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UDC / УДК 631.22:636.2.034
MILK PRODUCTION ON A MODERN DAIRY FARM
ПРОИЗВОДСТВО МОЛОКА НА СОВРЕМЕННОЙ МОЛОЧНОЙ ФЕРМЕ
Shilov A.I., Doctors of Agricultural Sciences, Professor Шилов А.И., доктор сельскохозяйственных наук, профессор Belarusian State University, Minsk, Republic of Belarus Белорусский государственный университет, Минск, Республика Беларусь
E-mail: alsi20@yandex.ru Lyashuk R.N., Doctors of Agricultural Sciences, Professor Ляшук P.H., доктор сельскохозяйственных наук, профессор Federal State Budgetary Educational Establishment of Higher Education "Orel State Agrarian University named after N.V. Parakhin", Orel, Russia ФГБОУ ВО "Орловский государственный аграрный университет имени Н.В. Парахина", Орел, Россия E-mail: romanlyashuk@yandex.ru
Based on statistical, theoretical and empirical research methods we present the analysis of milk production on modern robotic farms. We have evaluated the production potential of the dairy industry. The issues of feeding, milking, housing, breeding under the conditions of using robotic milkers without the use of human resources are also highlighted. According to domestic researchers, an investment in a robot gives an additional annual revenue of about 1 million rubles. With such revenues, the payback period of the milking robot is from 3 to 5 years. The fundamental element of economic efficiency, of course, is the high milk production of cows, when the yield should be 8-10 thousand kg of milk per cow per year. The efficiency of the milking robot increases significantly when the accompanying innovative production elements are introduced on the farm. These include innovations in feeding, housing, breeding, reproduction of animals, which allow achieving the declared productivity of robots and their payback period. At the same time, robotic milking puts more demands on the cows themselves. For example, the robot does not work with cows with abnormal udders (teats close together, short or elongated, etc.) or animals that do not want to enter the milking stall. As a rule, culling of such animals is about 1012%. In this case the above mentioned selection of milking herd gains special significance, because cows not only of the same breed, but also of the same type, close in their biological and technological indicators, belonging to several homogeneous families will be more preferable in their selection to milking stalls. It depends on how correctly the initial path for organizing a new economic approach will be determined, first of all, its other management both in terms of selection, in terms of reproduction, and in terms of working with the herd as a whole. Key words: milk, dairy products, milk and dairy products production, profitability, competition, production potential, food security doctrine, breeding, reproduction, feeding, robotic dairy farms, robot-dairies, new forms of management.
На основании статистических, теоретических и эмпирических методов исследований дан анализ производства молока на современных роботизированных фермах. Проведена оценка производственного потенциала молочной отрасли. Освещены вопросы кормления, доения, содержания, селекции в условиях использования роботов-дояров без использования при этом человеческого ресурса. По данным отечественных исследователей, инвестиция в робот дает дополнительную ежегодную выручку порядка 1 миллиона рублей. При таких доходах окупаемость робота-дояра составляет от 3-х до 5-ти лет. Основополагающим элементом экономической эффективности, безусловно, является высокая молочная продуктивность коров, когда удой должен составлять 8-10 и более тыс. кг молока на корову в год. Эффективность робота-дояра заметно возрастает при внедрении на ферме сопутствующих ему инновационных
производственных элементов. К таковым относятся инновации в кормлении, содержании, селекции, воспроизводстве животных, которые позволяют достичь заявленную производительность роботов и период их окупаемости. Вместе с тем роботизированное доение выдвигает повышенные требования и к самим коровам. Так, робот не работает с коровами, имеющими нестандартное вымя (расположенные близко друг к другу соски, укороченные или удлинённые и т.п.), или животные, которые не желают заходить в доильный бокс. Как правило, выбраковка таких животных составляет порядка 10-12%. В этом случае упомянутая выше селекция дойного стада приобретает особое значение, потому что коровы не только одной породы, но и одного типа, близкие по своим биологическим и технологическим показателям, относящиеся к нескольким однородным семействам будут более предпочтительны при подборе их к доильным стаканам. От того насколько правильно будет найден изначальный путь по организации нового хозяйственного подхода, в первую очередь, его другого управления и в плане селекции, и в плане воспроизводства, и в плане работы со стадом в целом. Ключевые слова: молоко, молочные товары, производство молока и молочных продуктов, рентабельность, конкуренция, производственный потенциал, доктрина продовольственной безопасности, селекция, воспроизводство, кормление, роботизированные молочные ферму, робот-дояр, новые формы управления.
