Assessment of Production Technologies on Dairy Farms in Terms of Animal Welfare

Abstract

Dairy production on farms is based on properly selected technologies implemented in various areas of the barn and outside the livestock buildings. These technologies are subject to assessment, for example, to determine the possibilities of their further improvement in the given production conditions of the farm. When assessing dairy production technology on a farm, human interests are taken into account, including workload, time and access to modern tools supporting the control of production processes. The aim of this review is to identify and discuss factors in dairy production technologies that may affect the welfare of dairy cattle. The considerations indicate that in the technologies of cow feeding, watering and housing, the priority is to improve the technology in terms of ensuring the comfort of animals using feed, water and a place to rest. However, in the case of the assessment of milking automation, the key importance of increasing human comfort was indicated, taking into account the comfort of cows, which is an additional factor justifying the implementation of technical progress in milking. The assessment of various dairy production technologies on farms is an excellent opportunity to develop discussions on the place of dairy cattle welfare in the sustainable development of farms and the priorities set for improving dairy production.

1. Introduction

Dairy production is undertaken in almost all regions of the world. As a result, a large group of consumers have access to milk and dairy products. Regions of the world differ in many conditions of milk production. These include natural climatic conditions, geographical location, access to feed for dairy cattle, and the specifics of raw milk management. The essence of milk production is the use of many specialized tools, including technology, technical equipment and knowledge that should support the improvement of the dairy production system. It is obvious that improving various aspects of dairy production on the farm is subject to evaluation. What results from the assessment of dairy production technologies and their technical equipment on a farm? The answer to this question inspires the development of a review of the approach to assessing dairy production technologies on farms.

The question about the evaluation of dairy production technologies simultaneously suggests questions about the criteria for this assessment. The assessment of dairy production technology is undergoing a re-evaluation. In the previous period, mechanization and increasing the level of mechanization of work within the technology were key [1]. Over the years, there has been a transition from mechanization to automation, and in the next stage, the growing importance of LPF (Livestock Precision Farming) is indicated [2].

The following problem can be formulated: what is the priority in the assessment of dairy production technology on a farm and how are these priorities changing? So far, energy consumption [3], human and equipment efficiency [4], economic profitability indicators [5], or maintaining milk quality standards [6] have been of particular importance. In the systemic approach to sustainable dairy production on a farm, in addition to humans (performing decision-making functions related to management) and technical equipment (material factor), the cow plays a key role. The assessment of a cow in a dairy production system requires an appropriate approach resulting from the needs in the sphere of welfare. Three concepts can be tools in the analysis of animal welfare: the Five Freedoms (FF), Five Domains (FD) and Quality of Life (QoL) [7]. What is the contribution of dairy production technology to the fulfillment of these concepts?

The improvement of production technologies in dairy farms and their evaluation are part of the essence of applied sciences. The implementation of production technologies in dairy farms accumulates specific resources of theoretical and practical knowledge that can be used to identify problems related to the development of dairy production.

Dairy production technologies are subject to development. The components of dairy production technologies are being assessed in more and more detail, taking into account various evaluation criteria. The aim of this review is to identify and discuss factors in dairy production technologies that may affect the welfare of dairy cattle. In order to achieve the main aim of the review, we focused on cows.

2. Approach to Performing the Review

There are many approaches to conducting a knowledge review, including systematic reviews (PRISMA compliant) [8], narrative, descriptive, critical, scoping, realist, theoretical [9] and other reviews. The review study we conducted is a work that combines selected elements of a theoretical, scoping and narrative approach to the review of the subject matter. Our intention was to present existing conceptual and empirical research studies on dairy production technology. While reviewing dairy production technology, we formulated research questions that were helpful in identifying problems within specific review scopes. The answers to the questions were the basis for a discussion on the problems of improving dairy production technology and meeting animal welfare requirements.

In the review of dairy production technology on the farm, we considered three main areas. These were the areas of feeding and watering dairy cattle, milking and housing animals together with supporting tasks in the livestock building. In the case of the review in each of the areas, we formulated keywords and, based on articles generated in the Google Scholar database, we analyzed technologies and their links with dairy cattle welfare. The keywords included the concept of technology, a given area of activity (feeding and watering cattle, milking cows and housing cattle) and welfare. We also added the words comfort/discomfort to the keywords.

In the basic part of the literature analysis, we considered technology in the classical understanding of this concept. Technology is a set of activities aimed at achieving a specific goal. This goal is to provide animals with access to feed and water, as well as to obtain milk. This goal is also to create conditions and manage the conditions of animal housing. A feature of agricultural production technology is the participation of technical equipment and people, which allows for the calculation of the workload of machines/tractors and people. We developed this aspect in the chapter on the implementation of technological progress using the example of dairy production on a farm. In practice, the word technology is also used to refer to modern solutions designed to support the production process and handling of livestock. This aspect of technology was also developed in the review.

