The weather has become increasingly unpredictable in recent years; periods of drought or flood; rare sweltering summers, and occasional unprecedented blistering cold snaps. Read Darren Mayard’s advice on routines and equipment you can use to fight the freeze.

This November, colleagues and I travelled to the headquarters of GEA Germany to experience a full week of Monobox training. We were shown the intricacies of automated milking precision and performance, and gained a greater understanding of how robots could be the future of milking cows.