Dairy cows have been in farmer Terry Norden’s blood since before he was born. His farm, named Nordensplace, is between Napoleon and Ridgeville Corners, Ohio, and was started in 1905 by his grandfather. Terry and his siblings worked alongside his parents until their passing in 1994, when he and his wife Karen then took over the entire dairy and farming operation.

The Nordens milked 50-60 cows three times a day, along with their two children, Kyle and Grace, until Kyle decided to earn extra money with an off-farm job, and Grace left for the University of Findlay, then Purdue University, to pursue a veterinarian career. Each milking took almost two hours, with two people per milking. Faced with a crossroads decision, Terry and Karen decided to investigate the concept of robot milking.

In 2019, a small refurbishing of the milking parlor took place, with some additional concrete work and an enclosed lean-to portion added to the milking barn area for an office and viewing area. They then purchased a DeLaval VMS 300 robot milking system. Robot milking started Oct. 16 of that year. It is a “freeflow system,” where the cows come in to get milked on their own, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is a four-hour window between milkings, Terry explained. The robot reads the cow’s tag number and if it doesn’t need to be milked the robot will kick the cow out of the milking area. 

When a cow enters to get milked, the computer records the ID of the cow, washes the udder, attaches the milker, and retrieves all equipment when the milking is completed. Some cows are milked three times a day yet, some are milked just two times a day. Terry explained that some robots are a “guided flow system,” where the cows go through a gate to get feed, then if they need milked, the robot sends them to get milked.

Now the time spent on milking operations is five to six hours per day, with just one person. Terry explains: “It’s nice not having to get kicked when trying to milk some of the cows, the robot doesn’t seem to mind getting kicked.”

As for learning curves, Terry explained that technology glitches the first couple of years all got ironed out as both he and Karen, and the cows, got used to the new system. He stated that, “Some cows seem to learn faster than other cows, and that first calf heifers usually catch on within a week after they calve.”

Technology being what it is, Terry said the robot computer provides an endless array of reports. Reports on every cow, from how much each is producing, to how long it takes to milk each cow, to milk flow per cow, to how long between milkings, to cows that haven’t reported for milking. Terry explained the reports are sifted through, and cows that are slacking off on production are sometimes sold, and replaced with a better producing cow.

The robot has freed up extra time as well. Flexibility is a plus, as Terry explained that some farm chores can now be done at any time, as opposed to waiting for milking time to arrive. Many times, Terry can fix a robot glitch from his cell phone, a luxury of not having to get up in the middle of the night to trudge to the barn. Terry added that he and Karen are also able to get away for some short trips now with the robot in place, as well as getting more sleep from the “milking three times a day” routine, is a definite plus.

Field work has also gotten a lot easier, and they have expanded their operation. Their farm consisted of 320 acres before the robot came and is now 400 acres.

Overall, Terry explained that they are very pleased with the robot milker, and even though it seemed to be a pretty pricey investment at the time, the investment has paid off in keeping the dairy farm up and running, and ready for the next generation.