Wild Dog Dairy, a 1,375 acre dairy farm north-west of Launceston in Tasmania, has spent 12 months trialing a new low-cost automated drafting solution, which has halved its labour requirements for morning milkings, saving 210 hours of labour and around $8,000.

The product (Draft-M8) has been developed by robotics newcomer, Ralo Automation, and is a simple and cost- effective way to draft cows using a smart camera to drive automated gates.

Draft-M8 uses custom designed electronics and image recognition software to identify stickers, labels, colours and patterns on cows’ backs and automatically draft them through the right gate for attention.  Farmers can watch real-time video of the drafting process via an online portal and remotely operate the gates if desired.

Josh Bishop from Wild Dog Dairy said ‘‘We were looking for a way to manage drafting during periods of family illness, without the need to hire expensive and potentially inexperienced contractors”.

“Over the past 12 months, Draft M8 has given us the main features we wanted from collars for a small fraction of price.”

“For 10 weeks a year we no longer need a second person in the milking shed. We can also do artificial insemination for longer and the bulls are only required for the last 4 weeks” said Josh.

“Beyond drafting, we are now using Draft-M8 for identifying lame cows, drying off and putting the bulls in and out.”

Ralo Automation is an Australian tech disruptor founded by people from farming backgrounds who are looking to improve the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Australian dairy farmers. 

“We’re on a mission to progressively automate manual or complicated tasks to reduce labour requirements and costs, improve productivity, increase safety and make life easier all round” said Daniel Collins, CEO of Ralo Automation.

“We’re looking to create a step-change in the industry by developing products that are more affordable than current alternatives and work with existing farm technology, equipment to make the most of farmers’ existing investments.”

Draft-M8 will be launched and demonstrated by Ralo Automation at Farm World in Victoria from 24-26 March 2023.