How one Family Adapted their Dairy Farm to use Robots and Improve Efficiency

How one Family Adapted their Dairy Farm to use Robots and Improve Efficiency

Article and photos courtesy of Accu-Steel

When John Lawfer left the Kent, Illinois, family farm for college in the early 2000s, he had no intention of coming back. His parents, Ron and Julie, milked 140 cows with less labor and a 1960s-era barn built for just 100 cows.

But then, John discovered robotics during an internship in Platteville, Wisconsin and he understood the positive impact the technology could have on his family’s operation. “He came back and said that he really wanted to put robotics in, and we were like, ‘No, we’re not,’” Ron said.

Over time, John convinced his dad that robotics would help make labor more efficient and even allow the family to grow their operation. But first, they needed an updated facility that could handle the new equipment.

The family began the search for a dairy barn that would meet their needs. They quickly found that traditional structures were unable to provide the room the robots needed to maneuver.

Then, John remembered he had worked with Accu-Steel to install a few buildings on his property previously. When he approached the company about a new cattle building in 2014, they had a new option for John.

“I’d gone and looked at some tunnel-ventilated barns and cross-ventilated barns, and I just wasn’t impressed with them,” Ron said. “This one had a solid truss-type construction. We had never looked at anything like it because they weren’t being built at the time.”

After hearing more about how the Accu-Steel structure was engineered, the Lawfers bought the building sight unseen. With the building’s clearspan space, they could fit their two new robots in and still have plenty of room for their growing herd to roam.

Accu-Steel was also able to customize the building to Ron’s specifications, including high sidewalls, maximized airflow, and a steeper pitch on the roof to deal with snow load, which is important for Wisconsin winters.

Once the building was complete, Accu-Steel sent the engineers who designed the structure for a site visit. “They hadn’t done a dairy building before, and they wanted to understand why I requested some of the things I did,” he explained. “We were able to help each other in that way. And truthfully, I have had zero issues with the building.”

Today the new space is helping the Lawfers take better care of their cattle. With the previous building, Ron could only get 70 pounds per cow on average. Now that number has risen to 85, which he attributes to greater cow comfort thanks to the building’s airflow and natural light. Choosing a building that enabled Ron to implement robotics also means time on the farm is now more flexible for the hardworking couple.

Thanks to John’s vision and Accu-Steel’s collaboration on a custom dairy barn, the robots on the Lawfer farm are working efficiently and the operation is primed to grow.

Interested in learning more about how an Accu-Steel fabric-covered building could work for your dairy operation? Give us a call at 877-812-6755.