Labour research on automatic milking with a human-controlled cow traffic

A calculation model for a task-time program was designed for the determination of the labour requirement for milking cows with a milking robot and using different working methods. Task times were derived from observations on commercial farms where automatic milking was combined with human-controlled cow traffic and on an experimental farm where automatic milking was combined with computer-controlled cow traffic. Based on these work studies, jobs were derived for automatic milking methods combined with 5 grassland strategies. 17 variants were quantified by means of a case-study. Calculations with the task-time program showed that the automatic milking method with human-controlled cow traffic applied during the whole year and with a milking frequency of 3 times a day resulted in physical labour savings for milking (38%). However, automatic milking with computer-controlled cow traffic resulted in a larger labour reduction (66%). The consequences of pasturing combined with automatic milking, on the labour requirement for milking are discussed.