PA Agriculture Secretary visits county farm benefiting from innovation grant
PENN TWP — A new automatic robotic milking machine at Four Seasons Farm improves efficiency at the dairy farm, monitors the cows’ health and makes work a little safer at the family-run business.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding visited the farm Thursday, April 16, to have a look at the milker, which was purchased with the help of a $100,000 Agricultural Innovation Grant from the state Department of Agriculture.
“We’re still working with animals here. It doesn’t matter how much I love these cows, there’s still one that going to kick at me. There’s still one that’s going to try to hurt me. Whenever one kicks at this robot, it doesn’t complain, swear or take a day off,” said Jordan Kennedy, who runs the farm with his parents, Jeff and Janice Kennedy.
Redding said innovation grants have been used across the state to improve efficiency in processing 30 different agricultural commodities.
He said the state has received $86 million in requests for $10 million in available funding for the current round of grants. Gov. Josh Shapiro has allocated $19 million for the next round of grant funding.
Robotic milkers have improved the quality of life for dairy farmers by reducing the amount of time spent tending to their herds, Redding said.
Kennedy said the farm received a $100,000 grant, matched that amount and spent more on other upgrades, including a bulk tank, which stores and cools milk.
“This is for the future. We’ve been here since 1956,” Kennedy said.
The 63 brown Swiss cows the farm milks every day line up and voluntarily step into a milking stall where the new Lely milking robot takes over.
A robotic arm brushes off the cow, prepares and sanitizes its teats and uses a laser camera to place each milking cup. A 3D camera constantly scans the cow to move the arm to keep it in the correct position as the cow moves around. The arm also stimulates the cow to release its milk.
Once the milking begins, the first 10 milliliters is tested for conductivity to check for bacteria in the milk and mastitis in the cow. If a problem is detected, the cow is automatically released into a separate stall for evaluation.
Flow sensors calculate the amount of milk each cow produces, allowing the robot to compare the amount to the number of steps each cow has taken that day. The system measures production and helps identify sick cows, Kennedy said.
While each cow is in the milking stall, health information collected and stored in a collar tag is downloaded. It counts the number of steps each cow takes a day, measures food intake, counts the number of minutes the cows chew their cud to determine rumen health, measures milk temperature and notes when they were last milked, he said.
“You get this complete system of information to know who’s healthy, who needs help, what production they’re giving,” he said.
That information helps the Kennedys determine which cows to keep milking as the herd grows, he said.
“It’s going to help us manage our farm completely,” he said.
He said he and his family are considering buying a second robotic milker.
“You’re the perfect example where you’ve got a manageable number of cows, you’ve made these decisions to upgrade,” Redding said.
After the brief gathering, Redding said not all grant recipients plan and design equipment installation like the Kennedys did.
“If we were laying out the perfect design to do it — do it this way,” Redding said. “To me, it’s really a perfect design.”
