Lely’s Yellow Revolution introduces three new products for dairy farms. Ben Thorpe, milking propositions manager with Lely North America, says these innovations give farmers more flexibility, can improve a farm’s bottom line, and help producers focus on animal welfare.
Robots — from feed pushers to barn cleaners to milkers — can allow a farmer to focus on other tasks on the farm or get off the farm to address other matters in life, Thorpe explains. These are flexibilities that many families didn’t have before. Thorpe adds that these robotic technologies can make it more attractive for the next generation to stay in dairy.
“We aim to alleviate those repetitive tasks on a dairy,” he says. “We’re replacing the lower skilled labor. We all know that that’s harder and harder to find nowadays, so we are really helping those farms to maintain their costs but be able to replace that labor. We have very much targeted the family farm… to allow that next generation to stay on the farm and have a lifestyle that everyone can enjoy.”
The new products are the newest answers to the challenges that dairy farmers worldwide face:
- Lely Zeta is a new cow monitoring system that uses cameras, LED lighting, and Artificial Intelligence to collect even more data to further improve animal welfare.
- Lely Juno Max is an autonomous feed pusher for large-scale farms that takes feed pushing to the next level. It can go off-road to visit multiple barns and feeding alleys.
- Lely Discovery Collector C2 uses vacuum technology to clean barn floors by collecting manure. It comes with a new accessory that allows it to work in barns with sand bedding. Sand is a common bedding material worldwide.
While the launch is called the Yellow Revolution, the equipment still comes in classic Lely red.