The Hicks and Jacobs families recently opened their Whispering Pines farmgates to the public last month to showcase their newly-installed robotic dairy at Tooperang, near Mount Compass.
Featuring eight Lely Astronaut A5 Milking Robots and a number of other special features, such as drafting gates and brushes, the new dairy has achieved fantastic benefits such as improved milk quality and reduced labour, while also allowing them to expand their Whispering Pines herd to 500 cows.
When the Hicks and Jacobs families formed a business partnership a decade ago, their focus was on reducing labor demands while ensuring a smooth path for succession.
“We were keen to expand, but our (Whispering Pines) yards capped us at 400 cows, so five years ago, we started considering robots as a way to grow,” part-owner Perrin Hicks said.
The robots were installed last year. Mr Hicks said they were drawn to the Lely brand as they “wanted a whole farm system, which included collars”.
“We also liked the app, which tells you a variety of milk qualities, and will highlight if a cow might be sick,” he said.
“The robots then dump the milk if it’s contaminated, plus it calls you if there are any issues. That’s the best thing about the system is that it looks after the cows for us, better than we can.
“Instead of binge feeding morning and night, we have the capacity to get more feed into them across the day
“And the cows are happier because they can milk themselves when they want to, at any time of the day.”
Member for Finniss David Basham attended the day.
