Four milking robots take care of the daily milking of Arto Kopola's 200 cows in Kärsämäki. "The ministry will harm the industry in a big way if it disallows the robots", Kopola protests. There have been suggestions in the Ministry of Agriculture that investment grants for such robots - which Kopola believes are essential to encourage young farmers into the branch - will be cut back. At present around 400 of Finland's 13,000 dairy farms use such technology to ease the work. With the likely disappearance of baby-boomer farmers in the next decade, it is very important to coax in a new generation.
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