51AVÊÓƵ

Whether farmers simply want to turn cows out or adopt intensive rotational grazing, robotic milking provides the flexibility to graze in a way that meets specific farm requirements.

Two dairy farmers with differing approaches share their experiences of moving to robots and utilising an automated segregation gate to graze in a way that suits them.

Paddock grazing focus

Horwood Farm, Wiltshire

George Dalton says the installation of four Lely Astronaut A5 milking robots and an automated grazing gate has transformed the farm into a ‘data-driven business' while maintaining its core values as a low-cost grazing and forage-centric system.

The crunch point came in 2022 when Mr Dalton realised his spring block calving system was unsustainable due to a relatively small grazing platform and a high stocking rate while his milk buyer was demanding more milk in December.

Autumn calving made sense; however significant investment was needed in housing and the parlour to make it work.

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To facilitate optimum grass utilisation and robot visits, Mr Dalton uses a grazing gate to operate an ABC paddock grazing system where grazing is split into three eight-hour blocks. He decides which paddocks to graze through regular grass plate metering.ÌýPaddock A is grazed from 2am to 10am, paddock B from 10am to 6pm, and C from 6pm to 2am.

Depending on the time of day, the gate will automatically draft cows one of three ways. Cows tend to learn when the gate changes to send them to a new block and head back to the gate.

Mr Dalton says: "You are trying to do everything to encourage voluntary movement from grazing back to the robot and out to the next paddock.ÌýThe important thing is the allocation of grass – too much grass and they are likely to stay out there, too little and they are likely to come back as they are looking for the next feed.

"A combination of plate-metering and grass allocation is the key thing to remember there."

Cows will be buffer-fed silage at grass when calving begins, before being housed and fed robot concentrate, self-feed grass and maize silage which is layered with rape meal.

The 2024 calving season was the first of the new system, with all cows and heifers calving in the autumn, and it has already translated into better performance, with the herd achieving 7,800 litres per cow – up from 5,500 litres when spring block calving.

"I can see them doing 8,000 litres/cow/year as an average," says Mr Dalton.

Milk solids have also risen from 510kg milk solids/cow/year to 665kg from 1.8 tonnes of concentrate per cow.

51AVÊÓƵFacts

•ÌýÌýÌýHorwood Farm, Ansty, Wiltshire

•Ìý 202 hectares (500 acres) farmed, split two-thirds for dairy and one-third as arable

•ÌýÌýÌý250 British Friesian cross Holstein cross Norwegian Red cows

•ÌýÌýÌýCalving from August 20 for 10 weeks

•ÌýÌýÌý7,862 litres per cow per year at 4.66% fat and 3.56% protein

•ÌýÌýÌý3,230Ìýlitres/cow/year milk from forage

•ÌýÌýÌýMilked through four Lely A5 Astronaut milking robots

•ÌýÌýÌýAverage daily robot visits of 2.3

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Simple grazing system

Manor Farm, Somerset

The ability to let low-yielders out to grass has created a simple hybrid system that supports high levels of production at Manor Farm, Somerset, where cows are milked through two robots.

The Holloways made the decision to move to robotic milking in 2021 when their tri-bone milking parlour reached the end of its life and they envisaged future labour challenges.

Payment bonuses were also available through their milk buyer, Wyke Farms, for grazing for 180 days and producing more than 3,000 litres per cow per year of milk from forage.

The family worked with the team at Lely Center Yeovil to retrofit two Lely Astronaut A5 robots into existing sheds with the addition of a grazing gate.

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The Grazeway gate is set up so cows that are 150 days calved and pregnant or barren will be able to access grazing. They can then choose when they want to come back in via a ranch gate.

This means the high-yielders have more space inside and more opportunity to visit the robots, which aids production. At the same time, the lower yielders are able to utilise cost-effective grazing.

Cows are set-stocked across 12 hectares (30 acres), which is split into three fields.

Jon Eldridge, farm management support for Lely Center Yeovil, designs the diet at the feed fence to deliver 70% of the herd's requirements when grazing. This is adjusted according to demand, which reflects weather and grazing conditions.

Cows are fed to yield through the robot, with close attention paid to concentrate and feed allocations to optimise milk from forage.

Mr EldridgeÌýsays: "When we supplement concentrate, we factor in a high level of dry matter [DM] from forage – so we factor in 15kg of forage DM as a minimum and then supplement from that. That means you are not oversupplying and they have [the] appetite to eat forage."

This year, the cows are on track to achieve 3,500 litres per cow of milk from forage, thanks to a better growing season and an earlier turnout compared to 2024. The herd is currently averaging 40 litres of milk/head/day while grazing, which highlights the huge potential within the system. Average production has increasedÌýfrom 9,500 litres/cow/year to 11,000 litres since the robots were installed in September 2023.

Ìý51AVÊÓƵFacts

•ÌýÌýÌýManor Farm, Stoke-sub-Hamdon, Somerset, run by the Holloway family

•ÌýÌýÌý223 hectares (550 acres) farmed, predominantly permanent pasture

•ÌýÌýÌý130-cow Chiselborough herd of pedigree Holstein Friesians

•ÌýÌýÌý11,000 litres per cow per year at 4.01% fat and 3.34% protein

•ÌýÌýÌýOn track to achieve 3,500 litres/cow/year of milk from forage (up from 2,191 litres last year due to a challenging forage season)

•ÌýÌýÌý3.3 average robot visits

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Advice for grazing on robots

• ÌýAdopt a grazing system that suits you:ÌýRobot systems can be adapted to simply provide cows with access to grass or to facilitate strategic paddock grazing.
• ÌýGet the infrastructure right: Getting tracks right will encourage cows to walk to and from the robot.
• ÌýKnow what you have got: Regularly monitor grazing covers so you know what you have got and can plan a rotation to optimise grass utilisation and quality. This also helps determine buffer feeding.
• Ease cows into the season: Do notÌýgraze heavy covers early on. Cows need a little bit of retraining at the start of each season. Allocating a lighter cover or a smaller area will encourage them to come back to the robot.
• ÌýBalance the ration to complement intakes from grazed grass: Provide a buffer feed when necessary that complements grazing quality.
• ÌýMaintain grazing quality: Quality grass will encourage cows to leave the shed to graze. Graze at 2,800-2,900kg dry matter/hectare down to 1,500-1,600kg DM/ha to maintain quality grazing all season. Consider using back fences to prevent overgrazing and help regrowth.