LELY HIT MILESTONE IN COUNTY ANTRIM

PICTURED ABOVE at Hollybank Farm (Parkgate, County Antrim) to mark the delivery of the 50,000th Lely Astronaut A5 were, from left: Jenny Irwin (Office Manager, Lely Center Eglish), Gijs Schloman (Chief Commercial Officer, Lely) and farmers David and Stephen Cargill.

LELY has celebrated the delivery of its 50,000th milking robot, marking a significant milestone for the Dutch manufacturer.
 
Father-and-son team Stephen and David Cargill of Hollybank Farm near Templepatrick (just over 20 kilometres from Belfast) are proud proprietors of the Lely Astronaut - in addition to three more A5s - which will milk their 180-strong Holstein herd.
 
“We’re very humbled to receive the 50,000th robot and are very appreciative that Lely chose to bring it to our farm in Northern Ireland,” said David, who works full-time at Hollybank.
 
The Cargills currently milk three times per day through an 18-point swingover parlour: this takes six hours and requires two labour units per milking and also requires night staff.
 
Taking future considerations into account while striving for a greater work-life balance were the primary factors which persuaded the Cargills to go robotic, according to David.
 
“You must have a quality of life in any job, and agriculture is one of the trickiest in that regard,” he said. “Farming is repetitive, (but) it must be enjoyable, otherwise you can’t get good retention of staff.”

The 50,000th Lely Astronaut A5 being delivered to the Cargill family farm in County Antrim.
 
In 2013, the Cargills, who literally lived “next door”, bought Hollybank and promptly decided to develop a modern dairy operation there, according to Stephen.
 
“We more or less knocked down every farm building that was in place here and developed new units, all of which was done to save labour and not just with a farming mind but with an engineering mind and that’s where David comes in. Most of what visitors see here now is his vision and it’s a credit to him.”
  
By 2015, the first new dairy unit had been completed, which featured “a degree of automation” from a different brand, something that David felt “wasn’t working for us”.
 
In 2022, the Cargills installed the Lely Vector feeding system, which David described as “an absolute game changer for this farm”.

 
Gijs Schloman (Chief Commercial Officer, Lely) pictured at Hollybank Farm
 
The success of the two installed feeders (nicknamed Victor and Victoria), coupled with the support provided by Lely Center Eglish, persuaded David to take the next step: automatic feeding in the calf house followed by this summer’s installation of the Astronaut A5. 
 
“The back-up and support from Lely Center Eglish, from designing the initial concept to the installation and after-sales support from the engineers, has been absolutely fantastic and a huge reason why we’ve gone down this route,” he stated.
 
Since the launch of Lely’s first robotic milking machine in 1992, the Astronaut has proven a ‘game-changer’ for dairy farmers throughout Ireland and the UK.
 
Speaking at Hollybank Farm, Gijs Schloman, Lely’s Chief Commercial Officer commented: “We started very small and very slowly, using new technology that nobody ever thought could milk cows without human intervention.”
 
Over three decades later, Mr Schloman said that many dairy farmers now consider robots first when investing in milking technology.
 
“Many farmers around the world have given confidence and trust to Lely, and we are very grateful that they have opted for the Astronaut and many of our other products,” he said.
 
“We think we can contribute to the lifestyle of farmers. That’s important because we know how difficult it is to find successors. By changing the type of work and making the work more pleasant, we are also helping to contribute to succession, to keep the industry going by understanding what the farmers of today are looking for.”
 
Lely’s portfolio has also broadened to cover whole farm management, from feeding to manure management and processing.
 
At present there are Lely Astronauts installed in 50 countries worldwide, milking three million cows daily, and the information they’re processing is helping farmers improve fertility, health and production, according to Mr Scholman.
 
For the Cargills, the introduction of Lely robots aligns with their goal to create a sustainable, enjoyable and labour-efficient dairy.
 
Stephen added: “We want to be here milking cows for generations to come, and that’s why we have made the investment with Lely – everything we do, we’re doing with the long-term future in mind.”