Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 8.13
A robotic milking station. (Courtesy of Lely Company.)
in the parlor is transported into refrigerated storage either in bulk tanks or directly
in tanker trailers.
A novel and relatively new milk harvesting system using so-called “robotic” milk
machines (Figure 8.13), initiated in the Netherlands in early 1990s, is gaining some
market share. These systems work by allowing a single animal into a station where
all the operations for milking are done automatically, and the cow is released. Cow
access is voluntary and initial training is needed. As in a traditional parlor, cows
can be provided with concentrated feed during milking. Automated features also
include denial of feeding if just milked, and more than the traditional two to three
milkings per 24-h period. Advantages of these systems include substantial labor cost
reduction, enhanced milking efficiency per hour of labor and the opportunity for
sophisticated individualized animal monitoring and management; capital expense is
significant and reliability of the systems is critical.
8.6
CURRENT CONTROL TECHNIQUES
8.6.1 H
EATING
, V
ENTILATION
,
AND
C
OOLING
S
YSTEMS
C
ONTROL
A
UTOMATION
Confinement animal housing requires a means of eliminating excess heat, mois-
ture, and noxious gases from the rearing environment to which animals are exposed.
Heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVC) systems are designed to accomplish a bal-
ance between high energy use to maintain tight environment control bounds and
simple controls that are robust and allow for a degree of “float” in control specificity
depending on the specific situation. In the following sections, we outline the auto-
mation and control issues for HVC systems in animal production. First, however,
we provide a brief overview of the underlying need for HVC. Although this chapter
is not intended to provide design information regarding HVC systems, it must be