When reviewing dairy production technology on farms, we also used our own experience, including research in the area under consideration. Our own research experiences and observations have helped to develop the discussion on dairy production technology and dairy cattle welfare issues.

3. Selected Aspects of Animal Welfare

Taking up the issue of animal welfare in the context of dairy production technologies inspires the development of selected aspects of welfare that may be key in the conducted review.

Welfare studies are focused on assessing the improvement of animal life, and the interpretation of the concept of improvement has changed over the years [10]. In the traditional approach, a good life for animals is associated with their good health and an appropriate level of production. Considerations of animal welfare also include the question: how and what does an animal feel and express through emotional states? These are negative (e.g., pain) and positive (e.g., pleasure) emotional states [11]. In assessing animal welfare, three approaches are distinguished, including biological functioning, natural behavior and emotional states [12]. A detailed description of this approach to assessing animal welfare can be found in the Farm Animal Welfare Council guidelines [13]. These guidelines indicate five freedoms for animals: freedom from hunger and thirst; discomfort; pain, injury and disease; to express natural behavior; and from fear and stress to avoid psychological suffering.

Livestock, including dairy cattle, are kept in specific environmental conditions. One of the definitions of welfare emphasizes that animals should be in harmony with their natural environment [14]. Can dairy cattle also be in harmony with dairy production technologies and their technical equipment? In this harmony, are dairy cattle able to maintain various forms of freedom that determine their welfare? A review of dairy production technologies is an excellent opportunity to identify dairy cattle welfare problems and possibilities for improving them.

4. Introduction to the Issue of Progress in Production Technologies on Farms

What results from the assessment of dairy production technologies and their technical equipment on the farm? This is the general question we asked when formulating the purpose of this review study. In search of an answer to the question, various aspects of dairy production technology were reviewed. This review includes a timeline that shapes trends with a key emphasis on the assessment of dairy production technology on farms.

The timeline in connection with dairy production technologies on the farm is most visible when considering the implementation of various forms of progress in dairy production [15]. Progress—in a general sense—is a concept expressing the quantitative and qualitative change in the state of the area under consideration over time [16]. Based on the definition [17], technological progress is associated with the consumption of energy contributed to the technological process by manual work (human work) and the work of machines (technical devices). The essence of implementing technological progress is the substitution of human labor with the work of tractors and machines. The approach to the interpretation of technological progress—considered in energy terms—would be difficult to clearly compare with potential changes in the welfare of dairy cattle as a result of the implementation of technological progress. Therefore, it seems justified to use an indicator that combines manual and machine work. Such concepts include the technological index level (T_L), calculated as the ratio of machine work inputs to the total manual and machine work inputs expended in the technological process. The value of the T_L index is in the range of 0–100%, where 0% means only human participation is involved in the process, and 100% reflects full mechanization (automation), i.e., no human work is involved in the technological process. The question may be asked of how the welfare of dairy cattle changes as the technological index level increases.

The increase in the technological level index and, consequently, the increase in the level of mechanization of dairy production technology on the farm corresponds to the tendency to increase the size of the cow herd [17]. This means that the decreasing human involvement in the operation of dairy production technology is accompanied by an increase in the number of cows in the herd. Therefore, there is an increasing number of cows per person managing the herd and less time that a person can devote directly to contact with one animal. Can such a situation be considered beneficial for cows and their welfare? The question remains of how much such direct contact with humans is needed for animals and what the consequences of such contact are for cows and other groups of dairy cattle.

Technological progress affects basically every area of dairy production on the farm. In each of these areas, technological progress can be linked to the welfare of dairy cattle.

5. Technology of Feeding and Providing Water to Dairy Cattle

The primary goal of any dairy cattle feeding technology is to provide animals with feed, taking into account two criteria: quantity and quality of feed. Therefore, the interest in animals is crucial in the assessment of dairy cattle feeding technology and its implementation on the farm. This interest in animals is considered in terms of welfare. In this context, the assessment of feeding technology in categories other than meeting the nutritional requirements of animals may seem only a complementary element. However, this is not actually the case. In the assessment of dairy cattle feeding technology, emphasis is also placed on the automation of the feeding process [18]. Automation is justified not only by the need to reduce manual labor input for animal feeding. The inspiration for implementing the idea of automating cattle feeding is to ensure continuity of access to feed. The continuity of access to feed is a factor that helps maintain a high level of animal welfare; animal discomfort that could result from the unavailability of feed is reduced. However, the key condition in this case is the combination of continuity of access to feed with its freshness. This is possible as a result of equipping the feeding robot with appropriate operating functions. Feeding robots make it possible to program the time, dose and frequency of feeding animals, which allows for precise control of feeding and the creation of feeding patterns consistent with the principles of cattle welfare. Feeding robots are a key element of automatic feeding systems (AFS), which are part of the evolution of TMR preparation technologies, taking into account benefits in terms of workload, animal nutrition and optimization of animal welfare [19]; feeding robots, representing the highest level of technical and technological advancement, are most often powered by electric motors, so they operate more quietly and do not emit exhaust fumes, which is more beneficial for animal welfare.

