Worthy Farm, near Somerset, installed the 36-stall rotary, and began milking with the system at the end of July. Somerset is about 100 miles west/southwest of London.
The parlor can milk about 150 cows per hour. “Using the new system, the cows can be milked three times a day, in a calm environment, and graze as normal in the summer and return to their sheds during the winter months,” says Oliver Moore, head of milking and dairy farming sales for GEA in the United Kingdom.
Michael Eavis, owner of Worth Farm, had originally looked at single-box robotics, but such a system would have taken additional building space. Plus, the units would not have allowed enough time for cows to be milked and grazed in summer.
Still, the project was a challenge for installers since cows still had to be milked in the old herringbone parlor while the new system was put in place. “We had to build the new parlor without disturbing the milking process in the existing facility,” says Moore. “Now that the DairyProQ is fulling operational, the old parlor can be demolished to make room for additional equipment.”
Source: DairyHerd
Link: http://www.dairyherd.com/news/industry/first-robotic-rotary-england-starts-milking-cows
