Efficiency through innovation

As the seventh and eighth generations to dairy on the 2,900-acre farm that straddles the Pennsylvania and Maryland border in Gettysburg, Pa., owners Richard and Horace Waybright and their sons Doyle, Bert, Alan, Joel and Jeffrey live by the motto “efficiency through innovation.”

“We are always looking at ways to reduce labor costs and improve efficiency through automation or technology,” Doyle says. “That’s something the generation before us started, and we are just continuing.”

When Richard and Horace entered into a partnership with their father, Clarence Jacob, in 1948, the farm consisted of 375 acres and just 12 dairy cows. The brothers built one of the first milking parlors in the country — the first of many innovations the brothers developed over the years.

Since then, the farm has grown to a closed herd of 2,400 cows and 45 employees, and in 2005, became one of the first operations in the United States to build a Voluntary Milking System. The robotic milking stations allow the cows to be milked on their own schedule, requiring no employees to be present during milking.

The process of researching the units was a long one that began in 2001.

“What do farmers do with their free time but visit other farmers?” Doyle asks. “Visiting another farmer, we were talking about a new way to milk cows and learned about robotic milking. We’d considered building another large barn and parlor, but we put that on hold for 12 months so we could investigate robotics more.”

The Waybrights researched what types of machines were available and travelled to Sweden in 2001 to meet with employees from DeLaval and look more closely at its Voluntary Milking System.

“We were impressed with what they had, so I said I’d take 40,” Doyle says. “They said no. I was standing next to the vice president of DeLaval for the United States, and his jaw dropped further than mine did when they told me no.”

At the time, DeLaval had not entered the U.S. market with their robotic system, and they were not prepared yet to navigate America’s stringent regulations.

“Looking back, I realize we weren’t prepared either,” Doyle says.

After building a new barn in spring 2005, the Waybrights installed 10 robotic units in November 2005. In November 2009, they replaced those with upgraded units and added 10 more.

“Robotic milking was evolving so fast, to take out four-year-old units and replace them was worth my while,” Doyle says.

The units each milk approximately 55 to 60 cows. Each cow decides on their own when and how often they want to be milked. The unit rewards the cows with a snack after milking.

The cows are guided into the milking station through a series of one-way gates, then lasers, sensors and a camera are used to guide the hydraulic arm that attaches each teat cup. The system also applies pre- and post-dip. Teat cups and floors are rinsed after every milking, and each unit runs 22½ hours per day, stopping twice for a wash cycle.

In addition, each cow that enters the stations is electronically monitored, with a computer capturing the cow’s milk production, health and milking times. This also allows the unit to ensure that each cow is not milked more often than every four hours. The system cut labor expenses by 75 percent, Doyle says.

The farm also utilizes a direct load system that fills three 6,000-gallon tanker trucks per day.

While the robotic units get the most attention from the thousands of visitors the farm hosts each year, they are not the only example of innovation on the operation.

“The robotics are kind of the star, but there are a lot of other things that play just as important a role,” Doyle says.

Billed as a “living laboratory” in a video shown to visitors to Mason Dixon Farms, the operation is constantly experimenting with new ways to perform daily tasks.

The Waybrights worked together to develop their own foraging system, which uses a unique mower and merger that were both designed and built on the farm. The system improves the forage cutting and merging process by improving efficiency. By utilizing a custom-designed, pull-type forage trailer that attaches to the harvester, field loss is virtually nonexistent.

“We’ve had equipment companies interested in the design,” Doyle says. “Again, that was all designed with labor cost savings in mind.”

The family also designed their barns to include a unique roof that allows for maximum ventilation and sunlight. The design was inspired by old steel mills, Doyle says.

“The roofline of a steel mill looks like a hand saw inverted,” he says. “The openings allow light and air to get to the middle of the building. That was a concern of mine when we decided to build a new barn.”

The design works so well, other dairy producers in the area have copied it for their barns.

“Cow comfort is critical,” Doyle says. “This keeps the air down on the cows and makes for a nice, comfortable barn — both for the cows and those of us working in it.”

The barns also contain a manure management system that was designed and built on the farm. The system continuously scrapes alleys, guiding waste to a tube below the floor that takes it out of the barn and into the operation’s biogas digester. The digester, which was installed in 1978, provides power for the entire Mason Dixon Farms operation.

“People think of digesters as new technology, but it’s actually ancient,” Doyle says.

A common saying for the Waybrights is “change is inevitable, success is optional.” For generations, the family has choosen success through innovation by embracing new technology and constantly striving to improve.

“Our family is always interested in trying out new things, investigating new technology,” Doyle says. “We only brag about the things that work; we’ve tried plenty of things that haven’t. But, you have to always be willing to invest in processes to make the farm better.”