AMS Retrofit Barns – A Viable Consideration

AMS Retrofit Barns – A Viable Consideration

Considering the current economic situation with higher interest rates and increasing building costs, some producers are delaying building plans and large investments. They are looking to solve for the lack of labor while creating a better work life balance and therefore still have automatic milking systems (AMS) top of mind. But what about a retrofit? Let’s discuss the benefits of an AMS retrofit and the impact on productivity, longevity, and sustainability.

Using real herd data, we analyzed the following key performance indicators (KPI’s):

1. Productivity: In evaluating productivity we considered 2 simple KPI’s; liters per cow per day (l/c/d) and kilograms of butter fat (BF) producer per cow per day (kg/c/d). Not including a full year of transition following AMS installation, the trending average was a +3 l/c/d increase, representing +2.70$ revenue per cow per day ($/c/d) or +900$ on 305 milk, using an average milk price of 90 cents. We wanted to ensure that BF production was also trending the same way and validated that the average was +0.15 kg/cow/day increase.
2. Longevity: Commonly, cows in their 5th and 6th lactation are the most profitable and efficient according to Cow Signals Master Trainer Joep Driessen. Hence lowering culling rate, due to keeping healthy higher producing mature cows can have a positive impact on your herds’ lifetime productivity and total net revenue. Data suggests more than a 5% reduction in culling rates, evaluation 2-5+ years post AMS retrofit installation can be expected. Another interesting trend was a +2% reduction of cows culled before 60 days in milk. Expected loss per early lactation cull would be over 3000$, including the replacement cost less than the salvage revenue, treatment and disposal costs, and lower milk revenue.
3. Sustainability: Many KPI’s can be evaluated to demonstrate sustainability. More milk per cow explained in point 1 is a key contributing factor. With lowering the cull rate in point 2, the number of replacement animals needed decreases which has a sustainable impact. Reducing the number of replacement heifers has a significance on the costs since the average heifer raising investment is well above 3800$ per head. The heifers must reach the correct maturity at calving to obtain the most profitable lifetime production considering the right mature body weight. Knowing that herds will often purchase quota and expand their herd size a few years after a retrofit, the herd data analyzed did not necessarily show a reduction in % 1st lactation animal in the herd, however the increase in milk production and total milk production is still sustainable and a benefit to the farm’s bottom line.Feeding in the AMS also allows for more targeted nutrients to individual cows, more closely meeting her requirements, hence the opportunity for improving feed efficiency, a key contribution to sustainability. By moving nutrients from the TMR to the robot feed, we can target early lactation animals to support higher production for peak and reduce concentrates mid to late lactation without impacting the persistency. The investment of nutrients in the correct stage of lactation is more sustainable.

   Moving away from direct animal effects, comparing AMS to parlors or tie stalls can show a decrease in water and/or electricity usage. Studies show a range of water use in robots and conventional milking systems; robots can be as low as 8 L of water/cow/day, parlours as low as 10L water/cow/day and tie stall 12L water/cow/day (Combination of Ontario, NS and European articles). Farmers’ reports of electrical use also vary; some farms report a noticeable decrease while others see an increase in their electric bill. Robots have shown a trend to reduce electricity use with newer models. These possible changes to water and electrical usage and the cost saving they can bring are important factors when considering a possible change to AMS.

Having the data to benchmark your herd prior and post a retrofit is important as the on-farm milking software usually changes with AMS installations. Maintaining a software that consolidates data from multiple milking or herd management software systems can be a benefit to evaluate and visualize your KPI’s over time. See Table 1 and Graph 1, showing important data points to look at during the transition to a retrofit. However, this data is output for 300+ Canadian herds on Dairy Enteligen, not necessarily retrofit barns.

Table 1 and Graph 1: Dairy Enteligen – Consolidated Data Over Multiple Years

Cow flow and overall comfort are key to a successful retro fit barn with an AMS system.  Pictures 1 and 2 show different Cow Signals (Vetvice-DairyLogix) AMS Barn Designs. Your retrofit should have proper alley width to maximize cow flow to and from the robots and for feed/water access. Proper ventilation to minimize heat stress during summer months and reduce cows congregating under fans or in front of robot blocking flow is also something to consider during an AMS retrofit. Hoof health is key in an AMS barn; to allow for cows to comfortably walk to the milking robots, it is key to set up a hoof bath that can easily be conducted multiple times a week. It is also important to consider adding a treatment area to ensure timely and improved cow care, that one person can manage. Overall, the simple fact is that if cows are not standing for an average 1.5 hours in a parlor area versus instead lying in a stall can lead to increased milk production. In addition, less standing leads to improved hoof health, which can lead to less culling due to feet and legs.

Picture 1: Two to Four AMS Barn Design

Picture 2: Bedding Pack AMS Barn Design

If we consider a 100-cow herd, the expected financial benefits from only a few KPI’s can include $90,000 more milk ($900/lactation) and $6,000 saved due to fewer early lactation culls. Would $96,000/year along with improved sustainability, cover the costs of your robot retrofit over a 10-year period? With Cow Signals evaluations for barn designs, proper robot location in your retro fit and minor cow comfort enhancements can result in a successful retrofit. Correctly analyzing a variety of KPI’s such as productivity, herd lifetime production, and sustainability, using a data consolidation software can show that AMS retrofits are viable and lead to financial gains and management advantages.