Not all dairy farms—due to the economic profitability of the investment—can be equipped with feeding robots. Therefore, an important stage in the development of dairy cattle feeding technology is the use of feeding wagons. The essence of the work of a feeding wagon is usually the need to enter the barn, which is associated with noise and the emission of exhaust fumes inside the facility. Feeding wagons are machines aggregated with tractors or self-propelled machines equipped with combustion engines. Is it possible to reduce the welfare risks resulting from the work of feed wagons? One of the directions for improving TMR feeding technology may be the implementation of electric feeding wagons [20]. Another direction is the introduction of tractors with electric engines [21], which can be aggregated with feeding wagons working in barns. Such solutions help to improve the level of cattle welfare by eliminating the discomfort associated with noise and air pollution with exhaust fumes. A technological solution that can reduce animal discomfort resulting from the operation of a tractor/machine in the feeding zone of the barn is to change the location of the feeding alley. The feeding alley can be located along the side part of the barn, allowing the tractor with the feeding wagon to work outside the building (Figure 1).

A significant problem in cattle feeding technology in the barn is the regular pushing of feed along the feeding alley. On many farms, this task is performed by mechanical vehicles (with combustion engines) operated by humans. Regular pushing of feed may be inconvenient for the farmer/barn worker in this case. Therefore, many farmers rely on technological progress and implement devices for automatic pushing of feed in the feeding alley [22]. This results in benefits for the farmer. These benefits—considered in the sphere of welfare—also apply to animals. Programmable robots used for pushing feed in the barn are powered by electric motors, which eliminates the source of exhaust fumes and noise, which is a factor of environmental stress for cattle [23].

An important issue in the assessment of dairy cattle feeding technology is to create comfortable conditions for the animals in the feeding area. This comfort is the inspiration for research that assesses, for example, the impact of additional equipment (feed barriers) in the feeding area on the behavior and stress of cows [24], taking into account additional herd density [25], or the influence of feeding space on the distances between cows and their aggressive behavior [26]. Reactions expressing stress and aggression in cows are among the factors assessing their welfare in the case of a given feeding technology. Technological solutions that provide dairy cattle with free access to feed, with reduced competition between animals, meet the requirements of freedom from hunger and discomfort.

Providing individual groups of dairy cattle with access to water is a fulfillment of the basic principle of animal husbandry. This does not mean, however, that research is not undertaken to understand the impact of selected technical and technological solutions on the comfort of cows and other groups of animals when drinking water. This comfort reflects the animal welfare associated with watering. When assessing the technology of providing cows with water, it is crucial to determine whether cows have access to the appropriate amount of water per day [27]. The assessment of cow watering technology involves answering the question about animals’ preferences regarding watering equipment and its features, including the location in the barn or on the pasture. In the study of Machado Filho et al. [28], cows’ preference for larger water troughs was found. These observations were confirmed and supplemented by Teixeira et al. [29] indicating the preferences of cows for water troughs with an appropriate water surface and placed at a certain height. The method of providing water to animals on a dairy farm, combined with the cleanliness of water and drinkers, affects animal welfare [30]; dairy cows drink longer, with more sips and fewer breaks with water bins compared to valve troughs. In improving the technology of water supply for dairy cattle, the priority is the interest of animals, their comfort and welfare. It is up to the owner of a herd of dairy cows to use certain features of the watering system to achieve specific benefits. For example, knowledge about the location of drinking water when using a milking robot in a pasture translates into water intake by cows, their milk yield and behavior [31]. As a result of research and observations of cows’ behavior in the drinking zone, it is possible to indicate the animals’ preferences for specific technological solutions for water supply. In this way, it is possible to approach a certain optimum ensuring freedom of dairy cattle from thirst and discomfort associated with water intake.

A noteworthy example of improving watering technology is providing cows with access to water in the milking parlor (Figure 2). Such a solution can be considered in terms of welfare. However, welfare is not only determined by access to water but also by the fact that the water is heated to a temperature suitable for the cows. In this technology, the source of energy for heating the water is key. The energy comes directly from the milk milked in the parlor, where the key role is played by the heat exchanger cooperating with the cooling tank. This example shows that the goals of developing cattle watering technology can be combined with achieving the goal of improving animal welfare.