Over the 30 years following the collapse of the USSR, the agriculture of modern Russia advanced in its development from a decline, when in the first decade it was unable to provide food for the citizens of its country, to, in the last 10 years, almost complete recovery of production of basic raw food materials in both crop and livestock production.
Undoubtedly, the state, especially following the second half of the 2000s, began to allocate large funds for the development of its agricultural production. And this is quite obvious, because the old agricultural production was liquidated. It was necessary to design food production under new conditions, taking into account the modern world experience. And if in the crop industry, this restructuring occurred fairly smoothly and quickly, then in the livestock industry this process is still taking place. It should also be noted that meat production today is fully provided by domestic producers and its 79 kg per capita. This is 6 kg higher than the new consumption norms recommended in Russia in 2016.
As for milk production, the realization of the planned indicators, due to the more complex technological and technical process of this industry, is still underway. Of the recommended, above-mentioned 2016 norms for per capita consumption of milk and dairy products (in terms of milk) of 325 kg, this figure is still 265 kg, and its deficit is covered by imported dairy products [1, 2].
At the same time, milk production in agricultural enterprises is now more and more actively carried out with the use of not only well and long-established, proven mechanization processes, but also the broad introduction of modern processes based on automation and robotization. For dairy cattle breeding, where there has always been a problem of prime personnel (operators of both milking machines and animal care) - this is extremely relevant.
In the last 3-5 years, robotic dairy farms of the so-called Dutch type are becoming more and more widespread (in Moscow, Leningrad and some other regions).
It should be noted that with any technologies in the past, present, and in the future, the main condition for milk production, along with maintenance and care, milking and milk production, selection and reproduction, is feeding, and the principle of "milk is on the cow's tongue" remains certain.
A characteristic feature of cow feeding on farms with automatic milking systems is not only compliance but also close interconnection with all technological elements
of milk production. It is necessary to keep the milking herd in passive movement, to observe the milking frequency strictly and to avoid excessive obesity of the animals in the last third of lactation [3, 4].
Feeding itself on robotic farms, especially with regard to roughage, is not much different from feeding on farms with traditional milking systems. The diet is based on natural feed in the form of highly hygienic quality corn silage and mixed grass haylage. The diet, necessarily balanced and adapted to the needs of animals, also contains beet pulp, soybeans, rapeseed and various mineral supplements [3-5].
Since the overwhelming majority of robotic dairy farms involve loose housing, all of the above feeds for animals are fed into the feed aisles. To ensure their round-the-clock access, special robots are used on such farms, which push the feed scattered by animals to the border of the feeders (photo 1).
Photo 1 - Special robots are used on such farms, which push the feed scattered by
animals to the border of the feeders
However, the main distinguishing feature of robotic farms is the feeding of lactating cows with high-energy supplements, which is carried out according to the principle of the so-called advanced feeding [6].
High-energy supplements are given to animals individually, based on an analysis of their daily physiological state and the amount of milk produced. Feeding is usually carried out directly in the loose-housed barn through feed stations to which the animal approaches, identifies itself through a transponder around its neck, and receives its ration. The feeding norm is dosed and can be divided into 3-4 times with a definite time interval, often linked to the time of milking.
About housing. Cows are kept loose. This, to a certain extent, solves the issue of exercise that is mandatory for dairy cows and provides round-the-clock access to both roughage and top dressing. The total number of cows on a standard farm is 200 heads. The premises of the farm itself are divided into 4 sections, so that there are 50 cows in each section. In domestic farms, which use robotic farms, usually there are two such farms, with a total breeding stock of 400 head.
High sanitary and hygienic conditions are constantly maintained on the farm, an important element of which is the removal of manure by means of a scraper conveyor. Two scraper wings of this conveyor capture and clean the entire area of the run, with subsequent pumping of the entire mass into specially equipped manure storages. Also, the farm premises are equipped with automatic drinkers and carding massagers (photo 2).
