Ivan and Denise Hopper love dairy farming but putting on cups was more of a chore than a labour of love.
That’s why the Woodlands farmers decided to switch to a robotic milking system.
They milk 335 Holstein-Friesian cows during the peak of the milking season on their 126-hectare farm.
Meanwhile, on the run-off they rear all the calves from their mixed-aged cows to sell.
The couple installed five DeLaval voluntary milking system (VMS) robots in their shed in June last year after 18 months thinking about what they wanted to change on the farm.
“Well, we wondered what we were going to do differently next season. We were just sick of the daily grind,” Denise said.
Previously, the couple had spent 12 years milking through a 30-aside herringbone system and Ivan says they had to start thinking about what they wanted for the future of their farm.
Even with robots they could possibly still be walking the cows to the shed and putting cups on.
However, the DeLaval system made it simple.
The cows can walk to the shed whenever they want to be milked and the cups go on automatically.
“There’s a bit of cleaning and that’s about all,” Ivan says.
While it was a lifestyle change for the pair they weren’t the only ones who had a big change.
All their cows had to be trained to use the new yards and the robots.
Each cow is fitted with an ear tag that is read by machines on the yard’s smart gates. If a cow returns to the shed too soon after her last milking she is diverted away for grazing, either in the paddock she came from or if a new grazing area has opened up she is sent there.
It took a little learning before the girls knew what they were doing.
The Hoppers have noticed how much more relaxed and friendly the herd has become since they switched to milking robots.
Farm facts:
Owners: Ivan and Denise Hopper
Location: Woodlands, Southland
Farm size: 126ha milking platform, 129ha run-off
Cows: 335 Holstein-Friesian
Production 2017-18: 132,000kg MS
Target: 2018-19 148,000kg MS
