ארז חוות חלב

Last Friday my son and I went for a visit in the Erez dairy farm in Nitzaney Oz. The purpose of the trip was to forge team spirit among the kids in the class, and get their parents acquainted with each other. Along the way we learnt a couple of things about raising cows in general and the milk industry in particular. I am not a big fan of milk these days (the age, oh my age), but the processes are still pretty cool, and (as everything in Israel) infused with technology.

First of all, they showed us the special cow magnets. Why do cows need magnets? Because their hey contains lots of rubbish, specifically metallic machinery parts and wires. The metal scraps hurt the cows' intestines, and make them sick. The solution? The cows are made to swallow magnets (about the size of an egg), which attract all this junk and prevent it from wreaking havoc inside their bowels. The magnet stays in the cow's 1st stomach (1-of-4) indefinitely!

Then they showed us how they milked their cows in the "old days". A cow is simply held in place on a high platform, while the worker sits by it, and does all the cleaning and milking by hand. Lastly they showed us the latest and greatest in automated milking technology: the milking robot! The robot works 24 hours a day, and just waits for a cow to approach. When a cow comes into the milking pen (it's looking for a treat that the robot issues) the robot checks its ID card. If the cow has been milked 3 times that day already, the treat disappears, and the cow is "shushed" out.

However, if the cow is okay for milking, the robot first locks the pen, produces some more treats for the cow, and proceeds to wash its udder with warm water and soap. The rotating brushes resemble those of a car washing machine. After the cow is clean, the robot scans the udder using 3-d lasers (I kid you not) and attaches the 4 suction elements. The elements pump the milk out, stopping when each teat becomes empty. The milk is then analyzed for traces of blood in it. If it's clean, it's transferred to the main cistern. If not, it is stored separately, and the cow is moved to the "do not milk" list for later inspection. After the process is complete, the tasty treat is removed, the pen is opened, and the cow rushed out. This works without a single human intervention.

Cows come in and out, and the whole thing works "by itself". The machine is made in Holland, and costs 100,000 euros. I wish I took video footage: it's fast and efficient, and looks like a sci-fi movie.

Update: the machine is called a Lely Astronaut. Here's a nice video.