6. Milking Technology

The links between dairy production technology and the welfare of dairy cows are particularly identified in the case of technological progress in milking. The essence of the first ideas, designs and patents for milking equipment—in the second half of the 19th century—was to reduce human effort while milking cows. Unfortunately, the reduction in human labor—during the initial attempts at mechanical milking—was accompanied by an increase in the discomfort of cows and thus a decrease in their welfare. The initially imperfect ideas of replacing human hands during milking with simple technical solutions led to infections, pain and suffering of cows, and sometimes prolonged milking. Technical solutions for milking cows improved over the decades, reflecting technological progress, i.e., a systematic reduction in the share of human labor in the labor input for milking. In the approach to the milking assessment, the key was to increase human work efficiency, specifically the number of milked cows and the amount of milk per person per hour [32].

An increase in the number of cows milked per hour became possible as a result of the implementation of increasingly complex milking equipment in milk production technology. In the evaluation of this equipment, strong emphasis is placed on the comfort of human work when handling milked cows. Increasing human work comfort, in addition to work efficiency, has become one of the criteria for the improvement and development of cow milking technology. At this point, when assessing milking technologies, it is worth comparing human comfort with the comfort of dairy cows. It can be noted that in the initial stages of improvement of milking technology, including the use of bucket and pipeline milking systems, the human’s task was to approach the cow with the bucket/milking apparatus at the lying stall (in barns with a tie-stall system). However, in the case of higher levels of technological development, based on milking parlors (in barns with a free-stall and loose housing system), the situation is the opposite—cows come to the milker and specifically to human-operated milking stalls.

Milking technologies using different milking technical solutions can be considered from the perspective of cow welfare. In barns with a tie-stall housing system, a lower level of cattle welfare is achieved, resulting from limited freedom of movement and being tied to one place in the barn [33]. Such inconvenience can be contrasted with the fact that cows do not have to go to the milking place in the barn and wait for milking together with other animals. The movement of cows in the barn, regardless of the distance covered, is always in contact with the ground. The issue is how the floor and its quality can pose a risk to hoof health and reduce animal welfare [34,35]. Poorly designed and maintained barn floors can cause slipping of hooves. Unsteady walking resulting from slipping can be a source of stress and discomfort for dairy cattle.

Many criteria are taken into account when assessing milking technology using a milking parlor. These are the criteria taken into account at the stage of selecting a milking parlor for a farm, including the model of the milking parlor, the number of milking stalls, their layout and supporting equipment. The time for milking and the final specific direct costs are the main parameters that enable the evaluation and choice of a suitable milking parlor for the dairy farm. The calculation for the verification of this method and these criteria shows that by optimizing the milking parlor and increasing the capacity of the farm it is possible to reduce the final specific direct costs of milking per cow and year by 30 or 40% [36,37,38].

With certain modifications, modeling can be used to optimize operational and technological parameters of special mobile milking parlors [39] as well as to design and evaluate milking equipment on goat dairy farms [40].

Design solutions and operating conditions corresponding to animal welfare requirements should be met in all types of milking equipment as well as in adjacent areas, and therefore, these requirements and factors need to be dealt with in detail.

It seems obvious that the design of the milking parlor should include properly sized stalls, easy entry to the milking stalls and a non-slip floor, which determine the comfort of cows in the milking area. The only problem is that the design of the milking parlor and its components on individual farms should comply with the recommendations [41,42], ensuring the safety of animals in contact with the technical equipment in the facility.

The specific operation of the milking parlor takes into account the need to take the cows to milking from the barn or another place. In this case, the specificity of milking management is also created by the collecting yard for cows. When assessing the milking and handling of cows in the milking parlor combined with the collecting yard, the number of working people, their efficiency and working conditions play an important role. This assessment is supported by the results of studies covering the key participants in milking, i.e., cows. Basically, it could be said that cows do not spend much time in the collecting yard before milking, so the problem of staying in the collecting yard and waiting for milking is not important, at least from the point of view of animal welfare. This thesis is contradicted by the research undertaken and its detailed scope and results. The scope of the research includes assessing the length of time cows spend in the collecting yard and what this length of time depends on. The issue of factors that determine the time cows spend in the collecting yard can be addressed. In our study [43], we confirmed that the length of time cows wait for milking may depend on herd management practices. In this study, herd management involved bringing groups of 12, 24 and 36 cows to the collecting yard, taking into account that the milking parlor (side-by-side model) had 12 milking stalls. Bringing the largest group of cows to the collecting yard resulted in a more than 2.5-fold increase in the waiting time for the milking of the last group (12 cows) compared to bringing only 12 cows to the milking parlor. Extended waiting times may result in animal discomfort, which translates into their welfare. One more observation from this study deserves attention. When the number of cows taken to the collecting yard increased, the area per animal waiting for milking decreased significantly. A higher density of animals in a given area (in the collecting yard) may be a source of stress, which should be avoided before milking. Additionally, cows are crowded for longer periods of time, which may limit their freedom to express natural behavior. The evaluation of technology using a milking parlor compares greater human efficiency (when a larger group of cows is taken to the collecting yard) with a possible reduction in the comfort of cows waiting in a larger group for milking. The size of the available space (per animal) in the collecting yard and the resulting agonistic behavior and interactions of dairy cows were also pointed out by Irrgang et al. [44]. Limited possibilities for normal behavior of cows in the collecting yard were indicated in the case of long waiting times to enter the milking parlor [45]; in this study, cow welfare was found to be particularly poor in the possibly stressful collecting yard. In studies raising the problem of uncomfortable conditions in the collecting yard, including the area per cow, the issue of linking the density (crowding) of cows in the collecting yard with the efficiency of the milking parlor is considered [46].

