Milking Automation Market by Offering (Hardware, Software, Services), Farm Size (Small, Medium, Large, Industrial), Livestock (Dairy Cattle, Sheep, Goat), End Use, Application, and Region - Global Forecast to 2030

The global market for milking automation is estimated to be USD 2.61 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 3.68 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 7.1% during the forecast period. Global dairy producers are wrestling with labor shortages and rising labor costs in Western Europe, North America, Oceania, and parts of East Asia. Automation lowers reliance on skilled milking labor while allowing manufacturers to predict throughput and increase daily operational windows. Second, herd consolidation drives the average cows-per-farm higher, particularly in developed markets, and helps justify a modular automated system investment. Quality and compliance needs—somatic cell count levels, residue testing, traceability—lead farms to invest in systems that help standardize procedures and generate high-granularity data. Along with these stronger needs, there are softer needs that still drive adoption of automated systems: increased cow comfort, flexible timing for robotic systems, and data-based herd management models for the younger farm operator generation.

“The dairy cattle livestock segment is projected to register a significant CAGR during the forecast period.”

Dairy cattle represent the majority of all installed milking automation across the globe, and they will continue to be the economic epicenter of the market through 2030. The production biology of the species (high daily yield, two to three daily milking schedules, all year calving schedule) makes a straightforward ROI case for automation that lowers labor intensity, provides consistent routines, and maintains high quality of milk at scale. Across farm sizes, the technology stack includes automatic milking parlors (parallel, herringbone, rapid-exit, and large rotaries), robotic milking systems (single- and multi-box), automatic cluster removal, inline sensors (conductivity, flow, blood/color, SCC/LDH), automated teat prep and spray, auto-ID and drafting, and an integrated herd management platform. More technically advanced adopters layer activity/rumination sensors, machine vision for teat/udder identification, and predictive maintenance linked to variable-speed vacuum and milk pumps.

“Industrial farm size is projected to grow at a significant CAGR in the farm size segment during the forecast period.”

The industrial farms segment (500+ cows) is projected to grow faster than any segment from 2025 to 2030. This is primarily due to the dairy industry’s growing consolidation trend, with small and mid-sized farms modernizing or being absorbed into larger farms. Industrial farms are operations that focus on operating at scale and efficiency and producing consistent output, which makes them the best candidates for fully automated milking systems, including robotic milking systems and large rotary automatic parlors. Industrial farms have a significant labor shortage, and coupled with high labor costs, installing these systems to automate milking will be a necessity and not an issue of efficiency. Additionally, industrial farms are likely to have access to better financing options and government subsidies for the adoption of advanced agricultural technologies than mid-sized/small farms, making the reduction in entry barriers for adoption of those systems far easier.

Alongside the technological advances of fully automated milking systems in industrial farms is the growing demand for data-driven herd management and traceability. When you have herd sizes above 500 cows, the task of manual management is simply impossible. However, technologies that combine milking automation with herd health management, milk quality management, and precision feeding can all provide added value. In addition, industrial farms are being pushed by regulators and retailers for higher animal welfare and milk hygiene, which is hoped will provide motivation for more investment in automation.

Asia Pacific is projected to account for growth at a notably high CAGR.

Milking automation is anticipated to grow most rapidly in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region between 2025 and 2030. APAC agriculture, particularly dairy, is rapidly transforming, with increasing demand for milk consumption in populous countries like China and India, rising disposable incomes, and many governments trying to modernize agriculture. APAC dairy farms have traditionally been fragmented and dependent on labor, but with structural changes, many farms are converting into large-scale, professionally managed dairy farms. This is creating a market for milking automation, especially as rural labor shortages become more prominent, and as farm owners understand the productive potential and welfare improvements that result from milking automation. Countries like China, which are investing heavily in mega-dairies exceeding 1,000 cows, will be at the forefront of robotic and rotary milking adoption.

In-depth interviews have been conducted with chief executive officers (CEOs), directors, and other executives from various key organizations operating in the milking automation market:

• By Company Type: Tier 1 - 25%, Tier 2 - 45%, and Tier 3 - 30%
• By Designation: CXOs - 20%, Managers - 50%, Executives - 30%
• By Region: North America - 25%, Europe - 30%, Asia Pacific - 20%, South America - 15%, and Rest of the World - 10%

Prominent companies in the market include DeLaval (Sweden), Afimilk Ltd. (Israel), GEA Group (Germany), Nedap N.V. (Netherlands), Allflex Livestock Intelligence (US), BouMatic (US), Waikato Milking Systems (New Zealand), Dairymaster (Ireland), and BECO Dairy Automation Inc. (US).

Other players include Milkplan (Greece), Lely (Netherlands), Fullwood JOZ (UK), AMS Galaxy USA (US), miRobot (Israel), MilkWell Milking Systems (UK), Connecterra B.V. (Netherlands), Prompt Dairy Tech (India), ADF Milking Ltd. (UK), Stellapps (India), Daviesway Pty Ltd. (Australia), and SAC Group (Denmark).

Research Coverage

This research report categorizes the milking automation market by Offering (hardware, software, services) end-use (commercial dairy farms, cooperative & contracted milking facilities, research and demonstration farms), livestock (dairy cattle, sheep, goat), farm size (small-scale farms, mid-sized farms, large farms, industrial-scale farms), application (milk extraction & yield monitoring, animal health & quality monitoring, automated cleaning and sanitation, farm data & decision support), and Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and Rest of the World). The scope of the report covers detailed information regarding the major factors, such as drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities, influencing the growth of the market. A thorough analysis of the key industry players has been done to provide insights into their business overview, services, key strategies, contracts, partnerships, agreements, new service launches, mergers and acquisitions, and recent developments associated with the milking automation market. This report covers a competitive analysis of upcoming startups in the milking automation market ecosystem. Industry-specific trends such as technology analysis, ecosystem and market mapping, patent analysis, and regulatory landscape, among others, are also covered in the study.

Reasons to buy this report

The report will help the market leaders/new entrants with information on the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall milking automation and the subsegments. This report will help stakeholders understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights to position their businesses better and plan suitable go-to-market strategies. The report also helps stakeholders understand the pulse of the market and provides them with information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities.

The report provides insights into the following pointers:

• Analysis of key drivers (rising adoption of automated milking equipment owing to increasing average herd size), restraints (high cost of milking automation solutions), opportunities (encountering global warming and environmental issues with automation), and challenges (risks associated with automated milking systems) influencing the growth of the milking automation market
• New Product Launch/Innovation: Detailed insights into research & development activities and new product launches in the milking automation market
• Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative markets–the report analyzes the milking automation across varied regions
• Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new services, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the milking automation market
• Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, growth strategies, product offerings, brand/product comparison, and product food prints of leading players such as DeLaval (Sweden), Afimilk Ltd. (Israel), GEA Group (Germany), Nedap N.V. (Netherlands), Allflex Livestock Intelligence (US), BouMatic (US), Waikato Milking Systems (New Zealand), Dairymaster (Ireland), and BECO Dairy Automation Inc. (US), and other players in the milking automation market

Show more