Where is the way out for agriculture's labor shortage? Milking robots show that foreign workers are not the only option

Located in the subtropics, Taiwan, China, yet the milk yield per dairy cow surpasses that of many major dairy-farming countries. Taiwan, China currently has 553 dairy farms, with a herd size of 130,000 head of cattle, of which about 60,000 are milking cows. The annual output value of milk reaches more than 10 billion yuan, ranking ninth among individual agricultural products. While consumers enjoy fresh dairy products, dairy farmers are in the most labor-intensive line of the livestock industry.

365 days a year, milking twice a day, at four or five in the early morning and at three or four in the afternoon, not one session can be skipped.Extremely long working hours and heavy workloads have made the dairy industry the sector hit first and hardest by agriculture's labor shortage.

I recall that six years ago, a graduate student in class reported on a research paper about robotic milking, and at that time, every country was still in the research and development stage. Six years later, in several Northern European countries, more than20%of farms have introduced milking robots, especially in Denmark, where one out of every four dairy farms uses robotic milking, and this proportion continues to increase.

In recent years, international research and development of milking robots has progressed rapidly and the technology has become increasingly mature, upgrading from automation to intelligence. Every milking session can record data, which enters the system for computation, and through the accumulation of big data, the management of dairy cows becomes more precise.2019year3month, the Livestock Research Institute invited a professor from the University of MarylandRobert R. Petersin the United States to come to Taiwan, China to share North America's experience with milking robots in recent years.

PetersProfessor Peters pointed out that after a farm introduces milking robots, the most obvious difference is a substantial reduction in full-time manpower, especially replacing the most grueling morning and evening milking work. At the same time, milking cows can freely enter and exit the milking facility; as soon as a cow feels its udder engorged, it walks to the milking robot, unlike when milking is done by manpower, when the cows must wait for the twice-daily milking times.Professor Peters pointed out that after a farm introduces milking robots, the most obvious difference is a substantial reduction in full-time manpower.

According to statistics, on farms that use milking robots, the average number of milkings per cow per day is2.8times, and overall milk production has also increased. Some dairy farmers believe their quality of life has improved, they have more time to spend with family, and the willingness of the second generation to take over has thus increased, allowing the farm to operate sustainably. Research so far shows no significant change in milk quality, though reproductive traits have slightly worsened, especially a longer open days period; this may be because increased milk production leads to a negative energy balance that affects conception, and further research is needed.

However, the biggest obstacle to dairy farmers using milking robots is the high price. One robot costs600ten thousand New Taiwan dollars, and can serve at most60milking cows. At the same time, dairy farms in Taiwan, China have smaller sites, so to add a milking robot, the cows' movement routes must also be modified accordingly, and the farm's facilities need to be renovated again, which becomes another considerable expense.

At present, the labor shortage problem of dairy farmers is becoming more and more serious, and the calls by some dairy farmers for the government to open up the introduction of foreign labor have never ceased. Referring to foreign experience, adding milking robots or introducing foreign workers are both options to alleviate the labor shortage. However, these two choices will bring about completely different consequences for the future development of Taiwan, China's dairy farming industry.

If foreign workers are introduced, the effect that may immediately be triggered is that wage levels in the dairy industry will stagnate, and the willingness of graduates of relevant professional departments to enter the industry will also drop greatly. With dairy safety and quality lacking the gatekeeping of professionals,

it will be even harder to compete with cheap and excellent imported dairy products. In addition, whether foreign workers possess the skills to work on a farm, whether they can overcome the psychological fear of managing large animals, and, under conditions of long working hours and high labor intensity, whether they will become runaway foreign workers, along with the follow-up management problems, all test dairy farmers as well as the farmers' associations that assist in introducing foreign workers.

With the rise in Taiwan, China's basic wage, the current cost of introducing a foreign worker, plus labor and health insurance, the employment stability fee, and food and lodging management fees, is about 40,000 yuan per person per month. Against this background, Taiwan, China actually already meets the conditions for introducing milking robots. At the same time, dairy farmers need to pair this with more precise dairy cow feeding management, and this will become an opportunity for the dairy industry to upgrade once again.

It is suggested that when the government considers opening up the introduction of foreign labor in the dairy industry, it can also think about another solution and guide the dairy industry toward smart operations. Through long-term low-interest loans, it can ease the financial pressure of investing in robotic equipment and help Taiwan, China's dairy industry connect with international standards. It is also necessary to cultivate professional talent to learn the maintenance and operation of milking robots.

To solve agriculture's labor shortage problem, introducing agricultural foreign workers is an option, but it is not the only option.