The waiting time for milking is critically assessed not only in milking technology using milking parlors but also in milking robots [47]. Taking into account time in the assessment of milking technology using AMS (automatic milking system), the essence is the structure of time and its losses [48], which determine the effectiveness of using the milking robot. However, time in relation to cows milked with AMS may determine the assessment of their comfort resulting from having to wait for milking; this waiting time of individual cows for milking may be the result of the hierarchy of animals in the herd [49] and other factors.

Automatic milking systems (AMS) have made a significant contribution to improving cow milking technology. The inspiration to develop the design of a milking robot was to reduce the human workload in existing milking methods [50]. Hence, in the initial period of implementation of milking technology using AMS, the assessment of human work time savings dominated [51]. Nowadays, the implementation of milking robots is also identified in terms of the adaptation of labor-saving technologies, using equilibrium models that take into account the size of farms, or rather the size of herds of dairy cows [52]. The design stage of the milking robot in the 1970s was guided by the idea of replacing manual human work with the mechanism that puts teat cups on teats. The efficiency and accuracy of this task were the main goals of the design work on the construction of an automatic milking system (AMS) [53]. The initial design attempts to construct a milking robot were not easy for cows and their welfare. The cows were exposed to stress due to various ideas for automatically attaching teat cups to their teats. These ideas, implemented in the form of patents, included the use of a bowl covering the udder instead of four teat cups, and the use of airbags to restrict the movement of cows during automatic attachment of the teat cups [50]. Achieving technological progress was therefore associated with anti-progress in cow welfare. It resulted from the imperfections of the tools available at that time for automating tasks in production processes involving cows [54]. The key factor in overcoming barriers to the development of automatic milking technology was the use of various groups of sensors and other monitoring devices [55]. By incorporating sensors into milking technology, it has become possible to more accurately monitor the behavior of cows and their stay in the milking robot. When assessing the technology of milking cows with a robot, the benefits resulting from the inclusion of sensors in the milking process became crucial. It was possible to reduce the percentage of unmilked cows [56], improve the identification of mastitis cases [57], or improve the cow traffic system in order to better use the potential efficiency of the milking robot [58]. These are important arguments in the evaluation of robot milking technology, and the benefits of using sensors in AMS also concern cows and their welfare [59]. For example, as a result of using the quarter milking system in AMS, operated by a set of sensors, more precise emptying of the udder of milk is achieved. This principle of operation is not without impact on the health of cows [60]. Sophisticated features incorporated into the operation of a milking robot can help cows achieve freedom from discomfort during milking.

Sensors play an important role in the operation of the milking robot. They are used to identify cows coming for milking. However, sensors are also used in other areas, including feeding systems and cow behavior monitoring, which identifies the occurrence of heat, lameness and lying time. Sensors provide important support in herd management [61], including the use of sensors to collect and manage knowledge about animal health [62]. The purpose of implementing the herd management system was to help people process large data sets and make decisions regarding individual animals in the herd. The objectives of implementing a herd management system are also considered when taking into account the benefits for cows and their welfare. Based on research on 22 dairy farms, Bowell et al. [63] indicated that the quality of housing and the management system may affect the welfare of cows. Sensors support the herd management system and at the same time can be an element of technology for assessing the welfare of dairy cattle [64].

The comfort and welfare of dairy cows are important arguments when comparing different milking technologies. Such comparisons are made to show the differences between conventional and automatic cow milking systems and to indicate more beneficial solutions in given farming conditions. These differences concern work efficiency, including the number of cows milked by a person per hour and the amount of milk milked per hour [65,66]. Differences also include energy and water consumption per liter of milk obtained [67,68]. The basis for comparison of conventional and automatic milking technologies is also technical efficiency indicators [69], milk quality [70,71], milk yield of cows [72], udder health [73] and functional aspects of using milking systems [74].

What does the comparison of conventional and automatic milking technologies involve in terms of the welfare of dairy cows? In the study of Hopster et al. [75], the behavioral and physiological responses of milked cows were taken into account; it was concluded that as long as the welfare of cows is concerned, conventional and automatic milking systems are equally acceptable. In our own study [76] in a farm with a milking parlor, the number of cows that had to be forced to stand up from a lying position before going to the milking parlor was studied; it was pointed out that forcing cows to stand up can be considered in terms of welfare, and this is an argument for equipping farms with milking robots, where cows have the freedom to get up and go to the milking stall.

