About Our Dairy Barn

A nearby dairy farm, Northampton Dairy LLC, manages the robotic milking center, and the milk produced by the dairy is collected and distributed by Upstate Farms, a local dairy cooperative. The Dairy Barn at Springdale Farm is home to 60 cows and the region’s first Robotic Milking System.

About the Technology

The milking parlor features the Astronaut System of robotic milking, developed by Lely USA, Inc. The system includes a self-cleaning, laser-guided robot plus an automatic feeder, all managed by the Xpert software program. The robot identifies the cows by their collar transponders, and the accompanying software keeps track of data about the cow’s health, reproductive history, milk production and milk quality.

The Lely system also allows the cows to be milked whenever they choose, without the farmer needing to be there. This gives farmers more free time to concentrate on other parts of their business or spend more time with their families. Springdale Farm was the first public demonstration farm in the Northeast to install this technology.