Robots may be dairy's future, but not a cure-all, farmer says The number of licensed dairy farms in the U.S. has dropped from around 60,000 to 30,000 in the last two decades.

At least five Berks dairy farms have invested in milking robots, counting on future savings the machines could bring in labor costs.

A couple of years ago they built a new $3 million dollar new barn with robotic milking machines and other technology. The Hinchley’s have joined a growing number of dairy farmers going high-tech.

On a growing number of dairy farms, cows, not people, decide when they need to be milked. Robots can do the job day or night. For some farm families, the robots free them from rigid milking schedules.