Results of robotic milking on selected farms in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Results of robotic milking on selected farms in the Czech RepublicThe introduction of robotic milking into farms in the Czech Republic began in 2003. This paper gives the results on 7 farms with robotic milking machines, with regard to breed (Bohemia Spotted cattle, Holstein), company size (number of robots 1 to 8) and type of ownership (private, cooperative). All farms used Lely Astronaut A3 robots. The companies showed statistical differences in average daily milk performance (P≤0.001) from 21.04 kg of milk/head/day to 40.43 kg of milk/head/day. Small private companies with one robot reached significantly (P≤0.001) higher milk performance of 28.79 kg of milk/head/day. On average, the daily milk performances of the Holstein cattle were 7.17 kg of milk higher than those of the Bohemia Spotted cattle (29.97 kg and 22.80 kg, respectively). The average number of milkings per head and day in individual companies ranged from 1.97 to 2.67. The average number of rejections per head and day (1.11) was low in companies with one robot and is influenced by the number of cows per one robot. The highest number of cows that had to be accompanied to the robot could be seen in large cooperatives - 20.1%. Bohemia Spotted cattle showed the lowest number of breeding-cows needing to be accompanied to the robot (8.8%).