Milking of cows at farms in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and New York has seen a new trend of using farm-based robotics, according to a report from the New York Times.
Having been popular in Europe for years, robotic milking systems are just gaining traction in the U.S. now, Yahoo News reported.
Among the benefits of using robots to milk cows, an improvement of efficiency would be termed as the strongest one. "Because the cows are able to be milked more often, they're in less pain. And the farmers get to sleep just a tiny bit more or concentrate on the millions of other things that have to be done," Yahoo News reported.
To the layman unfamiliar with these sort of surroundings, the machine could appear a bit like a car wash, or something from "The Jetsons."
After a cow steps inside the machine, a bar code on its body is scanned by a laser scanner. Following the procedure, the cow gets milked and the process is immensely speeded up by inviting the next cow inside.
According to Yahoo News, the NYT article profiles the Borden family, who have been farming for generations.
"The Bordens expected a dip in production as their cows got used to the machines. But the cattle were quick learners," the NYT reported.
"It just clicked," said Susan Borden, Tom Borden's 24-year-old daughter. "One day we came in and they had started milking themselves."
In recent years, robotic milking machines are just one aspect of farming that has become more automated.
Robots are also being used to round up cows in the field, a 2013 article from the BBC reports. Amazingly, the cows were unfazed by an unmanned robotic rover patrolling the fields and took to it quite easily.
"Elsewhere, giant robotic machines are being used to farm lettuce. The Lettuce Bot can thin a field of lettuce in the time it takes about 20 workers to do the job by hand, according to USA Today. There are also bots that prune vines at wineries, move potted plants at nurseries, and drive tractors," Yahoo News reported.
