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2 DAIRY ST 5R C E L E B R A T I N G
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Y E A R S
October 28, 2023
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 25, No. 17
The next generation of automation Bremers build new barn with multiple robotic technologies By Amy Kyllo
amy.k@star-pub.com
LAKE CITY, Minn. — For many dairy farmers, putting in robotic systems is a step into a new world, but for the Bremers, this the second time they have put in a robotic milking system. Jeff Bremer, alongside his sons Jordan, Travis and Easton, and business partner Keith Bremer, built a 417-stall robotic dairy barn and feed bunkers, moving into their new facility in June 2022. What makes the Bremers’ setup unique is the sheer level of robotic integration. Their 400 cows are milked with six Lely Astronaut A5
Lund chooses tiestall design for new barn By Jan Lefebvre jan.l@star-pub.com
BRANDON, Minn. — The new barn constructed on Nathan Lund’s 10-acre farm near Brandon is not like most barns being built today. It is not a parlor, and there are no robotic milking systems. Instead, Lund went the traditional route, choosing a tiestall design. On Sept. 27, Lund began milking his herd of 40 cows in his 58- by 160-foot tiestall barn that has room for 60 milking cows plus dry cows. Lund designed the barn to allow him
AMY KYLLO/DAIRY STAR
Easton (from le�), Jordan, Travis and Jeff Bremer stand together Oct. 13 at their farm near Lake City, Minnesota. The Bremers milk 400 cows with six robo�c milking systems. Not pictured is Keith Bremer. robots. A Lely Vector system mixes, dispenses and pushes up the feed. Manure is vacu-
umed by three Lely Discovery 120 robots and deposited into the manure pit.
If necessary, one person can run the entire barn. The Bremers rst installed
robotic milking systems in 2010 in a retrotted freestall barn. Around late 2018, their freestall barn was at a point where they needed to build a new barn or exit the dairy industry. Bremer’s sons wanted to continue farming full time, so they decided to build. They received their inspiration from various farms. “We went and toured quite a few dairies,” Bremer said. “(We) took little pieces from every place.” When they built the barn, the Bremers doubled their cow numbers as well. They ramped up their numbers in the old barn, bought heifers and also purchased two milking herds of about 50 and 100 cows, respectively. The herd of 100 cows had been milked on DeLaval robots. The former owner agreed to continue to milk them up until the Bremers’ barn was Turn to BREMERS | Page 6
Honoring tradi�on to do all necessary chores on his own. “It’s as simple as you get for one person,” he said. “That’s why I built it like this.” Lund grew up on the dairy farm owned by his parents, Larry and Mary Lund, which is a mile and a half from his farm. The old barn there consists of 36 tie stalls that were bedded with straw. Lund selected upgrades for his barn to improve cow comfort. Lund installed 12 fans and switched to sand bedding. Lund uses about a dump truck load of sand each month. He said he has seen a decrease in lameness and an increase in cleanliness in his herd. Lund lets the cows walk around the barn freely between milkings. Turn to LUND | Page 8
MARK KLAPHAKE/DAIRY STAR
Nathan Lund stands in his recently built �estall barn Oct. 16 at his farm near Brandon, Minnesota. Lund has been milking 40 cows in his barn since Sept. 27.