Lely Australia says its parent company has already installed more than 6200 of its Astronaut milking robots worldwide.

This week it is reporting the sale of four of these robotic units to a Victorian farmer based in the state's Western District.

Lely's manager for dairy equipment, Juergen Steen, says the advantages of automated milking have been clearly detailed on the Warren family's dairy enterprise where four units are now milking more than 320 cows and producing in excess of 2200 litres per unit daily during seasonal peaks.

In fact labour requirements on Evelyn and Max Warren's robot-equipped property in Gippsland now total just 22 minutes per robot/day, translating to 88 minutes of labour/day that includes milking, also grazing and herd management.

Lely says that robotic milking technology not only reduces labour requirements but also can demonstrate productivity increases of up to 15 percent, based on:

• increased milkings per day as the cows present themselves for milking more frequently;

• correct, individual provision of rations and supplements to each cow according to production and health status;

• less stress and improved udder health due to the Astronaut system's variable pulsation and lower vacuum levels;

• sophisticated mastitis detection sensors; and

• accurate heat detection systems.

These gains in milk yield are also being underpinned by improved animal health and production benefits since labour and management time is freed up by not having to be directly involved with the milking process.

"When robot milking systems first appeared, a lot of Australian dairyfarmers regarded them as a European idea for European farms," Lely dairy specialist Bill Jackson said.

"However, extensive development work on integrating these systems into Australia and New Zealand's pasture-based dairying systems has been undertaken since then."

Lely says with labour shortages continuing to be a top-of-mind issue for the dairy industry, further growth in robotic milking technology can be expected.