Bigger is not always better

When it comes to equipment in robotic dairies, bigger is not always better, as FutureDairy energy audits showed.

Gabriel Hakim, AgVet Projects, undertook energy assessments on 10 farms with automatic milking systems (AMS).

One of his key findings was that most AMS dairies were operating with equipment that was oversized for the needs of automatic milking, resulting in unnecessary electricity consumption.

“When building an AMS it can be tempting to repurpose equipment from the existing dairy but automatic milking can place quite different demands on equipment to conventional milking,” Gabriel said.

For example the milking equipment on AMS farms operating with voluntary cow movement operates at a low capacity for up to 20 hours a day, compared with conventional milking which usually occurs in two intensive milking sessions a day.

“Operating equipment that is not sized correctly runs a real risk of loss in energy efficiency and excessive energy use.”

Gabriel found that many of the AMS dairies in the study had an oversized compressor. Some also had vacuum pumps that were much bigger than required and most had hot water systems suitable for a conventional dairy which was bigger than needed for an AMS.

“Operating oversize or over-capacity equipment wastes a considerable amount of energy. For example if you are running a grossly oversized vacuum pump a significant proportion of the energy can be used just driving the pump.

“The same is likely for compressors. Studies in other industries where compressed air is used have shown that as much as 30 to 50% of energy consumption was used to service leaks, artificial demand and system inefficiencies. This warrants further investigation for AMS dairies.”

When planning an AMS, Gabriel recommended weighing up the savings made in capital outlay – by retaining existing equipment – against the longer term operating costs.

FutureDairy Project Leader, Associate Professor Kendra Kerrisk said that although energy consumption was higher in AMS than conventional milking systems, energy consumption was a relatively small part of the overall economics of robotic milking.

“Higher energy costs certainly doesn’t mean that AMS is uneconomic. In fact although shed running costs are commonly reported to be higher, animal health and labour costs are significantly lower on many AMS farms resulting in a favourable bottom line,” she said.

The AMS energy study was funded through Dairy Australia’s project Smarter Energy Use on Australian Dairy Farms, funded by the Department of Industry and Science as part of the Energy Efficiency Information Grants Program.

The research found significant variation between AMS farms in both the amount of energy consumed and the price paid for energy, suggesting there are likely to be considerable opportunities for most AMS farms to cut energy bills and reduce greenhouse emissions.

The range in the amount of energy consumed on AMS farms was 53.72-132kWh/1000L milk.

Gabriel said the highest farm consumed two and a half times as much energy per 1000L milk harvested as the lowest farm and that, in general,  energy consumption tended to be higher in robotic than conventional dairies.

“Although our data is fairly limited so far, on average, AMS dairies appear to consume about 1½ times as much energy per 1000L milk harvested as conventional dairies.

Gabriel was cautious about making further conclusions from the AMS energy audits, given the small number of farms involved and the large variation in their energy use.

“I’m reasonably confident in our data for conventional milking systems as it is based on nearly 200 dairy farms across three states. But further investigation is needed to understand energy use on AMS farms,” he said.”

Shop around

Gabriel also urged all dairy farmers to shop around for their energy supplier. In the AMS study he found a large variation in the tariff rate charges for both peak (22.01-36.78 cents/kWh) and off-peak electricity (8.86-19.39c/kWh.)

“Previous studies have shown a similar variation in tariffs paid by farmers with conventional milking systems. Despite energy costs being a small component of whole farm operating costs, those paying at the higher end of the range stand to save thousands of dollars a year by switching to tariffs at the lower end.”

The AMS energy study was funded through Dairy Australia’s project Smarter Energy Use on Australian Dairy Farms, funded by the Department of Industry and Science as part of the Energy Efficiency Information Grants Program.

For more information, contact Associate Professor Kendra Kerrisk, FutureDairy project leader ph 0428 101 372, email kendra.kerrisk@sydney.edu.au or www.futuredairy.com.au

Media contact: This media has been released by Monks Communication on behalf of the FutureDairy project.
Lee-Ann Monks ph 07 5450 0946 or 0419 349 244 email: media_releases@monkscom.com.au.