---
title: "35 Cows Live on a Floating Dairy Farm Staffed by Robots"
description: "For the last six months, a highly-automated dairy farm has been floating off the coast of the Netherlands, providing city slickers with fresh milk."
date: "2019-12-13"
modified: "2019-12-13"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski.md"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/floating-dairy-farm-cows-robots"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "climate change"
  - "farm"
  - "food"
  - "the digest"
---

# 35 Cows Live on a Floating Dairy Farm Staffed by Robots

![For the last six months, a highly-automated dairy farm has been floating off the coast of the Netherlands, providing city slickers with fresh milk.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/floating-dairy-farm-feed-citygoers-netherlands.jpg>)
*Floating Farm \<em\>Image: Floating Farm\</em\>*

## Milkworld

Off the coast of Rotterdam, Netherlands, a bizarre floating farm is providing locals with a fresh supply of milk.

The farm-boat-combo, created by an aptly-named company called Floating Farm, has been selling the milk of its 35 seafaring cows since May, *[CBC News ](<https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/floating-dairy-farm-1.5089424>)*[reports](<https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/floating-dairy-farm-1.5089424>). The mostly-automated operation is an undeniably weird bid to help make cities more self-sustaining — especially in the face of worsening climate change that threatens the area's infrastructure.

## Secret Cow Level

The farm is a three-story barge, according to *CBC*. The cows live on the top floor, but they can also wander ashore when the barge is docked — eating local grass clippings, potato peels, and beer broth, while supplying nearby fields with manure.

Meanwhile, the farm is maintained by a staff of two farmers and three classes of robots: milkers, feeders, and poop scoopers.

"The entire process is completely automated," CEO Peter van Wingerden told *CBC*. "What we are trying to do here is produce the highest yield of food with less people."

## RoboCow

Real question: why is it always cows that get subjected to this stuff?

First there were [cow FitBits](<https://futurism.com/ai-powered-cow-fitbits.md>), then ["5G-enabled" collars](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/5g-collars-cows-choose-milked.md>), and, most recently, [virtual reality headsets](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russian-farmers-vr-cows.md>) supposedly meant to make dairy cows happier and more productive.

It's great that farmers are trying to innovate — van Wingerden said he wants to expand to chickens and vegetables — but we hope the cows are happy.

**READ MORE:** [World's 1st floating dairy farm could help cities adapt to climate change](<https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/floating-dairy-farm-1.5089424>) \[*CBC News*\]

**More on dystopian dairy farms:** *[Russian Farmers Are Strapping VR Headsets to Dairy Cows](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russian-farmers-vr-cows.md>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)

## More

- [Russian Farmers Are Strapping VR Headsets to Dairy Cows](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russian-farmers-vr-cows.md>)
- [“Cow FitBits” Won’t Make Cows Happier Because They’re Not Milk Robots](<https://futurism.com/ai-powered-cow-fitbits.md>)
- [Leftover Milk Could be the Key Ingredient for Carbon Capture Tech](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/leftover-milk-key-ingredient-carbon-capture-tech.md>)
- [Scientists Tried to Gene Hack Cows to Survive Climate Change but the Cows Died](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-gene-hack-cows-survive-climate-change.md>)
- [Scientists Created Dairy-Free Ice Cream From GM Yeast](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/dairy-free-ice-cream-gm-yeast.md>)
- [Bill Gates Gives $12 Million to Flatulent Australian Cows](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/bill-gates-flatulent-australian-cows.md>)
- [Fake Meat Startup Shuts Down Without Selling a Single Fake Meat to a Restaurant or Grocery Store](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/fake-meat-startup-shuts-down-without-selling.md>)
- [Bill Gates Says Sorry the World Isn’t Going So Great](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/bill-gates-sorry-world-isnt-great.md>)