A robot milking a cow might conjure up an image that’s nothing like it actually is.
If you’re picturing a pair of metal arms and legs and a rectangular face with flashing lights, you would be way off. Picture instead a movable metal bar that goes under the cow, attaching pumps.
“I think the notion of it is interesting to people. They want to see it. They want to see how it works,” said Mary Beth Albright, a 4-H educator with Ohio State University Extension, the outreach arm of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
If the possibility of seeing a robot milking cows, watching baby chicks hatch, or exploring farming in Hawaii intrigues you, watch and listen to Farm Science Review’s virtual 4-H talks Sept. 22–24.
Experiments online will allow you to discover the science behind making ice cream or the qualities of healthy soil. You can create tools to test water quality and explore career options in farming.
All this is free and available by registering at fsr.osu.edu for 4-H’s prerecorded videos and livestreamed presentations during Farm Science Review. Sign up on or after Sept. 8.
On Sept. 24 from 9–10 a.m., watch cow-milking robots when you take virtual tours of two Ohio dairies, Albright Jerseys in Huron County and Blue Sky Farm in Monroe County.
Enticed by food pellets, cows head to a robot to be milked. On average, milking takes only about seven minutes.
“We do have some cows that loiter near the robots and try to milk again just to get more pellets,” said Albright, whose family owns Albright Jerseys.
During Farm Science Review, you can also see what farming is like in Hawaii from 360-degree views of coconut, cinnamon, and tea fields.
Why Hawaii?
“It’s a gorgeous state,” said Elliott Lawrence, a 4-H educator in Lucas County.
“It’s completely different from what we’re accustomed to farms looking like.”
Cinnamon, coconut, bananas, tea—all can be seen growing in the lush, tropical climate.
For a full schedule of all Farm Science Review talks and demonstrations, visit fsr.osu.edu.