Listen: Robotic milking systems 'not to blame' for Mycoplasma bovis

A cow in a Voluntary Milking System (VMS) or "milking robot". Photo / Supplied

Claims New Zealand's Mycoplasma bovis outbreak could have come from robotic systems are extremely concerning to Grant Vickers.

DeLaval's voluntary milking systems expert spoke today to The Country Early Edition's Craig Cumming, saying the company was "quite bothered" by these allegations.

Vickers said he was closely associated to the Van Leeuwen family at the centre of the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak as he had robotic products at one of their farms.

DeLaval's voluntary milking systems expert Grant Vickers (right) is concerned with claims linking robotic milking systems to the recent Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. Photo / Supplied

"Internationally there is no evidence at all to suggest that housed or robotic cows are any more predisposed to getting infected than cows grazed on pasture."

Also in today's interview, Grant explains where New Zealand sits internationally when it comes to using robotic milking systems.

Listen below: