision to build but before construction actually began, the 30-year- old barn collapsed. “The barn collapsed at noon and by 5 [o’clock] that afternoon, we had all the cows out and, thanks to our neighbours, were being milked elsewhere. We lost only five cows,” Silvia recalls. Their first decision was whether to put in a new parlour or switch to robots. They chose robots so Silvia wouldn’t have to hire a milker. She also liked the flexibility they give both her and the cows.


“I now have a choice as to when to go to the barn,” she says.


The cows also have their


own schedules. “Our fresh cows are milked


five to six times a day while cows at the end of lactation only get milked once a day,” she explains. The next decision was


which robotic milking system to choose. They went with a GEA Monobox system after first going to Ontario to see one in operation. Two main factors


influenced that decision: the Parapinis believe the GEA system is safer because it has a pit for the operator to stand in and they prefer the inline dip to the misters some other systems use.


They note the new barn


requires less maintenance, has better stalls and improved cow comfort. Changes in building regulations since the old barn was built means the new barn is structurally stronger, reducing the risk of another collapse. After using the system for a


year, the Parapinis are delighted with the results. “Our average has gone


from 34 to 38 kgs per day and we now have more information to help us decide what to do,” Silvia says.


More robots Oroby was one of four


robotic milking systems on view during the tour. Others were at Martin and Samantha Romeyn’s Four Sons Dairy in Chilliwack, Tony and Craig VanGarderen’s Kelton Holsteins in Abbotsford and Allan, Richard and Devan Toop’s Toop Farms in Greendale. Each chose a different robotic milker. Two are retrofits. The Toops


retrofitted their barn to accommodate one single-box and three double-box Boumatic robots while the VanGarderens installed BC’s


Costante, Silvia and June Parapini showed off their new robotic barn at Oroby Farms in Dewdney during the 2019 BC Dairy Expo Self-Tour, January 23. CHRISTINE TERPSMA PHOTO


first two DeLaval V300 robotic milkers in their barn. Martin Romeyn, who


started on the new entrant program eight years ago, built a new barn. Although it only includes one Lely A5 robot, enough to easily handle his 35-cow herd, the barn is designed to add a second robot when the herd expands. Each chose their robotic


system because of the dealer involved, all praising the support they received, and each extremely pleased with the results.


“I built the barn around the


cows themselves,” Romeyn says, noting it has wider crossovers, improved lighting


and many more fans than his old barn. “The airflow and lighting in the old barn weren’t very good so I made sure to improve that.” He reports dramatic


increases in production and quality, saying his average SCC (somatic cell count) has dropped from 240,000 to 160,000 while production has increased from 28 kg/day to 39 kg/day.


“I culled 10 cows in one


day,” he notes. The VanGarderens say their


production increased about four kgs/day and now averages 42 kgs/day. “The cows were already familiar with the barn and we


were already using computerized grain feeding so the transition was easy,” says Tony VanGarderen. Ed Vandenberg of J&D


Farmers Dairy Service was proud to display the innovative technology in DeLaval’s new V300 robot. The biggest change is that the robot uses new algorithms and a three-dimensional camera instead of a laser to locate the teat. Vandenberg says the changes make the system faster and more accurate, increasing its capacity to 60 to 65 cows per unit. The capacity of most robots is closer to 50 cows per unit.


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