Taking into account other aspects of cows’ welfare resulting from contact with humans, after the transformation from a conventional to an automatic milking system, cows were less fearful around people and showed fewer stress reactions in response to close handling [77]. Various aspects of the assessment of milking technology using conventional and automatic methods are part of the considerations for the profitability of dairy farms [78,79]. In these considerations related to technological changes in dairy farming, a change in the role of the stockperson is indicated [80]. However, it also seems important to emphasize the role of cow welfare in the assessment of technological changes in cow milking and dairy management.

If technological changes in milking are considered in connection with the welfare of cows, the issue of milking on a pasture remains important. The development of milking technology on the pasture, and especially the use of AMS for milking cows combined with access to grassland, is an inspiration for assessing animal welfare. Comparing different options for access of robot-milked cows to the pasture, Ketelaar-de Lauwere et al. [81] found that grazing appears to be beneficial to cow welfare. Cows milked with an automatic milking system in a pasture may experience longer milking intervals compared to cows milked with an AMS indoors. Milking intervals longer than 16 h have a negative impact on milk yield and udder health [82]. The health of cows has an impact on their welfare. Technology with access to the pasture of cows milked by a robot translates into the need for animals to walk longer distances. Longer distances to pasture may lead to reduced milk yield, milking frequency and grazing time for cows milked with AMS [83]. Especially this last aspect can be considered in terms of cow welfare. The implementation of technology on the farm that combines robotic milking with cows’ access to grazing promotes animals’ contact with the natural environment while also providing benefits to humans who save labor on milking. Not only farm owners with milking robots may be determined to combine the benefits. On some farms, especially smaller dairy farms, farmers come to the pasture in mobile milking parlors [39]. It is the milking parlor that comes to the cows (Figure 3), not the cows that come to the milking parlor. This approach is an example of the search for rational solutions in milking technology, where the welfare of cows is of key importance.

The technology of milking cows on a pasture is part of a broader context of considerations that seek answers to the question: is the welfare of dairy cows better in pasture-based than in confinement-based management systems? [84]. Research by Armbrecht et al. [85] showed that access to pasture had a positive impact only on selected welfare indicators; in a study conducted on a group of 61 farms, it was indicated that a negative aspect of access to pasture may be the assessment of the human–animal relationship, emphasizing the importance of improving animal handling; achieving full welfare of dairy cattle on pasture may be disturbed by limited access to shade and/or cooling systems, as well as well-prepared passageways to pasture. Leso et al. [86] pointed out that access to pasture is difficult to implement in the case of confinement-based operations with high-yielding cows; however, a positive effect of access to pasture was noticed for cows in the dry period. Cows are highly motivated to have access to pasture and alternative forms of outdoor access [87]. The implementation of technological solutions with access to the area outside the barn contributes to meeting the welfare requirements of cows.

7. Housing Systems and Other Technological Aspects

Dairy cattle housing technologies are the clearest example of changes and differences in the approach to the development of dairy production on farms. When assessing the housing of cows in a tie-stall system and a free-stall system, as well as the keeping of cows in a barn and on a pasture, animal welfare aspects dominate. The key to many considerations regarding the future of dairy cattle housing systems is the perspective of animal welfare [88]. Many considerations related to the assessment of various dairy cattle housing technologies focus on comparisons of their advantages and disadvantages affecting animal welfare [89]. In the study by Popescu et al. [90], taking into account the Welfare Quality guidelines, significant differences were pointed out between the tie-stall and free-stall housing systems for dairy cows: the free-stall housing system is better for cattle in terms of feeding, housing conditions, and the expression of natural behaviors. The opportunities created for cows to express natural behavior in barns with a free-stall housing system allow for easier recognition of cows in heat and, as a result, timely insemination [91]. Moreover, housing in a free-stall system encourages cows to express natural behavior in various areas of the barn. For example, in the lying area, a free-stall housing system allows cows to express preferences for different-quality lying surfaces [92]. In our own research [93,94], it was shown that cows can express preferences for the location of the lying stalls in the pen.

A characteristic feature of dairy cattle housing technologies is their improvement in terms of technical equipment and approach to the organization of animal handling. The factors motivating this improvement are primarily the comfort and welfare of animals. Improvement aimed at the welfare of dairy cattle applies not only to the free-stall housing system but also to the tie-stall system. Even the tie-stall system, although considered less beneficial for cattle compared to the free-stall system, is subject to the search for rational solutions that can improve the welfare of cows. Palacio et al. [95] indicated on the basis of research that minor modifications of stalls and outdoor access can improve the welfare of dairy cows in a tie-stall system. Other studies have addressed the issue of making the tie-stall system more comfortable for cows by providing additional lateral space in the stalls [96], extending the bedding part of the stall and reducing the height of the feed manger wall [97], or increasing the depth of the shavings and straw bedding [98]. Animal welfare and its improvement, also in free-stall housing systems, are the basis for assessing the links with the productivity and profitability of dairy farms [99].

