THE latest robotic milker from DeLaval comes fitted with a new feature which can help identify cows on heat and those that are pregnant.

The latest addition to the VMS series, the new DeLaval V310 has the new RePro technology already fitted. It builds on the reputation gained by the VMS V300 which was launched in 2018 and while the features of DeLaval's InControl, PureFlow and DeLaval InSight technologies are standard on both systems, RePro is standard only on the V310.

This new system provides accurate insights into the reproductive status of each cow in the herd by using progesterone-based sampling and analysis. This means that heat and pregnancy can be detected in real time, as well as indicating cows that are not cycling as they should.

This is claimed to be the first milking system that automatically confirms pregnant cows, resulting in healthier cows and reduced vet costs because of a reduced need for ultrasound pregnancy testing.

“With the VMS V310, the robot is in charge of 90% of our tasks. Before, we needed ultrasounds, but with RePro we hardly need them anymore because the system tells us when the cows are pregnant,” said Christian Legret, a DeLaval VMS V310 owner, based in France.

The V310 system will be available from January 1, 2020.