Robots Milk Cows Without Humans... Domestic Production of Milking Machines

Five Pilot Projects Next Year... Full-Scale Distribution to Farms in 2023
Rural Development Administration "Accelerating Domestic Digital Dairy Farming"

Domestic robotic milking machine. (Photo by Rural Development Administration)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Rural Development Administration announced on the 18th that it has succeeded in developing a domestically produced robot for milking cows. It is expected that the distribution of domestically produced robotic milking machines will greatly enhance the productivity of dairy farmers and the level of the digital dairy industry.

On the same day, the Rural Development Administration announced that it succeeded in domesticating robotic milking machines in collaboration with the Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Daun.

Dairy farmers spend about 71 hours of labor per year per dairy cow. Of this, 42%, or 30 hours, is spent milking cows. The problem is that the foreign-made robotic milking machines distributed to farms are too expensive. As of February, 153 foreign robotic milking machines have been imported into the country, but this accounts for only about 2% of all dairy farms. Each unit costs about 350 million won.

The domestically developed robotic milking machine by the Rural Development Administration costs around 200 million won, about 60% of the price of foreign models. Maintenance costs are half the level. The level of after-sales service will also be improved. The National Institute of Animal Science of the Rural Development Administration will deploy experts to provide comprehensive technical support, and participating companies will be able to perform after-sales management.

The developed robotic milking machines will undergo pilot projects at five locations next year and will be fully distributed to farms starting in 2023.

Park Beomyoung, Director of the Animal Science Institute, said, "The domestically produced robotic milking machine will not only reduce labor and improve the quality of life for dairy farmers but also accelerate domestic digital dairy farming."

Park Changgyu, head of a farm in Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province, who conducted a demonstration test of the domestic robotic milking machine, said, "The domestication of robotic milking machines will help improve the profitability of dairy farms by solving the price burden and maintenance management issues of foreign products."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.