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Harford has state’s only robotic milking machine
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A cow is milked with a robotic milker at the Broom’s Bloom Dairy farm in Bel Air. The Astronaut milker is the only one in use in the state.
Bel Air, Md. (Map, News) - The “toddlers” at the Dallam family farm outside Bel Air have a new toy.
“We did have it a little more cleaned up for the politicians. It’s like a toddler’s playground,” said Kate Dallam, surrounded by about 60 roaming cows. She was talking about the only robotic milking machine in the state.
After a fire in December destroyed about 90 percent of the barn and killed 10 cows, Dallam, who owns the 220-acre farm with her husband, David, said it was practical to buy the machine. It uses lasers and a robotic arm to milk the cows upon demand.
She said one $180,000 machine is recommended for their cows; most Harford dairy farms have at least 100 cows. Pennsylvania has about 20 robotic milking systems, she said.
County Councilman Chad Shrodes, of North Harford, toured the farm last week. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.
Before the fire, the cows were confined to separate stalls. Now, they can roam a long aisle inside the barn that leads to the machine or roam in the pasture.
“The cows decide when they want to get milked,” Dallam said. “So you’re really changing the cows’ psychology, and one little change and they’ll slip back.”
The first time a cow used the machine, David Dallam, 44, had to adjust the lasers to each cow’s udder so the tubes could attach onto the teat at the correct spot.
Cows enter the gate and eat a pellet out of a slot. The gate stays shut if the cow needs to be milked, as they do two or three times a day. The more milk they give, the more they get to eat.
Princess, a show cow, attempted to get a pellet multiple times in an hour, but others didn’t quite understand it yet.
And although Kate Dallam remembers when cows were milked by hand, she says most farmers use a machine that can milk more than one cow at a time.
“The adults are fascinated. They’re glued to the thing, because they understand how cows used to be milked,” Dallam says of the few tours she has given. “It’s amazing how far we’ve come.”
msilvestri@baltimoreexaminer.com
Josie and Emmy Dallum's show cow, Princess, stands by while another cow is milked in the robotic milker at Broom's Bloom Dairy farm in Bel Air. The machine milks cows on demand. Princess has quickly learned that the more often she goes into the machine to get milked, the more treats she gets. (Kristine Buls/Examiner)
One cow heads into the robotic milker at Broom's Bloom Dairy farm in Bel Air, as another cow exits. (Kristine Buls/Examiner)
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Examiner Reader said:
Rising fuel costs. Chineses drilling 85 miles off our coast while we import. No new refinery within 30 years Do not worry Obama has a tax plan to make it all ok.
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Examiner Reader said:
This is the unfortunate price we pay by thinking and acting that gasoline prices would never change. Wait until winter hits because if it's cold, our prices are going to jump again. It's time to invest in renewable energies, I'd be more than happy to see O'Mally push for these over the new Calvert Cliffs Power Plants. Maybe farmers should be cut a deal to go back to solar and wind power for home and allow more money to be spared for fuel costs.
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Examiner Reader said:
Then what happens when the farmer's neighbor's well runs dry?
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Examiner Reader said:
why does the cow look green?
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Examiner Reader said:
The cows are out of luck, now that we are using corn for fuel. What a plan. It sounds good during good growing seasons, but what do you do now? We need to stop screwing around with band aids to fix our fuel supply problems and get serious about resources that are proven to work. Nuclear power, new refineries and drilling.
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Examiner Reader said:
I saw my grandfather hand milk cows in a barn with only an oil lantern for light. What's the world coming to!!!
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Examiner Reader said:
Isn't it a little demeaning to refer to beautiful dairy cows as "toddlers" and a magnificent robotic milker as a "toy". The technology blows my mind that a cow can be milked by a robot. Good for the Dallams! Kate makes the BEST ice cream in the world at Broom's Bloom Dairy Store.
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Examiner Reader said:
Very interesting article on the robot. However, cows surely get more than "a pellet" while being milked. One pellet would be about the size of a piece of dogfood and would hardly lure the cows to the robot. I hope the cows get a good portion of pellets dumped in front of them when they enter the robot.
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Examiner Reader said:
That doesn't seem like a lot of milk production. are you missing a few zeros? Tim Feeser Carroll County Commissioners office
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Huh? said:
Doesn't the government subsidize milk? What an economic ripoff of citizens. Produce extra milk, waste lots of it then charge more for the little bit that is left.....amazing!
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