Robot Summer Options

[surprisefarmer]

Hi all,

I am currently designing a shed conversion for a robot (probably Lely) and was wandering what you all advise for summer (presuming we are going to get some in the future) feeding options:

1. Keep cows in and feed silage the same as winter - I do not like this option as it would be the most expensive and you are tied to feeding the same as winter. I understand that this does allow you to have most control of their diet however.
2. Keep cows in and zero graze in the mornings and buffer silage at night - Origonally this was my preferred option as you get the advantage of the fresh grass and there is no tramping of ground - Again this is very labour intensive and it involves having to buy a zero grazer
3. Let cows out to graze - In my heart this is my preferred option as I am a big believer that an animal should get out.

I am really interested to hear the opinions of Option 3 from guys who work a robot system. Do the cows come in again to be milked, is "A" grazing ok for this, or does it really have to be "A""B" to make it work.

All help appreciated

 

[pappuller]

If you want the cows to graze then that is the system you need to look at first, as long as you have paddocks that are covenient to buildings it will work well with good infrastructure.
We use option 2 but tmr am and grass through the day, it works well for us but isnt the cheapest production method, we have 2 paddocks that are accessed through a grazeway gate purely for loafing.

 

[surprisefarmer]

@pappuller

thanks for the reply. I should have said, the proposed unit sits beside a 35 acre field which i can easily split into paddocks. I already have a lane in place which is easily accessible from the shed, the only snag being is that the lane is down one side, so "A" grazing would be the handiest option.

 

[pappuller]

@pappuller

thanks for the reply. I should have said, the proposed unit sits beside a 35 acre field which i can easily split into paddocks. I already have a lane in place which is easily accessible from the shed, the only snag being is that the lane is down one side, so "A" grazing would be the handiest option.

Plenty on here who can offer advice on robots and grazing, good luck

 

[upnortheast]

Grazing is the hardest bit of robot milking to get right.
More details when I have a few minutes spare

 

[Limefield]

I am in exactly the same boat myself Surprise farmer. I was hoping to do your option 3 as well when i put in a robot later this summer - and probably Lely also.
I want to do "A" grazing mostly as well and keep the cows in at night. Dont mind them out at night really but our summers have gotten SO bad that we would be doing well to have them out by day over the summer months and silage every night. I have been told though "A" is hard to use to keep the robot fully utilised as all will want to go out in the morning and leave it sitting idle for too long -so A&B gives a more steady flow i believe.

 

[surprisefarmer]

What part of the country are you in Limefield, I am in the North west of Northern Ireland.

I was out with a farmer near Donemana 2 weeks ago, who has 2 Lely's going and he lets is cows out during the day and in again at night for silage. They are only getting the "A" option and walking a considerable distance ( up hill at that) and he said it worked grand. Only drawback was that he lost 1-2 litres/day but had more free time.

 

[Sid]

A B C here
Why? Organic so grazing essential.
Went from A to AB to ABC because the move better. You can set the milking permissions to control milkng times

 

[Limefield]

I'm in Northern Ireland - south west. I was hoping not to have to invest in a Grazeway gate at this stage to keep costs down and to use the segregation gate just to let them out as milked. Maybe if we got used to "A" we would then increase to "A" & "B" etc as Sid says. Are you putting in one robot Surprise, prob a new A5 though i dont like new things just out and not tested that well maybe.

 

[pappuller]

I'm in Northern Ireland - south west. I was hoping not to have to invest in a Grazeway gate at this stage to keep costs down and to use the segregation gate just to let them out as milked. Maybe if we got used to "A" we would then increase to "A" & "B" etc as Sid says. Are you putting in one robot Surprise, prob a new A5 though i dont like new things just out and not tested that well maybe.

Grazeway is a seg gate thats linked to the bots and will divert cows either out if milked or back into the shed if not.

 

[surprisefarmer]

Had been looking at an A4 and was told today you would be talking another £6,000 for an A5.

Maybe being totally stupid here, but am I correct in saying that the Lely grazeway gate only has to positions, out to field, or back into the shed because they haven’t been milked yet. So for an a b system grazing you have to go out in the middle of the day and divert yourself?

 

[upnortheast]

but am I correct in saying that the Lely grazeway gate only has to positions, out to field, or back into the shed because they haven’t been milked yet. So for an a b system grazing you have to go out in the middle of the day and divert yourself?

Grazeway with a diverter in front gives you - Fully auto A / B or return to shed.

 

[KJL]

@surprisefarmer contact this lely centre https://m.facebook.com/efsireland/ they have every variation of set up, including a large number of AB and ABC grazing spring block calving herds.

