To qualify this a little, there is a way the robots can increase antibiotic use, and that would be if the hygiene of the robot is worse than that of other milking systems. But this does not seem to be the case. The robot would probably serve less "customers" with more thorough cleaning in between...
It has nothing todo with robots per se. Robots just make it a lot easier to feed a lot more animals in a narrow space with little human interaction.
In the United States, the use of antibiotics in livestock
is still prevalent. The FDA reports that 80 percent of
all antibiotics sold in 2009 were administered to
livestock animals, and that many of these antibiotics are
identical or closely related to drugs used for treating
illnesses in humans. Consequently, many of these drugs
are losing their effectiveness on humans, and the total
healthcare costs associated with drug-resistant bacterial
infections in the United States are between $16.6 billion
and $26 billion annually
No, traditional milking systems allow more intensive cattle stables than robotic systems. Which doesn't matter in Europe, because the space requirements per cow are a lot higher than the minimum possible. If anything, the robot allows for a less stressful milking and probably "happier" cows.
I can't see any connection between increased use of antibiotics and autonomous milking....
Comments
To qualify this a little, there is a way the robots can increase antibiotic use, and that would be if the hygiene of the robot is worse than that of other milking systems. But this does not seem to be the case. The robot would probably serve less "customers" with more thorough cleaning in between...
It has nothing todo with robots per se. Robots just make it a lot easier to feed a lot more animals in a narrow space with little human interaction.
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factory_farmingThe same goes for some countries in Europe. And as companies are importing goods from cheap farming companies such food can be found everywhere.
No, traditional milking systems allow more intensive cattle stables than robotic systems. Which doesn't matter in Europe, because the space requirements per cow are a lot higher than the minimum possible. If anything, the robot allows for a less stressful milking and probably "happier" cows.
I can't see any connection between increased use of antibiotics and autonomous milking....