Automation technology is about to reach a tipping point triggering significant changes in the way farmers can operate their dairy farms more efficiently.

That’s the way Mark Wyss sees it, a Kiwi farmer who moved to Australia to set up a dairy farm in Victoria about 25 years ago. “I think the price of technology is cheaper now and it’s comparable to labour, with labour becoming difficult to find. “So to me it’s a no-brainer to adopt technology and adjust your system.”

Mark and his family farm up to 800 dairy cows in Camperdown, west of Geelong in Victoria. In 2021 they decided to rebuild and update their old 60-point rotary, to transform it into a modern plant which could deliver a higher level of efficiency and consistency.

They elected to go with Southwest Dairy Services for the upgrade, using components and technology developed by Waikato Milking Systems. “The first thing we looked at was putting in cup removers to modernise the milking process and that meant we could cut out one labour unit at milking time.

“That is a big saving, from having four guys in the shed all the time to now three, so it’s made things a little bit less onerous and labour intensive.”

Mark opted for the ECR-S Electronic Cup Removers by Waikato Milking Systems. It works with a sensor and shut off valve to detect the end of milking, to prevent cows from being over-milked. It has a gentle detach to ensure best care of the cow’s teats.

ECR-S also controls the SmartSPRAY function, the automatic teat spray system, triggered at the end of milking before the cows leave the platform. “We’re milking 770 cows, usually getting up to that 800 mark and having the cups removed automatically just makes life a bit easier and milking more consistent.

“Having the in-bail teat spray means we don’t have to manually spray the teats which is what we had been doing before the upgrade.” BailMate units were also installed on the rotary deck to control the bail straps for cow retention.

Mark’s favourite technology addition though is the SmartWASH system, the automatic milking machine wash control which can be activated at the end of milking.

“SmartWASH, I love it. It takes care of the machine washing automatically which means you don’t have to worry about what mix of chemicals to use because it does it all for you. It complies with health and safety and hygiene regulations, it just makes it easier for the owner and takes all that worry away.”

The platform rebuild took about eight weeks to complete and Mark is now happy working in a modern milking parlour.

“It won’t mean we’ll expand the herd, I think 800 cows is enough for us, but it’s just good timing at the moment with labour being short, it’s hard to source workers. The upgrade allowed us to change our system and fine tune our operation.”

Mark engaged Southwest Dairy Services after watching the team work on a similar installation project on a friend’s dairy farm.

“I was pleased with the work Damian Loomans from Southwest Dairy Services did for us. “And being a Kiwi, I liked that focus Waikato Milking Systems has on large batch milking, but making it simple and easy to manage, that was a big selling point for me.”

Mark’s dad is still involved in the dairy farm and has watched with interest the development of dairy automation technology. “He’s taken some convincing about using more technology because you always tend to give up a level of manual control when you automate a function.

“We used to micromanage our farm quite hard using that manual control but now you have to trust that machines and automation are doing their part and adjust your system accordingly.”

Mark’s advice to others looking to upgrade their milking systems is to keep an open mind to the value of automation technology. “I think we are starting to go through quite a big change with technology in dairy farming now.

“It’s a change that is being forced upon us a bit by the shortage of labour but technology has become so robust, so well tested and proved, it doesn’t seem quite so outlandish.”