The assessment of individual technological solutions for housing cows and other groups of dairy cattle is dominated by various aspects of animal welfare that translate into benefits from dairy production. The benefits of dairy production can also be considered in terms of a balance that puts animal comfort and welfare on one side and human labor input on the other. These workloads are part of the assessment of the dairy cattle housing system and the comparison of various technological solutions [100], taking into account aspects of mechanization of animal production [101].

In order to reduce human workload and at the same time ensure high accuracy of animal handling, the idea of precise dairy technologies has been developed in practice. These technologies are a kind of bridge between the goals of animals and the people who support them. The idea of precision dairy technologies comes from the approach represented by precision livestock farming (PLF), and its application is increasingly associated with animal welfare [102]. When assessing this type of technology, questions are asked, including questions about threats to animal welfare [103]. Issues of limitations and pitfalls in the development and application of PLF are raised, for example, in the field of precise animal feeding techniques [104]. Another line of consideration when assessing precision livestock farming is whether PLF can be treated as a compromise for sustainable production in environmental, economic and social terms [105]. An important opportunity opens up the integration of technology with systems for precision animal agriculture, including dairy farming [106]. This particularly applies to dairy farms with larger herds of dairy cows [107]. When it comes to the size of production on a dairy farm, it is important to link this feature (farm size) with animal welfare [108]. Another feature associated with the size of the farm, i.e., the intensity of the animal production system, is a factor related to welfare management in the assessment of PLF technology [109].

Classic dairy production technologies combined with the welfare of dairy cattle are an excellent area for using the potential of intelligent technologies [110]. Intelligent technologies are an important tool in creating a bridge between production technologies in dairy farms and animal welfare [111]. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things, as well as real-time monitoring allow for the identification of animal health threats, symptoms of stress, and nutritional deficiencies, which translates into a more accurate assessment of the welfare of dairy cattle and reduces the risk of its degradation [112]. Artificial intelligence tools are incorporated into the operation of technical devices (feeding robots, milking robots) that are an integral part of dairy production technology, which allows for more accurate handling of cows and is important from the point of view of their welfare. Selected artificial intelligence tools are used to monitor environmental conditions (temperature, humidity and air quality) [113], which are not without impact on the welfare of animals. The welfare of dairy cattle can be a factor in integrating production technologies in dairy farms with intelligent technologies. The two categories of technologies can complement each other and help animals achieve well-being, taking into account, of course, the participation of farmers who decide on the selection of appropriate technologies [114] and the dissemination/adoption of modern technologies on dairy farms [115].

A practical application of information technology in dairy cattle production is equipping animals with devices that monitor their behavior. Installing pedometers on cows allows for the automatic measurement of lying behavior, and as a result, monitoring of the comfort and welfare of animals [116]. The valuable role of the pedometer was also confirmed in studies of cows on pasture. Equipping cows with pedometers revealed that they walked further in the pasture, which potentially had a positive effect on their physical health and psychological well-being [117]. Information technologies using sensors are also an important link in the electronic detection of health problems in dairy cattle, including lameness [118], which can be considered in terms of welfare.

If dairy production technologies are improved on the farm, what is the motivating factor for this improvement? Is it a reduction in human workload and investment costs, an increase in the technical efficiency of intensive technologies [119] or perhaps animal welfare? Answers to these issues can be found in specific examples of solutions implemented in barns. One of them is a rotating brush, which fulfills important tasks related to increasing the comfort of cows in the livestock building [120]. Brush use can be considered as an indicator of cow health or welfare [121]. The comfort achieved in the barn also extends to the comfort outside the barn, resulting from the cows’ access to pasture [117]. As a result, individual dairy production technologies, even if they do not bring savings in expenditure and even generate costs (as in the case of equipping with brushes), are implemented due to the comfort of animals, for example, resulting from contact with natural environmental conditions (in case of cows’ access to pasture). In our study, we indicated [122] that such comfort and welfare of cows may also be the result of contact with properly designed barns (taking into account areas intended for animals) and technically efficient equipment in livestock buildings. Important factors determining the housing conditions in the barn are an efficient system for removing manure and slurry [123], a floor safe for animals [124], as well as a system for maintaining microclimatic conditions [125], which translate into the welfare of cows.

