Last October, Dixie farmer Darren Vickers completed construction of the 2.8-acre open shed that will house both his new dairy and 600-strong milking herd. 25 kilometres away in Timboon, Simon Schulz is also building a new pasture-based shed for his 450 cows, due to begin operating in May. Inside these sheds, their thousand cows will be milked not by humans, but by robots.
Robotic milkers – known in the industry as Automated Milking Systems (AMS) – are set to transform the farmers’ daily lives, which previously revolved around morning and evening trips to the dairy.
