Lely Tour de Suisse

In Switzerland, Lely customers opened their doors to fellow dairy farmers, both conventional farmers and farmers who use milking robots, to explore the added value of automation. The two-day tours featured stops at various farms around the country. Attendees had the opportunity to hear from farmers who have converted their operations and to learn about different regions and their agricultural practices, traditions and cuisine. The technical programme included presentations of the Lely Astronaut, Lely Vector and Lely Collector 120 and their benefits. In addition to seeing Lely’s innovative solutions in actions, attendees were able to connect with one another and gain new inspiration.

Mobile milking robot 

The Samsom family from Wilnis in the Netherlands runs an organic dairy farm with 115 cows. For years they have been managing nature and birds on their 50 acre property. Simon Samsom is in a partnership with his parents Joost and Liesbeth. The family decided to combine automatic milking with maximum grazing. However, half of their pasture is on the other side of a busy road. 'The cows would have to cross the road all day and a tunnel was not an option either. Then we came up with the idea of a mobile milking robot', explains Simon. The result? Two robot stations, equipped with water, power, internet and sewage drainage. This allows the Samsoms to move the milking robots to both sides of the road, maximising their use of both plots. Watch the video to see how this works.

Designed with a focus 
on animal welfare

 In the summer of 2020, Ahlvik Gård, a dairy farm based at Esse in Finland, installed a state-of-the-art, free-range cattle barn. Cow welfare was the focus of the barn’s design. At the same time, the farm introduced automatic milking using two Lely Astronaut A5 milking robots. In the autumn of 2021, a third A5 robot was added. Owner Jeremias Ahlvik: 'The milking robots help us increase the welfare of our cows, which is very important to us.' Also the farm’s milk production is first class, in terms of both quantity and quality. In Lely they found a reliable partner for the future. Read the Ahlvik’s story here. 

Jan Arie on Vectour   

Dairy farmer and presenter Jan Arie Koorevaar has been on tour. He was asked to interview seven colleagues about their experiences with the Lely Vector feeding robot. How easy is it to implement the robot in an existing operation? What kind of investment is needed? And perhaps most important: how does the famer benefit from automatic feeding? Jan Arie asked all those questions, and more, and came to a conclusion. Watch the compilation video of Jan Arie’s tour here.

Lely Park Campus Pella 

In Pella, Iowa, the new Lely Park Campus began to take shape. A year after the initial groundbreaking, the 9250 m2 facility neared completion towards the end of 2021. The new and much larger manufacturing space adds the ability to expand the North American production activities from the Lely Astronaut milking robot and Lely Luna cow brush to additional products in our portfolio. The modern, spacious and bright offices provide a comfortable working environment for employees. And a state-of-the-art training facility will support Lely’s employees and distribution partners in our mission to grow the adoption of automation throughout the United States and Canada. The Lely Park Campus is designed to meet our needs today and into the future, is LEED certified and features a prairie restoration site with more than 40 native plants. The campus officially opened its doors in March of 2022.

On top of the world

On a mountain in Italy, at 2,200 metres above sea level, we find the farm of our ‘highest’ European customer. Here in Livigno, farmer Filippo operates an Astronaut milking robot and Nautilus milk refrigerator for his sixty cows. How do our robots and cows function at such a high altitude? Filippo tells all about it in the video.

Dairy Farmers Lunch 

From July through October 2021, conventional dairy farmers from all over Germany joined the Dairy Farmers Lunch events. This event series aims to remove any perceived barriers to the adoption of automation in dairy farming by facilitating open discussions with farmers. While organised by Lely Centres and partner companies, we opted for a neutral name and branding to reflect the informational nature of the gatherings. The event’s theme ‘A healthy herd’ was centred around the role of automation in cow health and in achieving a profitable business. The attending farmers were able to learn more about the potential of automation, address their concerns and ask questions. The event provided a valuable opportunity to connect with farmers, learn about their concerns and share our expertise.

1000^th Lely Astronaut in Japan

Since 1997, Lely and partner CornesAG have worked together in distributing our milking robot in Japan. In 2021, the 1000^th Lely Astronaut milking robot was installed. The proud owner of Japan’s 1000th Astronaut is Okasoto Farm in Iwate Prefecture. To celebrate this milestone, Lely surprised them with a unique gift. 

Lely certified - Animal Welfare Friend Company Program

Lely is the first company in Brazil to be certified by The Animal Welfare Friend Company Program, which was developed by Integral Certificações, an authority in the Brazilian dairy sector. Their objective is to strengthen the dairy production ecosystem, to add value to products and to open up new markets. With this program they also aim to create a positive environment in which companies strive to ensure animal welfare in every step of the production process. 

Lely entered the Agricultural Utilities segment of the program with the Lely Astronaut A5, Juno, Luna and Calm. All of which met the required technical criteria.