At present there are 75 robotised milking systems or AMS operating in Latvia, and their number is increasing rapidly. Therefore, it is essential to determine the main factors that influence the economic profitability of introducing the AMS. As the research performed in the Western Europe shows, in this case the milk yield and the amount of milk milked by one AMS per year play an important role. Nevertheless, in our previous research, performed from 2008 to 2010, it was stated that also the wages of animal breeders are important. Therefore, the present article gives a comparison of the AMS and stand type parlour milking equipment considering the present economic situation kin Latvia. In the research it has been stated that for introduction of AMS approximately two times larger capital investments are necessary compared to the stand type parlour equipment that is used for serving the herd of the same size. But the AMS offer a possibility to reduce approximately two times the consumption of work of the people involved in milking. Therefore, in evaluation of the economic profitability of the AMS the wages for the animal breeders play an important role. Our research shows that introduction of AMS becomes economically profitable, compared to the stand type parlour equipment, if the wages for the workers exceed 4.5-5.0 EUR per one working hour.
Abstract. The main problem in using the AMS is that cows do not attend the AMS voluntarily. To ensure milking three or four times a day, in many farms cows are driven to the AMS several times a day. Representatives of companies recommend that it only takes place at the beginning and at the end of a workday. In such a case, cows gradually get used to milking as many times a day as it is intended. However, the question is -does this really happen? Next to the concern regarding the provision of the intended milking times a day, farmers are also worried about milking interval dispersion. Appropriate studies were carried out to see what happens in farms, where cows are driven to the AMS in the morning and in the evening only. At the same time, analogous studies were carried out in a holding, where cows were milked with milking parlour. The studies were conducted in two holdings. In the first holding, cows were milked with the AMS, but in the second -with parallel parlour. Ten cows were selected for each experimental group, and the studies lasted for 15 days. They determined the number of milking times per day (milking/day), and the distribution and dispersion of milking intervals. The results of the study showed that in practice it was possible to achieve that the AMS is attended more than 3 times a day, on the condition that only cows with a milking interval of more than 13 hours are driven to the milking site in the morning and in the evening. However, at the same time it was found that there would always be cows in a herd that have been milked both more and less than three times a day. When milking with the AMS, milking intervals vary widely, yet in 80 % of the cases they vary between 5 and 6 hours. First lactation cows (as compared to older cows) are more inert to attend the AMS, and their dispersion of milking intervals is greater. In turn, milking parlour ensures that all cows undergo the set number of milking times and it helps keep smaller fluctuations in milking intervals. If 60 to 80 cows are milked in one group, the fluctuation of the milking interval does not exceed 2 hours. Keywords: milking, AMS, parlours, intervals. IntroductionToday, the automatic milking systems (AMS) are widely used both in Latvia and in other EU countries. In the survey involving owners of dairy farms in Latvia, who use the AMS, the reluctance of cows to attend the AMS voluntarily was underlined as a key problem for the use of the AMS. In order to ensure milking of high-yielding cows three or four times a day, as recommended by best dairy farming practices, it is very often necessary to drive cows to the AMS several times a day, and it increases the workload of livestock keepers. In turn, representatives of AMS manufacturing companies claim that it is enough to drive the "lazy" cows to the milking site only at the beginning and at the end of a workday. If the cows are not bothered at other times, they will get accustomed to such an order and will attend the AMS on a regular basis. However, given the results of the farm owner survey...
Abstract. The aim of the research is to state how the voluntary milking principle is implemented on the practice farm milking cows using automated milking systems (AMS). For the research the following tasks were set: to state the distribution and dispersion of the milking intervals as well as to determine the correlation between the yield per milking and the milking intervals. The research was performed on a good practice farm where 110 cows are milked with two DeLaval AMS. The selectively guided cow traffic to the AMS "first feeding, after milking" is used. The cows with milking permission but not milked yet are guided to the AMS in the morning and in the evening. Besides, a couple of times per day also the cows that are not milked, but for which milking is planned 3 to 4 times per day, are also guided to the AMS. The research was performed in 10 days with all 110 cows included. The input data necessary for the research were obtained from the AMS control system. pIt was stated in the research that the average yield per milking was 12.74 kg, but the average number of milking times per day for the group of the cows -2.6 times. Besides, such parameters milking with the AMS correspond to good practice indicators. It has been stated that in 13 % of the cases of all milking times the milking intervals have been longer than 14 hours, but in 14.3 % of the cases the cows have been milked more often than the set 6 hour interval. The average relative milking interval standard error for the whole group of the cows was 5.52 %, but the average correlation coefficient for the group of the cows between the yield per milking and the milking interval -0.24.Keywords: cow, milking robot, milking interval. IntroductionDespite that the automated milking systems or the AMS are used for milking cows already for a long time, among practitioners and scientists there is still debate open about more rational solutions for guiding cows using automated milking. The topicality of this issue is related to the average quantity of the milk yield as with unreasonable increase of the length of the milking interval milk filling in the udder is retarded. Therefore, research in and practical solution of this issue is of economical importance.The most rational ways of cow traffic to milking have been investigated by many scientists: Harms [1], Wall and MeFadden [2], as well as others [3][4][5], still, this problem is not researched enough. It is proved by our previous research [6; 7], in which it has been stated that in practice the set milking intervals are not followed and in the result the average number of the milking times per day is reduced. But to eliminate this shortage participation of people in the process of milking is necessary to control the existing situation and if needed to guide the "lazy" cows for milking.The aim of the research discussed in the present article is to state in detail how the voluntary milking principle milking cows with the AMS is implemented on a good practice farm where robotized milking equipment is used for alrea...
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