Robotic milking is latest high-tech tool on dairy farms in S D argusleader.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from argusleader.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Dairy farmer Rodney Elliott stands in a small room where part of his $12 million robotic milking system is doing its job.
The robotic system is located inside a huge new barn on Elliott’s farm northeast of Lake Norden and is one of only a handful of fully robotic milking operations in South Dakota.
As the system functions flawlessly around him feeding, watering, bedding, washing and milking hundreds of cows day and night with nary a human touch Elliott watches with a mix of excitement and awe.
“My mother milked cows with just a bucket and a stool,” Elliott said, his Irish accent rising as in song. “We’ve sure come a long way, haven’t we?”