Want a wife? Get a robot

So, you want at least one of the kids to take over the farm. But getting up at 4 a.m. every day and having to leave every party before it gets going is a monumental deterrent.

And that’s not the worst of it. Mothers are taking note that their hard-working sons can’t find wives who will put up with their long hours.

The answer for many today is "buy a robotic milker."

North Augusta dairy farmer Henry Oosterhof says he’s heard the story numerous times. Mothers will say "the biggest challenge for us is that our son has had three girlfriends in the past year and each girl left saying she can’t live being always in the barn."
Henry and his brother Alex have installed two robots at their farm north of Brockville. They farm with Henry’s son Steve, 24. They were sold on a robotic milker when they visited farms in Manitoba and were told that the robotic milker improved family life.

The robot "will keep a lot of farms in families," Oosterhof said. But he noted that robots will only suit farmers who are keen on cow management and genetics. Otherwise, cows can be neglected.

The latest models of robotic milkers have also improved so much that more and more farmers are saying the time to get a robot is now. Dairy Farmers of Ontario says there are about 60 producers in Ontario with robotic milkers and there are now 60 more farmers in the planning stages with expectations of using a robotic system within the next year.

Sales manager Tony Brazda, for robotic maker Lely, says there are more than100 robots in the province.