The microclimatic conditions in the barn are shaped by temperature, humidity and concentration of harmful gases, which have an impact on the animals, their comfort and well-being. High temperatures can have a serious and negative effect on the milk yield of dairy cattle. Modern dairy farms usually have a large capacity, which requires a solution for the suitable housing and construction of buildings for all categories and groups of animals on these farms. Modern barns in countries with intensive dairy farming are most often uninsulated and equipped with natural ventilation. The intensity of ventilation is influenced by the temperature of the indoor and outdoor air temperature, the size, the location of the supply and exhaust openings for air exchange, and, last but not least, the size and direction of the wind [126,127].

Air cooling has led to significant progress in improving the thermal comfort of the lactating dairy cow [128]. Currently, air movement (fans), wetting (soaking) the cow’s body surface, high-pressure mist (evaporation) to cool the air in the cows’ environment, and facilities designed to minimize the transfer of solar radiation are used for heat abatement. New high-capacity barns used for lactating dairy cows usually allow for good ventilation and moisture removal from the barn, but they should also provide good protection for cows from excessive solar radiation and reduce the risk of heat stress. This is also related to the choice of a suitable position for the building and the height and construction of the roof [129].

The question remains of how many farms on a national or regional scale keep cows in a loose housing or free-stall system, in barns with modern technical equipment [130]. A high concentration of dairy cattle on a farm undoubtedly favors the implementation of modern technical and technological solutions in various areas of keeping cows and other groups of animals [131].

Farmers are responsible for maintaining dairy production technology on farms. The question remains as to whether farmers are open to an approach to technology in a broader context than just the implementation of tasks resulting from the specificity of dairy production on the farm. Who are farmers with an open vision of dairy production technology and what does this vision emphasize? To address this problem, Vigors et al. [132] developed the concept of the “good farmer” and formulated the question: what symbolizes a “good farmer” when it comes to farm animal welfare? It seems that technology is one of the key links between farmers and animal welfare. As Butler and Holloway [133] point out, technology can be a source of transformation in what it means to be a good dairy farmer, especially when the demands of the dairy production chain impact farmers when it comes to animal welfare. As a result of deeper considerations regarding the connections (through technology) between the farmer and cow welfare, Barkema et al. [134] addressed the issue of the importance of the farmer’s management style of dairy production technology. The management style was considered taking into account the identification of two groups of farmers described as “clean and accurate” and “quick and dirty”. The human factor and the approach to managing dairy technology on the farm translate into differences in the risk of threats to the health of cows and thus their welfare. Therefore, identifying the improvement of animal welfare includes not only their behavior but also their health, which are components of the assessment of dairy production technology on the farm.

Not only farmers can be responsible for implementing dairy production technology on farms. In many countries, the number of family farms is decreasing in favor of farms with large herds of cows, which is associated with the employment of workers [135]. Responsibility for animal care and their welfare is therefore assumed by a larger group of people. Research studies point out that when assessing the development of production technology on dairy farms, not only is animal welfare important but also the well-being of people. Therefore, these three pillars, i.e., technology, animals and people, are worth considering in studies on sustainable dairy production systems.

Dairy production technologies on farms are the subject of many studies, discussions and the search for rational solutions that help achieve production benefits. In developing the discussion on dairy farm technology, the use of animal welfare plays an important role [136].

8. Conclusions

Dairy production technologies on farms are constantly improving thanks to access to modern human-assisted technology. The effects of modern technology support on dairy farms also apply to animals. In the technologies of cow feeding, watering and housing, the priority is to improve the technology in terms of ensuring animals have the comfort of using feed, water and a place to rest. Comfort that translates into cattle welfare can be considered a motivating factor to implement technical progress, including the automation of cow feeding.

Automation of cow milking represents an approach to solving milking problems, where the key is to increase human comfort, with cow comfort being an additional factor justifying the implementation of technical progress.

Implementation of technological progress and improvement of the welfare of dairy cattle are equivalent factors motivating the introduction of changes related to animal husbandry.

Animal welfare can be a driving force for implementing modern techniques and improving dairy production technologies on farms. In this way, dairy production on the farm can become an area of harmonized development and sustainable achievement of goals related to facilitating human work and improving animal welfare.

Many directions of development of dairy production technology and, against this background, problems of improving the welfare of dairy cattle can be identified. In the area of cattle feeding and watering, it seems sensible in practice to implement machines and tractors using electric motors instead of combustion engines. In the area of milking, it is necessary to seek a balance in fulfilling the interests of man and cow. A practical solution is to introduce elements that automate milking and transfer useful information to the farmer, including vision systems.

The use of modern information technologies is one of the practical perspectives for the development of dairy production on farms. The interest of animals in this perspective comes down to achieving a high level of comfort and well-being. These features should apply to dairy cattle on every farm, but effective implementation of technological progress may be limited by the size of animal herds. Therefore, it is worth creating optimal sizes of dairy cow herds that will ensure sustainable milk production, taking into account the interests of animals, humans and the environment.