Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
Cross Country Checkup·CHECKUP

When milking robots were installed, this dairy farm worker's 'fears vanished quickly'

Diana West works on a dairy farm on Vancouver island. She has seen milking robots change the workplace culture on the farm first-hand. At first she was worried that her job would become obsolete, but quickly she learned to work in collaboration with the machines.
CBC Cross Country Checkup · CBC ·
Diana West says she uses robots to help her milk the cows on her farm. (Julian Uzielli/CBC)

The federal government wants Canada's dairy farmers to become more competitive globally.  On August 1, the government introduced the Dairy Farm Investment Program, which offers $250 million to the country's milk producers over the next five years to improve productivity. The program is meant to encourage Canada's dairy farmers to streamline production, partly through automation.

Diana West works on a dairy farm on Vancouver island. She has seen milking robots change the workplace culture on the farm first-hand. At first she was worried that her job would become obsolete, but quickly she learned to work in collaboration with the machines. Her hours became more manageable as the milking robots worked non-stop – something a human like her could never do.

Listen to Diana West's conversation with Checkup guest host Suhana Meharchand.

Suhana Meharchand: What is your story when it comes to this new world of work?

Diana West: I have been working on a dairy farm for the same employer for 15 years now, and about six years ago he decided to go robotic. We have two robots going, and we're putting our third one in now. It's changed my hours, I would say.

SM: For the better?

DW: I would say so, because when we did the switch over I was on maternity leave, so now that I that have a child, it is nicer. I'm not getting up at three in the morning to milk cows. I would say it's better for me now that I have a child.

SM: Were there other people affected as well on the dairy farm when those robots came in who, perhaps, aren't in the same position as you?

DW: You know, it really hasn't. Everybody's still employed. We have one part-time employee that's cut back a little bit, but he's on his way out anyway. He's wanting to retire, so that's fine. And I doubt we'll replace him, we'll just shift things around.

So, my job's actually changed from milking cows twice a day — you know, three in the morning until six at night, and treating the cows and mixing their feed and everything. So now I'm more taking care of the robots that are milking the cows 24/7.

SM: So what would you say to those that might be fearful of artificial intelligence or robots coming into their workplace? Because it sounds like you are working in collaboration with all of that change.

DW: You know, I had those fears when I went on maternity leave. What am I going to do when I get back, what's he going to have me do? We actually joked about it. 

I don't know if it's different for other robotic applications, but with dairy we have one tech on the island – he can look after ten robots right now. Ours is the eleventh robot going in on the island, and he's maxed out so we have to do as much as we can. He's taught us to do things — he's gone to school for all that — but we're very hands on and we're just doing it ourselves. Some of the higher end stuff we still have to call him in for, but those fears have vanished quickly when I realized there's so much service to do on these robots. And, of course, treating the cows. The robot can tell you the cow has an infection, but it can't treat the cow. They can tell you a cow is in heat, but they can't artificially inseminate the cow. So, you're still working with animals, which I love, and still treating them and keeping them happy, and they're happy being milked by the robots.

Suhana Meharchand and Diana West's comments have been edited and condensed for clarity. You can listen to their full conversation above. This online segment was prepared by Ieva Lucs on September 3, 2017.