A farm is moo-ving into a new era — with a robotic system that milks cows.

Some 50 old cubicles traditionally used for milking cows have been fitted with the state-of-the art £250,000 system at Greenhurst Farm in Samlesbury.

The cows have been fixed with collars linked to a master computer which calculates how much milk a cow should produce during the day.

And when the cow has around eight litres, the machine allows the animal to move into the feeding area through a metal gate.

It then walks into a machine to be fed, cleaned and milked.

Owner of the farm Graham Young said the machines allowed workers to put more time into managing the herd, and less on the time-consuming chore of milking the cows with hours needed to lead cows into the parlour, clean udders and latch on milker units.

Greenhurst farm staff would normally spend six hours a day milking cows the conventional way.

Graham said: “Robotic milkers are still quite rare in this country, but are far more popular in Europe.

“Each robotic system can milk 60 to 70 cows, and the herd can enter and leave the facility at their own pace without a team of workers being on hand.

We are confident the system will increase productivity on our farm and free up staff to work in other areas.”

The 130 cows are milked around two to three times a day and produce 4,000 litres of milk.

Nick Murphy, from the National Farmers’ Union said other farms in the area were looking at the high-tech system, although there were still those who preferred traditional methods.

He said: “Graham opted for the robots because they give him increased flexibility.