Hamra VMS
At the DeLaval research and development farm in Tumba, Sweden, there is a Voluntary Milking System (VMS) that serves appr. 50 cows installed. The VMS is DeLaval's system for automatic milking. VMS is the answer to a lot of problems encountered by family-run farms. With a VMS there is no longer any need for the farmer to milk twice or even three times per day. The cows enter the milking box when they feel it’s time – and all milking information is monitored by computer. This means a lot more freedom in managing work schedules.
In a VMS the cows are kept in a freestall or loose housing barn. They decide when to eat concentrate and forage and when to be milked. The cows are milked at a station to which they go voluntarily and at their own initiative. The milking station is an open stainless steel construction with gates that allow the cows to enter and leave. The station is fitted to the size of the cows. It is equipped with extensive electronic equipment, computer components, compressed-air equipment, devices for milk extraction and a robotic arm for handling the milk extraction devices. In the complete system there is also a PC, a washing machine, a vacuum pump and a compressor.)
For the past few years there has been a VMS installed at Hamra, but this was an experimental unit for the DeLaval engineers. It’s more or less constantly being changed, tested and rebuilt – all in order se what improvements are possible to make.
This new barn is being run as a commercial one, so that DeLaval customers as well as other people interested in this new technique can study a “real” VMS farm built and operated the way it should.
View a informational video about Voluntary Milking Systems.
VMS by the numbers:
| Production Statistics: |
2003 |
2004 |
2005
|
|
| Herd Size |
53 |
50 |
52 |
cows |
| Milk Production per Cow |
32.6 |
34.8 |
35.0 |
kg/cow
|
Milk Production per day
|
1722 |
1740 |
1819 |
kg/day |
| Milk Production per year |
628000 |
637000 |
664000 |
kg/year
|
| Somatic Cell Count |
197000 |
194000 |
148000 |
cells/ml |
| Bacterial Count |
9000 |
9000 |
11000 |
|
| VMS Statistics: |
|
|
|
|
| Milkings per Cow |
2.4 |
2.7 |
2.6 |
milkings/
cow |
Milkings per Day
|
129 |
135 |
133 |
milkings/day |
Yield per Milking
|
13.3 |
12.9 |
13.5 |
kg/milking |
| Time per Milking |
8.1 |
7.9 |
7.9 |
minutes |
|
Usage rate
|
73 |
75 |
76 |
% |
| Calving: |
|
|
|
|
| 1st Insemination |
83 |
81 |
82 |
days |
| Last insemination |
114 |
102 |
114 |
days |
|