I don't see the robot going away. Yes, it may need to get cheaper, but hired help isn't getting cheaper either. It also isn't easy to find in places. We are seeing quite a few units put in locally... more than I would have predicted a few years ago. There is another advantage to a robot as well- it can allow a more incremental growth pattern, with a dairyman able to expand in units of 60 or 120 cows. Most new manned milking parlors can be 7 figures, and need a lot of cows through them immediately to generate cash flow. Robots can be added one unit at a time (enough for 60 head or so). This results in less cash borrowed, less on bringing in a lot of cattle with a lot of diseases from other places, and can be less overwhelming to the dairyman.
Reducing labor in dairy (and ag) has been going on for a long time. Milking parlors and freestall barns were a "fad" in their day, too.
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Today's Featured Article - Third Brush Generators - by Chris Pratt. While I love straightening sheet metal, cleaning, and painting old tractors, I use every excuse to avoid working on the on the electrics. I find the whole process sheer mystery. I have picked up and attempted to read every auto and farm electrics book with no improvement in the situation. They all seem to start with a chapter entitled "Theory of Electricity". After a few paragraphs I usually close the book and go back to banging out dents. A good friend and I were recently discussing our tractor electrical systems when he stated "I figure it all comes back to applying Ohms Law". At this point
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