CAMBRIDGE, Wis. — There are 6,553 dairy farms in Wisconsin as of January of this year, but that number is down by a third from 2014.  One reason for farmers leaving the industry is the lack of people willing to put in the hard work that is dairy farming.

Duane and Tina Hinchley were having a hard time finding workers to milk their 240 dairy cows. The Hinchley dairy farm is 2500 acres just outside of Cambridge Wisconsin. It’s been in operation for over 100 years.  Duane and Tina took over the farm from Duane’s father in 2000 and they decided to take the farm into the 21st century.

A couple of years ago they built a new $3 million dollar new barn with robotic milking machines and other technology. The Hinchley’s have joined a growing number of dairy farmers going high-tech.  It’s all designed to keep the cows happy.

First, the robot cleans the udder. Then Tina explains, “after it does that, it’s going to spray those brushed with hydrogen peroxide and then it’s going to sanitize.”  Guided by, lasers the computer knows everything about each and every one of the cows being milked, thanks to a sensor around the cow’s neck.

When nature calls, the cow enters the machine and it does the rest, including checking the cow’s health.

“If the milk is thick or watery, the computer is going to identify it and an alert will come to our phone or go into a computer,” Tina said.

UW-Madison Agriculture Professor Doug Reinemann is a milking machine expert.  He says the traditional way of milking, two or three times a day on the farmer’s schedule is not ideal.

“It really disrupts the cow’s activity,” he said. “Cows are very social creatures and it kind of disrupts their social networks but in a robotic milking barn, the cows have control over their own movement, and that seems to be a positive for the cows.”

And there are positives for the farmers as well. The computers have given Tina and her husband the ability to do something they haven’t been able to do in two decades of marriage, they can go out to a Friday night fish fry and a movie afterward.  Happy cows equal happy farmers.

The Hinchley’s offer tours of their farm, for more info, go to dairyfarmtours.com.

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