Livestock
Technologies to improve efficiency, profitability and sustainability Lely, which has been at the forefront of farm innovation since 1948, offers a run-down of some of its key solutions and the improvements they can generate on farm Astronaut
Lely Discovery range
Lely Juno
Lely believes that to meet a cow’s basic needs, she requires free access to milking and choice of when she can be milked. Lely milking robots can be installed to work in any farming system. The Lely Grazeway allows the Astronaut to function with grazing systems. On exiting the robot, each cow is channelled through an A, B or C gateway, providing her with fresh grass three times in 24 hours. The most noticeable benefit for farmers who have installed a Lely Astronaut is the complete flexibility and the reduced labour that the system creates. As farmers are no longer tied to set milking times in keeping with the cows’ routine, the cows each make their own routine. The Astronaut also leads to healthier cows, Lely says. Through the Astronaut’s Milk Quality Control Unit, the milk quality of each cow is checked at each milking. Any cow with an irregularity in SCC is flagged on a daily health report, allowing the farmer to intervene early, improving welfare, preventing illness, and saving money. The company believes working with Lely can ensure your farm is future-proofed through the use of cutting-edge technology, benefiting your herd and your pocket.
The Lely Discovery keeps sheds, cubicles and cows clean. First introduced in 2005, it has been improved over the years. Both, Discovery 90 SW and Discovery 120 spray water during cleaning. Discovery 90S scrapes slurry on slatted floors, while the Discovery 120 is designed for solid concrete surfaces and collects muck as it travels, and empties its tank in the designated area. The Discovery is powered by a rechargeable battery, with the charge point acting as a base for the robot. At installation, the routes are plotted around the shed and each route can be travelled multiple times a day as desired by the farmer, to ensure optimum cleanliness. The machine is controlled by an easy-to-use app on your phone. By keeping floors cleaner, cows have a surer footing and express natural behaviours, such as heats, more readily. Not only this, but clean, dry hooves, tails and udders lead to less hoof and lameness problems and helps better control mastitis, Lely says. The Discovery can also reach places where chain scrapers or manual scraping cannot. When replacing manual scraping, it massively reduces labour and increases cow welfare by keeping their environment cleaner, leading to happier cows and farmers, the company adds.
Ensuring fresh feed is always in front of cows is crucial for improving welfare and dry matter intakes. The Lely Juno (pictured) takes the time and labour out of pushing up feed. It is an automated feed pusher that travels along the feed passage, quietly pushing in feed as it goes without interrupting any cows that are eating. The benefits of more frequent push up are manifold. Feed is kept fresher for longer, as it minimises the scattering caused by cows sorting. The surfaces of the feed particles are not exposed to as much air when kept in a neat, tidy pile. This reduces spoilage and keeps palatability at optimum levels for the herd. With more frequent push up, there is less of a stampede for food, as is often the case when feed is only pushed a few times a day. As the cows get used to the Juno, the reassurance that fresh tasty feed will always be available reduces stress and increases cow traffic to the barrier. It also helps the less dominant cows, as they will not be pushed away by stronger cows at a crowded feed barrier. With good feed always available, they can access high quality feed regardless of when they approach the barrier. This helps boost production levels across the herd.
Lely Vector With over 1,000 units sold since its introduction just over 10 years ago, the Lely Vector has become an essential tool on many farms globally. The Vector is an automated feeding system that selects feed, mixes it, and delivers it to the herd consistently. The Vector collects feed from a designated feed kitchen using the feed grabber. The ration is then mixed, and the Vector dispenses the feed along a set route. As it does so, it assesses the amount of feed already at the feed barrier, and feeds accordingly. While travelling through the shed, it also pushes up any feed already present to reduce wastage. Coupled with reports from its new and upcoming management system, Horizon, the farmer knows how much is being fed per day, the cost per day, and daily intakes. Cattle fed by a Vector are more content due to the increased frequency of feeding. The fact that fresh food is present more often helps to increase intakes and production. Farmers can access their data via an app and adjust the number of animals in a feed group easily. This means that the amount of feed given to a group is always accurate, the company explains. Farmers who have installed a Lely Vector have more time themselves to focus on other areas of stockmanship. The system reduces their fuel costs and the amount of time spent feeding cattle.
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Contact local Lely centres for more information via: www.lely.com/ gb/your-lely-center FG
98 www.farmersguide.co.uk February 2022
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25/01/2022 10:42
Dairy
