World’s largest robotic box batch milking farm to be built in Kyiv region — GEA

This year, Ukrainian Dairy Company will begin construction of the first phase of the world’s largest robotic box batch milking farm, with the launch of the first 24 milking robots out of the planned 60, according to GEA.

The company noted that the key feature of the new livestock complex will be a technology that is completely new to Ukraine — Batch milking, an automated group milking system that combines traditional management practices used in free-stall housing with automated milking at scheduled times.

This innovative approach is in milking cows in groups at scheduled times using DairyRobot R9650 milking robots arranged in two rows. The robots are manufactured by the German technology equipment producer GEA Farm Technologies GmbH.

GEA says the enterprise will be able to reduce labour costs, avoid risky human–animal interaction during milking, and implement individual feeding for each cow based on technological requirements.

Maintenance of the milking equipment will have minimal impact on daily milking routines, as almost all technological equipment will be located in a basement area beneath the robots.

“For us, it is a great honour and responsibility to be a partner of Ukrainian Dairy Company, which today is one of the largest milk producers in Ukraine. This is a truly landmark and unique project not only for Ukraine but for the global dairy industry — both in terms of its scale and the number of innovative solutions implemented, from housing and feeding systems to automated milking and data management,” said Oleksii Antonov, AMS Product Manager at GEA Ukraine.