科技动态:让奶牛自己来决定挤奶时间!（在线收听）

A cow in the Netherlands leaving the milking machine, followed in straight away by another having decided itself it was time to be milked. Automatic milking is not new, but this is called the astronaut, its completely automatic system that allows the animal to decide when it wants to be milked. Much like a car wash, the cows' udders are cleaned and located precisely by laser bean before the machine connects. The manufacturer Lelly says the process removes the stress of waiting to be milked, allowing the cow to take control. Alice Verslus is their marketing manager.

生活在荷兰的奶牛抛弃了原来的挤奶机，马上换上了一种能够由它们决定什么时候挤奶的新机器。自动挤奶机并不新鲜，但这款“宇航员”挤奶机可以让奶牛来决定什么时候挤奶。它很像自动洗车台，利用激光束准确定位，先清洁奶牛的乳头，然后开始挤奶。工程师Lelly说，这种流程避免了奶牛等待挤奶时的焦虑情绪，允许奶牛自己控制。Alice Verslus是这种机器的市场经理。

That cow is a very dominant creature or cows can be very dominant creatures. So you can imagine if there are only two times a day that they can be milked, that there's always a lot of stress to be milked as the first one in the herds.

奶牛是有支配欲的生物，或者说奶牛是有支配欲的种群。因此你可以想象，如果奶牛一天要挤两次奶，它们总会为群体中谁第一个挤奶而承受巨大压力。

The astronaut also checks each animal while it's being milked, so the farmer knows each cow's condition.

这款“宇航员”挤奶机还会检查是否每只奶牛都挤过奶了，这样主人就能知道每只奶牛的情况。

What is crucial for a proper robotic milking management is that you know that the cows are healthy. So it's far more important to have a good, fit, balanced feed management and really spends the time in the herds.

对于一个合理的自动挤奶系统来说最重要的就是保持奶牛的健康情况。因此，优质，维持健康平衡的喂养方法和保证奶牛有时间和同伴待在一起就尤为重要。

The system can be set to alter each animal's feed allocation, depending on productivity and the farmer gets to sleep in.

这套系统可以根据牲畜的产出量来控制喂养情况，不过有时也要看它们的主人睡得怎么样。

Stuart Macdill, Reuters

Stuart Macdill报道，路透社消息。

straight away 马上，即刻