Robotics newcomer, Ralo Automation, has been announced as ‘Best Technology & Innovation Exhbit’ at Farm World 2023 in Victoria, where they are demonstrating their new cost-effective, automated drafting solution called Draft-M8.

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 very excited to recive this award for Draft-M8, which will create a step-change in the dairy industry by helping privately owned farms reduce labour costs and keep up with new technology”

said Grant Stokes, co-founder of Ralo Automation.

The Ralo stand showcases Draft-M8’s custom designed electronics and image recognition software which identifies stickers, labels, or colours on cows’ backs and automatically drafts them through the right gate for attention. The system is fully automated, but if desired, farmers can watch real-time video of the drafting process via an online portal and remotely operate the gates.

Ralo has spent 12 months trialling Draft-M8 at Wild Dog Dairy, a 1,375 acre dairy farm north-west of Launceston in Tasmania. With Draft-M8, the dairy was able to halve labour requirements for milkings during its 10 week Artificial Insemination program, saving 210 hours of labour and around $8,000.

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.”