Editor's Note: This is the first of two articles on the Precision Dairy Technology Forum hosted by Penn State University. Click here to read the second article. “When you're making a transition, have a plan. Don't just have a five-minute conversation in the yard about how to make the transition. Have a real plan,” said Paul Berdell of Robotic Milking Integration Solutions. Berdell is a consultant helping dairy producers transition to robotic milking and has more than a decade of experience with robots.

There reaches a point for many dairy producers when retrofitting existing facilities produces diminishing returns. Before 2009, the cows at Diederich Farm LLC were housed in a late-1960s-style freestall barn – low roofline, low sidewalls and short stall beds.

This article was #9 of the Top 25 most well-read articles on www.progressivedairy.com in 2012. to jump to the article. It was published in the March 30, 2012. Click here for the full list of the Top 25. Advanced Comfort Technology, Inc’s Holly Harper attended a biannual gathering of Michigan’s Robotic Milking User Group in March. Harper provided an overview of the group’s history (it was founded in 2010) and then a recap of what was discussed at that meeting. We found one of the most interesting topics discussed was that some producers were playing calf sounds in the robot stalls to help the cows let down their milk more quickly.