PBS高端访谈:机器人如何帮助陷入困境的奶农？（在线收听）

President Biden held a virtual meeting with farmers today to discuss strategies to increase competition and combat rising prices for meat.

拜登总统今天与农民举行了一次虚拟会议，讨论增加竞争和遏制肉类价格上涨的策略。

With bigger farms taking over a larger share of the market overall, many smaller dairy farms are also at a crossroads, where they have to adapt or call it quits.

随着规模较大的奶牛场在整体市场上占据了更大的份额，许多规模较小的奶牛场也处于十字路口，要么适应，要么退出。

From Milwaukee PBS and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Rick Barrett investigates how some of the smaller farms in central Wisconsin are turning to technology to survive.

来自密尔沃基公共广播公司和密尔沃基哨兵杂志的瑞克·巴雷特调查了威斯康辛州中部的一些小型农场是如何依靠技术生存的。

Dennis and Suzie Roehl are third-generation dairy farmers in Clark County, Wisconsin.

丹尼斯和苏西·罗尔是威斯康辛州克拉克县的第三代奶农。

Like many others, they have gone through tough economic times.

和其他许多国家一样，他们也经历了经济困难时期。

I think our biggest challenge on the farm other than financial is hired help.

我认为我们农场面临的最大挑战，除了财务方面的，就是雇人帮忙。

It's getting people here. It's really tough.

让人们来到这里。 真的很艰难。

And they worry whether their children will be able to or even want to take over the farm.

他们担心自己的孩子是否能够甚至想要接管农场。

It's a hard job. It's a lot of hours. It's a lot of work, but there's payoff to it.

这是一项艰巨的工作。 要花很多时间。 这需要做很多工作，但也有回报。

So, I think it's -- we have to adapt to the changes.

所以，我认为——我们必须适应这些变化。

Kristyn Nigon is the daughter of a farmer who's trying to bring changes to the family farm.

克里斯滕·尼宫是一个农民的女儿，她试图给家庭农场带来改变。

After studying dairy science in college, she quit an office job and returned home to help her father run the dairy operation, including milking 72 cows.

在大学学习乳制品科学之后，她辞掉了一份办公室工作，回到家里帮助父亲经营牛奶场，包括为72头奶牛挤奶。

He's willing to change with the times.

他愿意与时俱进。

He wants to try new things and is smart about it too.

他想尝试新事物，在这方面也很聪明。

And he does listen to his kids, so that helps.

他确实听孩子的话，所以这很有帮助。

He has a very open mind, which is not easy for a lot of farmers, especially older farmers, to open up and let their kids come back and teach them something different.

他的思想很开放，这对很多农民来说并不容易，尤其是年长的农民，让他们的孩子回来教他们一些不同的东西。

One thing different is a robotic feeder that was installed two years ago, at a cost of $21,000.

与此不同的是，两年前安装了一个机器人喂食器，成本为2.1万美元。

It's pushing the feed up to them so they can reach it.

机器人把饲料推给奶牛，这样它们就可以够到了。

And he can run 24 hours.

而且他可以24小时运行。

Twenty-four hours a day, every two hours, yes, pushes the feed up to the cows. It's a big labor saver.

一天二十四小时，每两小时，对，把饲料推给牛。 这节省了大量的劳动力。

Robots are gaining ground in dairy farming.

机器人在奶牛场越来越受欢迎。

In addition to robotic feeders, there are also robotic milkers.

除了机器人喂食器，还有机器人挤奶器。

I have been doing it forever, but I still learn things every day.

我一直都在做这件事，但我仍然每天都在学习。

At his farm in Clark County, Max Malm has installed two robotic milkers for his 350 dairy cows.

马克斯·马尔姆在克拉克县的农场里为他的350头奶牛安装了两台挤奶机器人。

Cows have to be milked every single day.

奶牛每天都要挤奶。

So, we looked at expanding, and you could hire people to milk, or you can choose robots.

所以，我们考虑扩张，你可以雇人挤奶，或者你可以选择机器人。

And how much would it cost for someone who would like to put in robots？

如果有人想把机器人装进去，要花多少钱?

They're anywhere from $200,000 to $250,000 per robot.

每个机器人的价格在20万到25万美元之间。

And then you have to build the barn around it.

然后你得在机器人周围建个谷仓。

You're looking at, for a two-robot barn, easily a million dollars.

一个两个机器人的谷仓，很容易就能卖到一百万美元。

The Malms are part of about 1 percent of America's 31,000 dairy farms that use robotic milkers to help cut labor costs.

美国有31000家奶牛场使用机器人挤奶，以帮助降低劳动力成本，马尔姆一家是其中的1%。

While farmers have little say in milk prices, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says robots can provide up to nearly 30 percent cost savings in milking cows.

虽然农民在牛奶价格上几乎没有发言权，但美国农业部表示，机器人在挤牛奶方面可以节省近30%的成本。

And spending less time in the barn allows farmers to focus on other sources of income, like raising beef, alternative crops, even jobs off the farm, ultimately helping them remain profitable.

而且，在谷仓里花的时间越少，农民就能把精力集中在其他收入来源上，比如养牛、种植替代作物，甚至在农场以外找工作，最终帮助他们保持盈利。

Global futurist Jack Uldrich agrees that dairy farmers have to invest in new ways of thinking, including technology.

全球未来学家杰克·乌德里奇同意，奶农必须投资于包括技术在内的新思维方式。

There are going to be manless tractors.

将会有无人驾驶的拖拉机。

There are going to be satellites looking down on your individual farm fields, identifying which crops are growing, which ones aren't,

将会有卫星俯视你的农田，识别出哪些作物在生长，哪些没有，

and you are going to be able to apply the exact amount of water, the exact amount of pesticide, herbicide, whatever you need on it.

然后你就可以施用精确量的水，精确量的杀虫剂，除草剂，任何你需要的东西。

Back at the Roehl farm, Dennis and Suzie decided it was time to install robotic milkers for their 500 cows.

回到罗尔农场，丹尼斯和苏西决定是时候为他们的500头奶牛安装自动挤奶机了。

I do think farming is going to continue, but I do think we have to change for our children to want to continue.

我认为农业将继续发展，但我认为我们必须做出改变，让我们的孩子想要继续发展。

The Roehls' robots will be up and running in early 2022.

罗尔夫妇的机器人将于2022年初启动并运行。

Using this type of technology is the leap some dairy farmers will have to make to remain profitable and encourage the next generation to stay on.

使用这种技术是一些奶农为了保持盈利和鼓励下一代奶农留下来所必须实现的飞跃。

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Rick Barrett in Clark County, Wisconsin.

这里是PBS新闻一小时，我是里克·巴雷特，威斯康星州克拉克县报道。

So glad to have this look at American farming.

很高兴看到这样的美国农业报道。