Surely if we trust robots to pour our beer we can also trust them to milk our cows, which is exactly what a team of mechanical milkers are doing at some upstate New York farms. The Times checks in on New York's "dairy belt," where robotic milkers are taking the place of humans when it comes to extracting moo juice from dairy cows. The robots don't complain about the early hours, they're able to keep track of a cow's intake and output, and, generally speaking, are more reliable than their human counterparts. What could go wrong?
It sounds simple enough: cows wear transponders around their necks that keep track of everything from milk quality and quantity, milking speed and even how many steps an animal takes each day, which can signal when a cow might be in heat. Cows also make their own milking hours, a boon to both humans an animals, by simply approaching the milking area when they're feeling ready. "One day we came in and they had started milking themselves," said dairy woman Susan Borden. First comes cow autonomy; next: the machines.
The robots don't come cheap, with dairy farms spending up to $250,000 on the units alone on top of barn renovations to accommodate the new robotic overlords partners; it cost one farm $1.2 million just for two milkers. Still, about 30 New York farms and hundreds more across the country have installed the robotic milkers, and farmers say the cows are more mellow and the humans are able to focus more on animal care and other aspects of running a business. "I'd rather be a cow manager than a people manager," says dairyman Tom Borden. Some day the machines will say the same about you, Tom.
