{"id":1434,"date":"2026-05-05T16:16:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lelycentermidatlantic.com\/?p=1434"},"modified":"2026-05-05T16:16:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:16:49","slug":"what-it-really-takes-to-be-successful-with-robotic-milking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lelycentermidatlantic.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/what-it-really-takes-to-be-successful-with-robotic-milking\/","title":{"rendered":"What It Really Takes To Be Successful with Robotic Milking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>What It Really Takes to Be Successful with Robotic Milking<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I recently joined a webinar through Penn State Extension on making robots successful, with Joe Bender presenting. I\u2019ll be honest\u2014I usually go into these with a bit of skepticism. Not because they aren\u2019t valuable, but because I know I come in with my own bias from what we see every day in the field. I\u2019m always curious about what I\u2019ll agree with and what I won\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joe did a great job presenting facts, recent studies, and sharing his own observations (and clearly calling them opinions when they were). One thing he said had me cheering behind my screen:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u201cRobots have the potential to make a good dairyman great\u2014and a bad dairyman worse.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s exactly right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve always said robots are the ultimate magnifier. They don\u2019t create problems, but they will absolutely expose them. Over the last ten years at Lely Center Mid-Atlantic, I\u2019ve seen that play out both ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, what separates the farms that do well with robots from the ones that struggle?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Daily Habits Matter More Than Anything<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The farms that perform well tend to be very consistent in the basics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They have clear protocols, including those around fetching cows. Their team knows which animals need attention and when\u2014 like fresh cows and heifers. Those groups usually get fetched 3x a day, not just when someone has time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also stay on top of daily maintenance\u2014and not just a quick rinse of the robot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They go above and beyond by doing things like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Checking liners for wear or tears<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Making sure lasers are calibrated<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keeping the 3D camera clean<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>That last one gets overlooked a lot. It directly impacts attachment, and more often than not, we\u2019re cleaning cameras that should\u2019ve been part of a daily routine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most successful customers are actively using their data every single day with various reports like the \u201cadvice\u201d and \u201cattention\u201d lists. Cows that need attention don\u2019t get missed, they get the hands-on care they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Preventative Maintenance Isn\u2019t Optional<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The farms that consistently perform well also understand the value of sticking to a preventative maintenance schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They see the value in the expense; the value in having trained technicians in the barn on a regular basis. Our service team is looking at multiple robots every single day, across a wide range of farms. They\u2019re seeing patterns, catching small issues early, and noticing things that are easy to miss when you\u2019re around the same equipment day in and day out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not just about fixing problems\u2014it\u2019s about preventing them before they start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other side of it, one of the more common things we see when farms feel pressure to cut costs is delaying or skipping maintenance altogether. It might seem like a reasonable short-term decision, but it usually leads to more downtime, more repairs, and higher costs over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The farms that do the best with robots tend to take the opposite approach\u2014they stay consistent with maintenance, even when things are busy or margins feel tight, because they understand what it costs to fall behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Where Things Start to Slip<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The farms that struggle usually aren\u2019t doing anything dramatically wrong\u2014they\u2019re just inconsistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A pretty common routine looks like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wash the robot down<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Grab a few fetch cows<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Move on to the next thing (especially this time of year)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\u2019s understandable. Spring doesn\u2019t slow down for anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But robotic systems don\u2019t handle inconsistency very well. The small things that seem like they can wait are usually the ones that come back to bite later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Using the Data (or Not)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another big separator is how comfortable farms are using data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ones that do well are in it regularly. Many are on FMS (Farm Management Support) agreements and have consistent communication with our FMS Specialist, Kayla Brody, who is reviewing their data and helping spot trends early. That allows for more proactive decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The farms that struggle tend to fall behind here. They may not be using Horizon to it\u2019s full capacity, or they\u2019re unsure how to act on what they\u2019re seeing. In some cases, they\u2019re not really tapping into the support that\u2019s available to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Being Willing to Adjust<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Probably the biggest difference, though, is mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The farms that succeed understand that robots aren\u2019t just a new piece of equipment, they require a different way of managing cows. They\u2019re open to adjusting routines, trying new approaches, and using the system the way it was designed to be used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also recognize that cows adapt quickly. People take a little longer, and that\u2019s okay\u2014but only if you\u2019re willing to make the shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The farms that struggle tend to do the opposite. They try to manage robots exactly like they managed a parlor. They don\u2019t trust the data. They rely on old habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\u2019s where friction starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A Quick Example: Somatic Cell Count<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One point Joe covered was somatic cell count in robotic systems, which is something we get asked about all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research he shared showed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>24% of farms improved<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>68% stayed about the same<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>8% got worse<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s no clear \u201crobots fix this\u201d takeaway\u2014and that\u2019s the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Outcomes depend heavily on management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Things like stall cleanliness, consistency in routines, and follow-through on small tasks carry more weight in a robotic setup. Skipping a day here and there might not have had much impact in a parlor, but it tends to show up faster with robots. The best dairymen understand that success isn\u2019t built on big changes\u2014it\u2019s built on small, consistent actions done well every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robots are a great tool, but they\u2019re not a shortcut. They tend to amplify what\u2019s already happening on a farm. The operations that are consistent, detail-oriented, and willing to adapt usually see the most benefit. If you\u2019re considering robots, the question isn\u2019t just \u201cWill this technology work on my farm?\u201d It\u2019s, \u201cam I ready to manage differently?\u201d Because robots will absolutely magnify what you\u2019re already doing, good or bad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What It Really Takes to Be Successful with Robotic Milking I recently joined a webinar through Penn State Extension on making robots successful, with Joe Bender presenting. I\u2019ll be honest\u2014I <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lelycentermidatlantic.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/what-it-really-takes-to-be-successful-with-robotic-milking\/\" class=\"read-more button-fancy -red\"><span class=\"btn-arrow\"><\/span><span class=\"twp-read-more text\">Continue Reading<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-monthly-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lelycentermidatlantic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lelycentermidatlantic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lelycentermidatlantic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lelycentermidatlantic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lelycentermidatlantic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1434"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lelycentermidatlantic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1435,"href":"https:\/\/www.lelycentermidatlantic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434\/revisions\/1435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lelycentermidatlantic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lelycentermidatlantic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lelycentermidatlantic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}