 

[jerseycowsman]

Hi all,

I am currently designing a shed conversion for a robot (probably Lely) and was wandering what you all advise for summer (presuming we are going to get some in the future) feeding options:

1. Keep cows in and feed silage the same as winter - I do not like this option as it would be the most expensive and you are tied to feeding the same as winter. I understand that this does allow you to have most control of their diet however.
2. Keep cows in and zero graze in the mornings and buffer silage at night - Origonally this was my preferred option as you get the advantage of the fresh grass and there is no tramping of ground - Again this is very labour intensive and it involves having to buy a zero grazer
3. Let cows out to graze - In my heart this is my preferred option as I am a big believer that an animal should get out.

I am really interested to hear the opinions of Option 3 from guys who work a robot system. Do the cows come in again to be milked, is "A" grazing ok for this, or does it really have to be "A""B" to make it work.

All help appreciated

Got friends with 3 robots that graze them up to 800 yards from the robots @goldtop

 

[The Agrarian]

Beware of Lely. Once they get you in, they intend to pull away availability of parts as your machine ages, simply to make you change up and get them repeat sales. I'm in this position and I'm anything but happy.

 

[Limefield]

Agrarian, how long have you your robot in??? I would have hoped that this would be a 20 year purchase - if not, then thats a disgrace

 

[surprisefarmer]

@The Agrarian as Limefield said, I would have expected that was the kind of term we should be looking at. If you don’t mind me asking, what Lely have you got?

This brings me to my other question, what are people’s opinion on De Laval or Geda?

 

[thewalrus]

Beware of Lely. Once they get you in, they intend to pull away availability of parts as your machine ages, simply to make you change up and get them repeat sales. I'm in this position and I'm anything but happy.

Fullwood next time?

 

[The Agrarian]

Sorry for delay. Dung spreading called.

A2's, 15 years and 10 years old. Money spent on them as we went along. Vacuum pumps do about eight to ten years, other parts replaced as and when of course. Arms have been re-bushed twice. Machines are as good as they were five years ago. No real need to make up a figure of twenty years. Theres absolutely no mechanical reason why they can't be maintained in the current fashion ad infinitum. It's not like a tractor where an engine gets worn, or back end. It's lots of independent parts, all of which are needed, but all of which are replaceable in an hour or two off the shelf. The ironic thing is that an A3 has parts in common with the A2, but with a different arm. And the A4 has an A3 arm, but with different electronics. And all three have the same laser, vacuum pump, boiler and so on. Therefore a lot of parts will still be produced for other models. In the interest of protecting their reputation and relationship with their oldest customers, they could surely take in stock of some parts that are under threat. And there will be machines for breaking.

It's a very serious breach of trust. If Lely admitted when they sold every machine that they would only stand over the maintainence for ten years after the last one of that model comes off the line, as is the legal requirement I'm told, they'd be selling less I'd think. Theyve waited to the last A2s are ten years old, and they're trying to pull the rug out. Shocking. All Lely owners should rightly be very upset, because it has implications for all customers.

 

[Sid]

Sorry for delay. Dung spreading called.

A2's, 15 years and 10 years old. Money spent on them as we went along. Vacuum pumps do about eight to ten years, other parts replaced as and when of course. Arms have been re-bushed twice. Machines are as good as they were five years ago. No real need to make up a figure of twenty years. Theres absolutely no mechanical reason why they can't be maintained in the current fashion ad infinitum. It's not like a tractor where an engine gets worn, or back end. It's lots of independent parts, all of which are needed, but all of which are replaceable in an hour or two off the shelf. The ironic thing is that an A3 has parts in common with the A2, but with a different arm. And the A4 has an A3 arm, but with different electronics. And all three have the same laser, vacuum pump, boiler and so on. Therefore a lot of parts will still be produced for other models. In the interest of protecting their reputation and relationship with their oldest customers, they could surely take in stock of some parts that are under threat. And there will be machines for breaking.

It's a very serious breach of trust. If Lely admitted when they sold every machine that they would only stand over the maintainence for ten years after the last one of that model comes off the line, as is the legal requirement I'm told, they'd be selling less I'd think. Theyve waited to the last A2s are ten years old, and they're trying to pull the rug out. Shocking. All Lely owners should rightly be very upset, because it has implications for all customers.

unlike the DeLaval where we were able to "upgrade" older machines to the newest spec. I am not sure it is 100% doable but both machines have had upgrades whereas the Lelys we looked at the parts may have become unobtainable.
Also i detested the idea of parting with a lump sum of my hard earned cash as a fee to allow the dealer to sell me a secondhand machine!