Victorian-based Grant and Leesa Williams (pictured), Hallora, installed three new Lely Astronaut milking robots, capable of handling an extra 200 head, when they added an additional 63ha (155 acres) of neighbouring land in August 2008.

“We initially were milking up to 300 cows on 137ha that produced 91,000kg of butter fat, and 72,000kg of protein, selling to Burra Foods,” Grant said.

Today, they manage their operation using both a traditional 40-unit rotary dairy, which is milking 239 cows twice a day on their home farm, while 171 cows are milked through their robotic dairy on the recently-purchased country.

Operating as a family farming unit, and with help from the four children, namely Lauren (19), Ryan (17), Brett (15), and James (11), the Williams family plans to increase their milking numbers to 500 head by ensuring both dairies operate at maximum capacity.

With the robotic dairy “up and running,” Grant has had time to reflect on the farm’s ambitious management plan.

“It really is a fascinating concept of milking cows and we had to teach both the cows and ourselves the routine,” he said.

Once in the dairy, he said their cows had “no problems” entering the robot to be milked.

Once the gate closed and the cow was weighed, a pneumatic arm scooped under the cow and, through the use of lasers, the teats were brush-cleaned and suction cups attached.

Each quarter of the udder is milked individually – negating under or over milking - and if there are any irregularities with the milk, it is relegated to a bucket system such as colostrum milk for calves and antibiotic milk from mastitis-affected cows.

While in the robot, the cow's neck tag is read for its individual ration of feed concentrates, dependent on her stage of lactation.

Once milked, the cow's teats are disinfected while the cups are automatically cleaned, ready for the next cow. Water and feed draws the cow into the robotic dairy to be milked.

“A major plus with the robot is the overall information you get, and how to use it,” he said.

The Williams used as much existing infrastructure as they could, including the cow shed and associated concrete pens, to create their modern state-of-the-art dairy.

The installation of the equipment was carried out by Traf Tractor and Machinery, one of the newer Lely Centres.

*www.lely.com