Some family dairies have gone high-tech as well, like Gary Kregel’s farm near Guttenberg, Iowa. Kregel installed six Dutch-designed Lely Astronaut 4 milking robots that cost around $200,000 each, because he was having trouble finding people willing to work the grueling hours required to milk his four hundred cows two to four times each day. Cows now wear transponders on their collars that not only identify them but also record their daily steps and chews. Lasers allow the robotic milker to adjust its pumps for placement over each cow’s teats. It also automatically cleans the udders and tracks milk production, adjusting feed accordingly. Though a big investment, the machines allow Kegel to run the dairy with two family members and one employee, keeping the farm in the family as it has been since 1874
