The “toddlers” at the Dallam family farm outside Bel Air have a new toy.
“We did have it a little more cleaned up for the politicians. It?s like a toddler?s playground,” said Kate Dallam, surrounded by about 60 roaming cows. She was talking about the only robotic milking machine in the state.
After a fire in December destroyed about 90 percent of the barn and killed 10 cows, Dallam, who owns the 220-acre farm with her husband, David, said it was practical to buy the machine. It uses lasers and a robotic arm to milk the cows upon demand.
She said one $180,000 machine is recommended for their cows; most Harford dairy farms have at least 100 cows. Pennsylvania has about 20 robotic milking systems, she said.
County Councilman Chad Shrodes, of North Harford, toured the farm last week. “I?ve never seen anything like it,” he said.
Before the fire, the cows were confined to separate stalls. Now, they can roam a long aisle inside the barn that leads to the machine or roam in the pasture.
“The cows decide when they want to get milked,” Dallam said. “So you?re really changing the cows? psychology, and one little change and they?ll slip back.”
The first time a cow used the machine, David Dallam, 44, had to adjust the lasers to each cow?s udder so the tubes could attach onto the teat at the correct spot.
Cows enter the gate and eat a pellet out of a slot. The gate stays shut if the cow needs to be milked, as they do two or three times a day. The more milk they give, the more they get to eat.
Princess, a show cow, attempted to get a pellet multiple times in an hour, but others didn?t quite understand it yet.
And although Kate Dallam remembers when cows were milked by hand, she says most farmers use a machine that can milk more than one cow at a time.
“The adults are fascinated. They?re glued to the thing, because they understand how cows used to be milked,” Dallam says of the few tours she has given. “It?s amazing how far we?ve come.”
Josie and Emmy Dallum’s show cow, Princess, stands by while another cow is milked in the robotic milker at Broom’s Bloom Dairy farm in Bel Air. The machine milks cows on demand. Princess has quickly learned that the more often she goes into the machine to get milked, the more treats she gets. (Kristine Buls/Examiner)
One cow heads into the robotic milker at Broom’s Bloom Dairy farm in Bel Air, as another cow exits. (Kristine Buls/Examiner)
