Description
Romain Chevrel is an organic milk producer in Val-d’Izé, Brittany. His father and he are partners in a farming partnership (GAEC) and employ one worker. The farm sells 664,000 litres of milk per year produced with 120 crossbred cows on 124.5 hectares.
In 2017, to reduce the workload, Romain installed two milking robots while maintaining a grazing and economical forage system. The cows graze for 330 days/year, including 120 days with a forage ration composed of 100% fresh grass! To achieve this result, the robot is equipped with a sorting gate to direct the cows to the grazing plots. The land is divided into day paddocks and night paddocks to encourage the animals to go to the robot: after milking, the cows know they will have access to a good meal of fresh grass. Finally, 900 meters of tracks have been arranged to facilitate the movement of cows between the paddocks and the robot. The amount of concentrates distributed by the robot is 500 kg/cow/year and consists solely of dehydrated corn ears produced on the farm. The forage system is also self-sufficient.
Romain finds that the cows are calm with the robots: they move freely, are never pushed, and are less stressed. Robotic milking has significantly reduced the workload. On weekdays, the workday starts at 9:00 am and ends at 6:00 pm. For the weekend, one person can complete the work in 3 hours/day. The robots have allowed a different organization of work and freed up time for each partner: for example, Romain doesn’t work on Wednesdays and takes care of his children!
