Family dairy adopts automation

The Schmidt family of Hickory Lawn Dairy Farm uses technologies such as milking robots and automatic feed pushers. They're hosting June 17 the Sheboygan County Dairy Breakfast on the Farm at their farm near Cascade, Wisconsin. From left are Neal, Dianne, Nolan, 6, Jeremy, Leah, 4, Carla and Avery, 2.

A robot cleans a cow's teats before attaching inflation units.

A Juno feed pusher runs every 1.5 hours throughout the day and hourly overnight.

Cows and heifers at Hickory Lawn Dairy have access to brushes for added comfort.

Missy Weisensel feeds calves with a pasteurizer at Hickory Lawn Dairy. She's the daughter of Neal and Dianne Schmidt.

CASCADE, Wis. – Jeremy Schmidt and his father, Neal Schmidt, say they knew their cows had more milk-production potential. They thought robotic milking systems could help them reach that potential so they started doing research in 2017.

Since installing 12 robots in 2019 they’ve gained about 15 pounds of milk per cow per day, Carla Schmidt said. She's Jeremy Schmidt's wife and a team member at the family's Hickory Lawn Dairy Farm near Cascade.

With help from the robots and 12 employees, the Schmidt family milks 720 cows, part of 1,440 head of cattle raised at Hickory Lawn Dairy. The family farms about 2,600 acres of corn, soybeans, alfalfa, wheat, rye and peas; the peas are grown for a local canning company. The corn, alfalfa and rye are grown to feed the animals, Carla Schmidt said, while the wheat and soybeans as well as surplus dry corn are sold to a local cooperative.

Five family members are actively involved on the farm. Neal Schmidt manages field work, machinery, manure-hauling decisions and paperwork associated with each of those areas. His wife, Dianne Schmidt, does robot deep-cleaning and lawn care. She also keeps everyone fed anytime work is being done in the fields.

Jeremy Schmidt is the overall farm manager; he does a wide variety of jobs.

"Some of that includes robot maintenance, feeding decisions, and anything and everything that involves the animals," Carla Schmidt said. "He also spends quite a bit of time in the fields.

"My sister-in-law, Missy Weisensel, is our calf manager and does a great job caring for all of our calves up to 3 months of age. I spend most of my time in the barn, but also take care of the bookwork."

The family made their decision about a robotic-milking system after touring more than 20 farms with robots. Their advice to other farmers who are considering purchasing such a system is to visit farms and ask for feedback from farmers who already have robots.

"Find out what works for them and what they’d change," Schmidt said. "If possible visit farms with different brands of robots to figure out what you like or don't like about them. You also need to find a dealer that you’re comfortable with and trust since you’ll be working together to optimize your robots."

It took time for the Hickory Lawn team and their cows to adjust to the robots. Other farm teams will likely have similar adjustment periods, she said.

"The rule of thumb with robots is three weeks, three months and three years," she said. "At three weeks your cows should be pretty well-adapted to the robots. By three months things start to flow better as they’ve had more time to get adjusted. At the three-year point you’ve had time to really get your herd fully optimizing the robots."

On average the cows at Hickory Lawn Dairy visit the robots 2.8 times per day.

The farm also has two Juno feed pushers; they each automatically push feed for two pens of 180 cows. Cows are fed first thing in the morning so the pushers have been most beneficial in the hours between midnight and 4 a.m., she said. That's when there's the least amount of feed in front of the cows, and no one is available to push the feed with a skid loader and blade. The machines push feed every 1.5 hours throughout the day and hourly overnight.

The family also decided to install an automated manure system. It features a mechanical sand separator; the sand is used for cow bedding. The system's first stage involves separating sand from manure using manure water. After that the sand is cleaned with fresh water, which removes remaining debris. The sand is then moved to a different room where it's rotated three times before it's ready to be reused for bedding.

"We decided on a sand separator because we believe sand is the most comfortable bedding for cows," Schmidt said. "But we didn't want all of it to end up in our manure pit. It also cuts down on bedding costs because more than 85 percent of our sand is reclaimed."

The family will host June 17 the Sheboygan County Dairy Breakfast on the Farm; visitors will be able to learn more about those Lely A5 robots as well as the automatic feed pushers and manure-handling system.

Visit facebook.com – search for "Hickory Lawn Dairy" – for more information.

This is an original article written for Agri-View, a Lee Enterprises agricultural publication based in Madison, Wisconsin. Visit AgriView.com for more information.

Lynn Grooms writes about the diversity of agriculture, including the industry's newest ideas, research and technologies as a staff reporter for Agri-View based in Wisconsin.

What: Sheboygan County Dairy Breakfast on the Farm

When: 7 a.m. to noon June 17

Where: Hickory Lawn Dairy Farm, N2957 Hickory Grove Road, Cascade, Wisconsin

Menu: Eggs, ham, fruit, bagels, cheese, free ice cream, milk and coffee

Activities: Farm tour, Addie the Cow, Moo Mania, barrel-train rides, pedal-tractor pull, petting zoo, pony rides, Ask a Farmer and more

Cost: $10 for adults and kids 7+; $5 for kids 3-6; free for kids 2 years and younger

Contact: 920-207-2272

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