The first of the fourth annual Winter Dairy Series meetings will be next week Monday, February 6, at the State Bank of New Prague, 1101 First St. S.E., New Prague. The program will run from noon until 2:30PM. The annual Winter Dairy Series is presented by the Minnesota Dairy Initiative and the University of Minnesota Extension Service. The topic of the first meeting, Robotics: Are they in your Future Labor Force?

Jim Salfer from the University of Minnesota Extension Service will walk through the economics of robotic milkers on a Dashboard computer program. So, bring your laptop. Lunch and materials will be provided. Registration is requested but not required. Contact Colleen Carlson at traxi042@umn.edu. I have talked to a couple of dairy farmers in our area who have robotic milkers, and they were working quite well. It sure helps dairy farmers with their quality of life. However, a robotic milker costs $200,000 or more and you need one milker for every 50 cows.

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