Would you spend the best part of a million dollars on a robot? Dairy farmers are doing that across Australia as a dozen farms have gone high-tech with the latest agricultural mechanisation. "It is the way the industry is going to look in 15 to 20 years' time," says agricultural consultant Philip Pittolo. Farmers on the south coast of NSW had their first chance to inspect a robotic milker over the weekend in Bega's inaugural dairy expo of farming equipment and innovation. The high-tech robotic machine was on display before being installed on a south-west Victorian dairy farm by international dairy equipment company Lely. "It has been a big (slow) process with one sold ten years ago, and the last farms came in two years ago, so it is one farm and then ten farms in two years," says Jana Van Der Meer, an agricultural scientist from Holland working with the company as she studies Australian farming management of pasture. Agricultural consultant Phil Pittolo says the march of the robots has begun! "Quite justifiably our industry is quite cautious, and although there will be innovators, and early adaptors (but) that rate will increase." What do the south coast farmers make of the robot? Is it inevitable and essential technological advancement, or an needless extravagance on farms that are running efficiently and profitably? Bega valley dairy farmer Guy Lucas says the robot is unnecessary, and not all farmers are keen on the idea of spending money on technology they can do without. "The cow is not going to walk in (to be milked) because there is a robot there," says Bega valley dairy farmer Guy Lucas. He says the machine will not relace a farm worker as farm labour will still be needed to get the cows to the robot to be milked, and that means the machine is an unnecessary expense that is not needed to replace a dairy system that is working well. "Our cows walk home not to be milked, they come home for a feed." Jana Van Der Meer says managing pasture is the key to success with robots as the cows learn to walk up to the machine to trigger access to a new area of feed. She says the cow gets milked while at the robot. Guy Lucas is no luddite and appreciates technology, as he developed a world-first automated feeding technology on his dairy a decade ago, but says he can see no cost saving advantage in robotic milking for an Australian pasture dependent dairy farm. "My bales cost half a million dollars to transfer over to electronics 10 years ago." He says it was profitable farming, but pasture is a cheaper Australian system of farming than buying the cow feed as the European farmers do in cold northern hemisphere climates. "We could not rely on our area here and our pay rates on feeding in the bale and lot feeding." He says robotics work in Europe's farming systems where cattle live indoors and are fed without having to walk outside onto paddocks to forage for fresh pasture. "It is not in our climate and area but where you are feedlotting 85 - 90 per cent, it might work." Jana Van Der Meer counters the farmers' negative argument with examples of southern hemisphere dairying where robotics have been introduced. "The farmers had all the same attitude that it is not working in our conditions, or our climate, and now we can see it is working in all conditions." She says farmers are seeing the robots can work in diverse situations on Australian and New Zealand pasture based farms. Agricultural consultant Philip Pittolo says robotic and labour saving machinery will be on all types of Australian farms as it reduces the costs and the need for labour. "If you change the nature of your work, you can stay in that work longer as you don't wear out, and you don't retire at 55 because you can no longer get out of bed in the morning." Guy Lucas is impressed with the idea of a sleep-in after decades of pre-dawn motor bike rides over dark paddocks to bring his 300 dairy cows into the dairy for milking. But he says he has other uses for the approximately $850,000 it would cost to go robotic at his farm at Brogo. "At my age I'm more interested in a Winnebago (touring motor home), not a robot!" Reducing labor costs and repetitive work is one of the keys to farming progress for consultant Philip Pittolo. "There is a real move to efficient production in all aspects, and this is about the efficient use of your labour and your time." He sees dairying joining all other sectors of primary industry as they adopt more automated technology that reduces the burden and long term impact of long hours of physical work. "All of that is a new way for us to look at our industry but there is no doubt that this is the way the industry is going to look in 15 to 20 years time." The robots are coming!By Keva Gocher