Robotics in animal husbandry
Robot-assisted automation in animal husbandry is developing rapidly, offering many new fields of application. Farm managers are employing the technology not only to achieve productivity and reduce costs but also to combat the increasing shortage of skilled labour. Robot solutions can also contribute to increasing quality of life for the famer while animal welfare, animal health and the environment also benefit.
The technology of robot-assisted automation in agriculture is developing at a fast pace. Autonomous, adaptive agricultural systems are becoming increasingly important for practical farming, as skilled labour is more in demand. Many new systems are able to respond to such changing operating conditions, offering sensor systems that can take on particular processes.
Robots play an increasing role on farms, including animal husbandry. However, often robots for livestock farming differ significantly from the technologies used in arable farming. Employed in animal housing to improve animal welfare, reduce environmental impact, robots can also optimise working conditions and help ensure profitability.
Major technological advances
Today, various robot technologies are used in animal husbandry to support the automation of work processes. Technological development is progressing at a high rate. Today's robot-assisted systems are much more advanced compared with the technologies of the early days.
Andreas Pelzer, Head of Cattle Farming at the Haus Düsse Agricultural Centre of the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Agriculture, believes that any processes in agricultural livestock farming that can be automated will be automated in the medium term. He compares the development to the mechanisation of agriculture 100 years ago, with the difference that robots are now doing the work. Automation has existed in animal husbandry for decades, for example in pig feeding. Digitalisation has now brought intelligence to automation. ‘Robots are not only there to automate a process, but also to implement it intelligently,’ emphasises Pelzer.
What advantages farms have
Agricultural businesses can benefit greatly from automating processes with robots. The benefits can become even greater with each new process that is added.
- One significant factor is improved efficiency and productivity as robots can now execute mundane, repetitive tasks that used to take up a significant proportion of farmers' working time, such as milking, feeding and mucking out.
- Farmers can invest the time gained in other tasks that are equally important yet often neglected. These include more intensive animal observation and monitoring.
- Autonomous robots can improve the quality of life of farm managers and their families and employees. Fixed working hours - early mornings and weekends – may soon be a thing of the past.
- Farms can increase the number of animals if the farm manager and employees are relieved of important daily tasks.
- Last but not least, robots can also help combat existing shortage of skilled labour.
Animal welfare and the environment also benefit
“Robotics also offers significant potential in the areas of animal welfare and the environment,” adds Andreas Pelzer. A cow, being milked by a robot is less stressed than when milked by a stressed human, says Pelzer. She can decide for herself when she gets milked and she can find consistent conditions in the milking parlour every day. In bull fattening, the feed provided by robots is much more orientated towards the individual needs of the animals. Interaction with the robot can work to motivate the bulls to move more and, in the best case scenario, stimulate them to consume more feed. The feed quality is also better, as the feed is always presented fresh.
Pelzer cites automated manure removal as an example of improved environmental impact. The problem with manure scrapers is that they spread piles of manure over a wide area and thus significantly increase the area for ammonia emissions. A floor cleaning robot, on the other hand, can pick up the freshly deposited manure in a targeted manner.
Milking robots made the start
Robots have been used in animal husbandry in Germany since the late 1990s. At that time, the first milking robots were adopted in domestic dairy farms. “Milking was a labour-intensive and very complex process that was now automated. Robotic solutions have given farmers many advantages in terms of working hours and quality of life,” emphasises Professor Dr Wolfgang Büscher, Head of the Department of Livestock Farming at the Institute of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Bonn, Germany. Today, following many years of development, the systems work seamlessly and can not only recognise whether the dairy cows are healthy and but can carry out quality control in the background.
In the next wave of mechanisation, automation systems were introduced for feeding, the second largest work position for cows. Professor Büscher: “And we are currently seeing more and more traditional manual work being carried out by robotics. Cleaning robots that move around with the animals in the housing and robots that mix, present and push the feed are still relatively new.”
Robot-assisted systems are also used in pig and poultry farming, albeit to a lesser extent. “The possibilities for using robotics there are limited,” says Andreas Pelzer. However, there are also appropriate solutions for pig and poultry farming, such as litter or washing robots for cleaning pig and poultry houses.
Investment costs often prohibitive for smaller farms
Robotics in livestock farming offers great opportunities for advances. However, the investment costs can be a difficult hurdle to overcome, especially for smaller farms. For example, a milking robot can cost well over 100,000 euros, and the cost of cleaning robots can be in the five-figure range. Such high investments can often only be shouldered by larger farms, with the result that smaller farms may lose competitiveness.
CattleHub aims to attract interest in robotic solutions
The CattleHub experimental centre was set up to support the introduction of digital technology such as robotics into cattle farming. The project is organised by the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food. Professor Büscher, the spokesperson for CattleHub, emphasises: “We do not develop digital systems ourselves, but test them for their applicability and functionality under practical conditions. Our mission is also to actively approach livestock farmers and inform them about the advantages and potential weaknesses of these technologies so that they can make an objective investment decision.”
Inspired by the DLG's annual Field Robot Event (FRE), CattleHub initiated the Barn Robot Event, which focusses on the use of robotics in indoor farming. The topic of the first Barn Robot Event, which was also part of the last edition of EuroTier, was barn floor cleaning robots.
FarmRobotix, the new DLG platform for robotics, AI and automation
The DLG has been focussing on the use of agricultural robots for many years. With FarmRobotix, it has now created a new platform for robotics, digitalisation, automation and AI in agriculture, which aims to provide a forum for knowledge transfer and networking. At EuroTier 2024, FarmRobotix will be presented as exhibits, in the technical programme as well as live demonstrations. In addition to daily presentations on the DLG Expert Stage, visitors can experience robots in action on special demo areas and gain practical insights into the operation of autonomous agricultural vehicles and equipment. The Barn Robot Event in Hanover, Germany, will focus on feed pusher robots in cattle barns. In live demonstrations, the robot demonstrations will show how they can support cattle farmers in practical use on a dedicated area.