How the ‘Juno’ is Revolutionizing the Dairy Farm
By Jean-Paul McDonald, Farms.com
Say goodbye to late night trips to the barn and those early morning feed sweepings thanks to the newest robotic tool to hit the dairy industry. It’s called the ‘Juno’ and farmers agree that it`s time saving, cost reducing technology is a boon to farmer who manually push feed with a broom.
Able to operate 24/7, the Juno is changing the way dairy farmers spend their time – eliminating the constant trips to the barn with broom-in-hand by using a robot that glides up and down the alleys of the barn, pushing feed back to where it belongs – in reach of the cows. Although, this technology has been around for more than five years, it’s just starting to resonate with farmers now and is being seen on more and more dairy farms as well as other livestock operations.
At a staggering $24,000 to $26,000 installed, the large Juno 150 has historically been seen as a luxury item by dairy farmers, as opposed to a time saving tool that can also bring down labour costs. But users of the Juno suggest that they are saving at least 20 to 30 minutes a day of time thanks to the robot, which adds up to about three weeks a year of labour time.
But there are other benefits of the Juno working on the farm and it relates to the well-being of the cows themselves. With the feed well within reach around the clock, the cows don’t have to stretch out their necks to reach the feed, preventing them from forming sores, hair loss or lumps on the back of their necks as the result of rubbing against the head rail of the feed fence. The Juno also reduces the amount of leftovers and with the continual access to feed, the cows often produce more milk.
Take a look at the Juno in action below: