One of the keys to a successful dairy program is an excellent feeding management program. James Salfer, Extension educator with the University of Minnesota, has extensive experience developing nutrition standards for both conventional and robotic dairy herds and has seen the results of various programs.
Salfer said the goals of every feeding program, whether robotic or conventional, are similar: meet the nutritional needs of the cows, maintain cow health, optimize production, strive for economy, labor and cost efficiency and have an effective feed delivery system.
With a robotic system, dairy farmers should focus on the nutrition program, cow requirements, the cows themselves, the farmer and their goals for managing the feeding system and the robot.
“The robot makes it more complicated,” said Salfer, “particularly with some preprogrammed systems. We have the robot feed, feeding table settings and milking permission settings to think about.”
Some management aspects for robotic systems are the same as for conventional farms, including excellent pre-calving management. “That’s probably more important in robotic milking systems than in a conventional milking system,” said Salfer. “If cows aren’t feeling their best after they calve, now we’re relying on them to decide to be milked.”
The ideal stocking rate is 80% to 90% of free-stall capacity with at least 30 inches of bunk space for close-up cows. “We also need to focus on the PMR (partial mixed ration) pellet because 80% to 90% of nutrients are provided through the PMR,” he said. “The PMR is important in making a robotic system successful. That drives high production and helps drive cows to the robot. High PMR intake makes cows feel good and drives high milk production.”
Because fresh cow management is critical in a robotic system, Salfer encouraged dairy farmers to spend time observing this group. It’s also important to observe rumination and manure consistency. If a cow really likes the robot feed when she doesn’t feel good, she may overeat the robot feed and not eat as much PMR, leaving her prone to acute rumen acidosis.
Salfer urged dairy managers to focus on high quality, highly digestible forages in the PMR. “We want fermentable carbohydrates in the feed, but not too high that cows become acidotic,” he said. “We want a highly digestible forage because it exits the rumen, then cows go back to get filled up again.”
Consistent forage is important. When switching ensiled forages, such as from alfalfa to sorghum, problems are usually due to the switch and not forage quality. Salfer noted that in a herd he works with, a forage switch caused problems. Overall milk yield dropped, free time increased and milk per robot dropped.

Providing a high-quality, consistent PMR is essential for successful feeding of a robotic herd. Photo by Sally Colby
“It took about 30 days for cows to recover,” said Salfer. “With robots, it’s more important to have consistent feed, so if you have to make feed changes, go slowly because it’s hard to get those cows back.”
Feed table settings for robotic systems have improved over the last 10 years. “Many farms struggled with that,” he said. “They went with whatever the dealer recommended. Feed tables were often set all the same but now we’re tailoring them more.”
Guided flow robotic barns have smart gates that close off the robot commitment pen. “Typically, guided flow farms won’t feed as much robot pellets as free flow farms,” said Salfer. “This is why some farms put in guided flow systems. A lot of robotic dairies feed a pound or two of pellets per visit to entice the cow to visit the milking station. Pellets provide nutrition but the goal is to get cows to the milking station.”
In free flow robotic barns there are no gates to sort cows – pellets lure cows in for milking. These systems typically feed more pellets than in guided flow. Typically, from calving to about one month, cows are fed usually on a dry matter intake table: for every day in milk, cows are fed X number of pounds of robot pellets, which will be increased over the first several weeks.
“Limit feed at first,” said Salfer. “We often keep cows on DIM tables for too long. After that we go to a milk production table, and cows are fed based on production.” When cows reach peak, producers should switch to a mid-lactation diet and feed based on milk.
Subclinical ketosis is typically higher in robot herds than in conventional herds, which Salfer said is the result of relying on the PMR and limiting energy. “If you’re stepping up the feed table based on days in milk,” he said, “you’re likely not providing enough energy.”
Feeding more in the robot doesn’t always result in higher production because the pellets are primarily an attractant to get cows to the robot. “The more you feed them, the more likely they are to not eat it all,” said Salfer. “If you’re on a milk feed table and give her X number of robot pellets to get a balanced diet, if she doesn’t eat it all, she likely isn’t going to milk like as expected.” (He noted that dairy farmers are feeding less robot feed than they did a decade ago.)
Some robotic dairy farms have tried feeding meal. Although meal feeding wasn’t successful when it was first tried, farmers are trying it again for financial reasons. For successful meal feeding, meal should flow well, avoid ingredients such as excess fat that limit flowability and maintain a consistent particle size.
“You must feed the amounts cows can consume,” said Salfer. “Cows cannot eat meal as fast as they can eat a pellet.”
If a cow is milking twice a day, 8.3 lbs. is the maximum amount she can eat per day – a little over 4 lbs. per feeding.
Successful meal feeding involves eliminating corners in feeders and using vibrators to keep feed from bridging. Vibrate every one to two seconds every 10 minutes but avoid excessive vibration that may increase bridging risk.
It’s possible to eliminate feed in the robot. Although it takes some training, Salfer said several guided flow dairies in his area are doing it successfully. Without feed to entice cows to enter the robot, traffic design encourages cows to move through the entrance gates.
“You have to spend more time training cows,” said Salfer. “Fresh cows, especially first-lactation, will have to be fetched more often.”
Regarding feed consistency, Salfer said, “What’s programmed to be fed isn’t always what’s delivered and isn’t always what’s consumed. The substitution rate of PMR and robot feed isn’t well understood and may vary by cow preference, diet formulation and lactation stage.”
by Sally Colby
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