video corpo

Grazing and Automatic Milking Systems
44Pages

{{requestButtons}}

Catalog excerpts

Grazing and Automatic Milking Systems - 1

Grazing and Automatic Milking Systems Insights for better farming Farm Management January 2018

Open the catalog to page 1
Grazing and Automatic Milking Systems - 2

Grazing and automatic milking Rotational grazing Greg & Amy Gemmell – Manawatu, New Zealand Grass budgeting Wood chips Mussel shells Five tips for successful grazing with the Lely Astronaut automatic milking system Parking grids Ben Cameron – Waikato, New Zealand Lely Grazing tools Grazing strategies René Søndergaard – Bedsted, Denmark Wilfried Groot Koerkamp – Flevoland, Strip grazing A-B-C-(D) without housing Strip grazing Grazing and T4C Key Performance Indicators Rotational grazing Farm Management Support Automatic milking and grazing has proved to be successful on many dairy farms...

Open the catalog to page 2
Grazing and Automatic Milking Systems - 3

GRAZING AND AUTOMATIC MILKING Grazing and automatic milking Automatic milking and grazing has been proved to work successfully on many dairy units across the world. It does require a different approach compared to conventional automatic milking. And, as market leader in automated milking, Lely has years of practical experience and research results that, combined, allow the company to offer accurate management advice for successful automatic milking and grazing. A key element is to find a management style that suits each individual farm, producer goals and preferences, and environmental...

Open the catalog to page 3
Grazing and Automatic Milking Systems - 4

A solid foundation There is a fundamental shift in the daily routine when grazing with the Lely Astronaut automatic milking system. Unlike conventional milking systems, cows visit the Lely Astronaut individually and at a time when they choose. Less time is wasted standing in the collecting yard and pressure on their feet is reduced. Less time wasted waiting for milking also creates more time for resting, grazing and drinking and, ultimately, producing milk. Cow motivation The objective with automatic milking is to attract the cows to the milking robot on a regular basis. When cows are...

Open the catalog to page 4
Grazing and Automatic Milking Systems - 5

GRAZING AND AUTOMATIC MILKING Sward quality varies throughout the season. This could result in CP intakes that are too high, resulting in excessive levels of urea. This is not always a problem, but there should be a balance between protein, energy and fibre. Supplying too much protein not only has a negative effect on cow efficiency, but it’s also wasteful. Rumination is another indicator. Do the cows ruminate enough? Low rumination could indicate too little fibre or structure in the ration. Excessive rumination could indicate that fibre levels are too high. A rule of thumb is that seven...

Open the catalog to page 5
Grazing and Automatic Milking Systems - 6

Visit behaviour at grazing Fundamentally the biggest change that you need to get to grips with is that your herd’s group dynamic has changed and the cows’ environment extends from the Astronaut, along the cow track and into the paddock. All herds have a hierachy or ‘pecking order’. At least 30% of cows in any herd are dominant and around 70% of the cows are passive. The system should allow for these lower ranking cows in the herd to have stress free access to milking, grazing, drinking and resting areas. Let’s first define visit behaviour. Visit behaviour is a combination of various reasons...

Open the catalog to page 6
Grazing and Automatic Milking Systems - 7

GRAZING AND AUTOMATIC MILKING Some simple steps to ensure that all cows are given free access; • Cow tracks must be wide enough to allow lower ranking cows to easily pass dominant cows (between 1.80m (6ft) and 3.00m (10ft). If the herd size significantly increases, increase the wide of the cow tracks as well. • Where there are water troughs on the cow tracks, it must be wide enough to ensure that lower ranking cows have adequate space to pass. • Ensure that there is a clear route for cows to the milking robot once they enter through the one-way gate to the yard. This one-way gate (Texas...

Open the catalog to page 7
Grazing and Automatic Milking Systems - 8

Farm data • Number of cows: 240 Friesian cows • Farm size: effective hectares, 82 plus a 44 hectare run‑off • Number of Lely Astronauts: 3x A4 Greg & Amy Gem Situated at Bunnythorpe, near Manawatu in New Zealand, the Schnell family’s dairy unit has seen many changes. It began as a horse farm before a switch to dairy and now it’s a Lely robotic milking farm – with happy cows and even happier farmers. Brian and Margaret Schnell purchased the property 32 years ago and Brian, who is an acclaimed restoration guru of all kinds of antique engines, has embraced the move to robotics, even though it...

Open the catalog to page 8
Grazing and Automatic Milking Systems - 9

GRAZING AND AUTOMATIC MILKING mmell – Manawatu, New Zealand Currently milking with three Lely Astronaut robots, Greg and Amy’s herd is made up of 240 Friesian cows. Approximately 75% are spring calvers and the remaining 25% calve in the autumn. “Our reason for switching to robots is that I’ve been working on concrete now for 25 years and I decided that another 20 years on concrete just wasn’t healthy – for me or the cows,” says Greg. But the robots are so much more than reducing the physical, repetitive work on the body. We can see that this is a complete farm and cow management tool, where...

Open the catalog to page 9
Grazing and Automatic Milking Systems - 10

How to start grazing There are various starting points for grazing. This could be single heifers calved during winter time or this could be a complete herd going out to grass. But let’s start at the beginning with young stock. Young stock For successful grazing you need to start by training young stock. Let them go outside and get used to the pasture, weather conditions and build up resistance against parasites, such as lungworm. Calves and young stock exposed to these parasites will have more resistance to them when they mature into milking cows. Another advantage of grazing ‘training’ is...

Open the catalog to page 10
Grazing and Automatic Milking Systems - 11

GRAZING AND AUTOMATIC MILKING Grass budgeting Herds' must have access to the optimum grass volume (kgDM/ha) during the grazing period. But how do we measure this and what tools can be used? What covers are optimum versus area allocated? The ‘grazing platform’ should be measured with a pasture meter every week. The grass covers and quality needs to be recorded so a weekly budget can be determined for the next seven days. The cover you need to aim for depends on various variable and local factors. These include the grazing strategy that’s being used, but also soil type and grass varieties....

Open the catalog to page 11

All Lely catalogs and technical brochures

  1. LELY JUNO 150

    56 Pages

  2. Lely Luna

    24 Pages

  3. LELY LUNA

    22 Pages

  4. Lely Meteor

    2 Pages

  5. AIRCON 10

    72 Pages

  6. Lely Astronaut

    21 Pages

  7. Lely taurus

    4 Pages