Western Australian dairies use new technologies in efforts to increase productivity

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Western Australia's dairy industry is undergoing rapid change, with the state now having fewer than one hundred dairies providing fresh milk for the domestic market. A tight supply of skilled labour, and even tighter profit margins, have forced some small family farms to adopt new technologies to increase productivity and remain viable.

Transcript

00:00On the Mostert Family Dairy Farm at Redmond, a Holstein cow is enjoying an afternoon snack

00:09while she's delivering her milk. Other than the herd, there's no one in the building.

00:15These cows come in to be milked of their own volition.

00:20Gates open automatically, guiding them in and out to another paddock when they're done.

00:25While robot dairies are not new, this is the latest European automatic milking technology.

00:33We looked into the renewable energy with solar and batteries mixed in with their robotic dairy.

00:41Those two matched very well.

00:44Since the milk industry was deregulated in 2001, the number of dairies in the state has plummeted

00:50from 450 to fewer than 100 today.

00:55If we can automate our most physical and our most routine job, it means we can focus on

01:01the cows and the pastures that need attention. So we've just redirected our labour.

01:08Various brands offer different robotic configurations, but they're not cheap, averaging around $325,000

01:17per milking booth.

01:19We're seeing quite a big instalment of robots in Western Australia. They've been installed

01:26and are about to go online.

01:27There are just three processors buying the fresh milk from the 99 dairies remaining in WA,

01:35giving producers little power to bargain for a better deal.

01:39That's why it's so important to receive a sustainable milk price to be able to make these investments

01:45that we need to make to keep the milk in the shop for the consumers.

01:52A family tradition, keeping pace with technology.

01:56A family tradition, breathing back in 2020.

02:01To be continued...

02:03...

02:08A family tradition.

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