Photo 2 - The farm premises are equipped with automatic drinkers and carding
massagers
About milking. The most important problem since the invention of mechanical apparatuses for milking cows has been and still is the conjugation conditions of any milking apparatus with auto-mechanical properties with the animal biological organism of the cow. Historically, milking machines were invented relatively recently. They originated in 1889 by engineer Alexander Shields of Glasgow, who first applied (the pulsator was invented) the alternating vacuum method of milk extraction from the cows' udders, as in the nature suckled by the calf milk. From that moment to the present time milking machines all over the world are constantly being improved. The main issue of concern for the inventors is to improve, first of all, the milking cups for their interaction with the delicate and highly sensitive teats of the cow's udders. Thanks to the development of modern silicone-based soft materials, the coarse rubber previously used has been eliminated. But even this is far from perfect [5, 7, 8].
The actual milking process begins with the cow's voluntary arrival at the milking area. A chip in the cow's collar identifies the animal according to the milking time set in the collar and opens the entrance to the unit. An important prerequisite for a cow to show up for milking is that she receives an advance on milking in the form of a highly concentrated feed additive.
On robotic farms, cows are usually milked three times. However, this is due to the technological scheme of milk production on the farm, and can be double. With full automation and robotization of the milking process, nevertheless, the state of the animal during milking is monitored by an operator-specialist. In case of behavioral discomfort of the cow during milking the specialists stop the process until the causes are clarified. Specialist-operator monitors the entire milking herd in real time and with
the help of the whole complex of automatic and robotic systems receives full information about each particular animal during the day (number of milkings and milk, its quality, possible health condition, etc.).
Evaluation of the quality of milk yielded is of great importance not only medically and biologically, but also economically. For longer preservation of aseptic properties of milk, the milk from milking robot is sent directly by pipeline to the special cooling tank, where milk is stored at +4-6 °C before it is sent to the dairy plant. Moreover during milking the robot can conduct the primary analysis of its quality, i.e. determine the percentage of fat, protein and electric conductivity (parameter for the indirect estimation of somatic cells quantity). Within a few hours after milking, the robot takes the milk from the farms in cooling tanks [9, 10].
Photo 3 shows the robot milking process.
Photo 3 - The robot milking process
Now the most important question: how much does it all cost and how effective is
it?
According to domestic researchers, an investment in a robot gives an additional annual revenue of about 1 million rubles. With such revenues, the payback period of the milking robot is from 3 to 5 years. The fundamental element of economic efficiency, of course, is the high milk production of cows, when the yield should be 8-10 thousand kg of milk per cow per year [1, 11].
The efficiency of the milking robot increases significantly when the accompanying innovative production elements are introduced on the farm. These include innovations in feeding, housing, breeding, reproduction of animals, which allow achieving the declared productivity of robots and their payback period.
In this regard, it should be noted that automatic milking in itself, compared to conventional milking does not increase milk yield, and in the degree of milking from the udder there is no difference between robot milking and conventional milking machine. However, robotic milking allows an individual approach not only to each cow, but also to
each teat of her udder. One of the most common causes of udder teat disease is so-called "idle milking", i.e. when there is still milk in one teat and no milk in the other, but the machine keeps pulling. When the robot is milking, each quarter of the udder is milked separately and if there is no milk in the teat, the milking cup is automatically removed.
The quality of the milk is also important. Of course, this does not mean that the robot milking makes the cow give milk of higher fat content or protein quality, but the bacterial contamination is reduced to the requirements of the standard or technical regulations [7, 12].
At the same time, robotic milking puts more demands on the cows themselves. For example, the robot does not work with cows with abnormal udders (teats close together, short or elongated, etc.) or animals that do not want to enter the milking stall. As a rule, culling of such animals is about 10-12%. In this case the above mentioned selection of milking herd gains special significance, because cows not only of the same breed, but also of the same type, close in their biological and technological indicators, belonging to several homogeneous families will be more preferable in their selection to milking stalls [3, 5, 7].
In conclusion, robotic dairy farms are not some distant future, but if not yet today, then definitely tomorrow. Farms in the EU with 50 to 200 cows will be dominated by milking robots by 2025. Our domestic farms, as a rule, have larger herds, among other things, which is why a robotized farm should be looked at primarily from the management side. It depends on how correctly the initial path for organizing a new economic approach will be determined, first of all, its other management both in terms of selection, in terms of reproduction, and in terms of working with the herd as a whole.
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