Giacchetto`s farm in north east Italy is the first dairy unit in Italy to have installed GEA´s MIone robotic milking system in February 2010. “Our life is completely different. We have more time to spend with the cows,” explains Lucia Giacchetto. The dairy family has installed two sets of two milking boxes each with a robotic arm. Although this is a huge investment with a long payback period Gabriele Giacchetto says: “Conventional milking parlours are not for us – the robotic system is the best.” Mike Green, British dairying, visited the dairy unit in Italy and was impressed. GEA Farm Technologies will be launching the MIone system on to the UK market in 2011. Here you can read the detailed report in the british magazine British Dairying, December 2010:

Substantial investment in robots changes lives (PDF/5MB)