A BIG friendly red robot named Juno is making feeding time a push-over for an agricultural college’s resident herd of dairy cows.
The Lely Juno Robotic Feed Pusher was installed at the Llysfasi campus of Coleg Cambria, near Ruthin, with the help of a contribution from the Cadwyn Clwyd rural development agency.
Since then its soothing and efficient presence has not only ensured that feeding goes much more smoothly but has also meant a significant increase in the cows’ daily milk yield.
It’s well known to farmers that frequent feeding has a positive effect on cows’ health and leads to higher milk production.
But, according to Llysfasi’s Farm Manager Dewi Wyn Jones, making sure they are able to easily get at the nourishing silage mix they relish 24 hours a day can often be a tough task.
He said: “We have around 220 Holstein Fresian cows in the college herd which are housed in a 75-metre-long shed on the campus. They are fed on a mixture of grass and maize silage plus a blended concentrate which is mixed and set out for them in front of a steel barrier.
“As they are feeding the cows naturally push aside the silage to the point where they eventually find it hard to reach. Therefore to ensure they receive the correct amount of food this has to pushed back towards the fence where they can easily get at it.
“This pushing has traditionally been done by a tractor running up and down the feeding alley but the problems with this are that the tractor had to make at least three trips a day and could only operate during the day and not at night.
“Since we’ve had the Juno Robotic Pusher things have become much more efficient because it is completely automated and operates 24/7 from an electric charge.”
Cadwyn Clwyd’s contribution came via the Rural Development Fund for Wales 2007-2013, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the Welsh Government.
Robert Price, Agri Food Project Officer for Cadwyn Clwyd, said: “The robotic feeder project is a good example of innovation in the dairy industry and grew from the co-operation between Cadwyn Clwyd and the college on the Llaeth Lleol project.
“It is also a good example of best practice in the industry and we were pleased to help them with it. I am glad to see it has gone so well.
“The college have fantastic resources and a fantastic site and we look forward to working with them again on other projects in the future.”
The Juno, which is circular shaped, has three wheels and measures about 200 centimetres wide by about 75 centimetres high.
It is battery powered, propelled by electric motors and automatically guided by a gyroscope and ultrasound. Juno’s considerable pushing power comes from the weight of a heavy concrete block inside.
Painted a cheerful red colour with a silver and grey underside, it is programmed to run alongside the feeding fence at a pre-determined distance pushing back the silage with its rotating rubber blade as it goes.
Farm Manager Dewi Wyn Jones explained: “At Llysfasi the Juno has been programmed to operate a number of times during the day. The herd’s first feed is at 9am and the robot does its first push at 2pm then every two hours after that until 6am.
“Without the need for any operator it automatically starts off from its charging point at the top end of the shed and gradually works its way along the entire length. When it reaches the end it does a u-turn and heads back down the other side, eventually coming to rest back at its charging point.
“A buzzer sounds intermittently from Juno as it makes its rounds to alert the cows to the fact that their food has been pushed back towards them – a bit like humans been told they’re about to be served a plate of cakes!
“Our cow shed is well within its operating range and, in fact, Juno can be programmed to go much further on one charge – up to about 400 metres – and even into a second building if necessary.
“It also automatically adjusts itself to get nearer to the fence at each push as the amount of food reduces.”
Dewi added: “We’ve been working with Cadwyn Clwyd on the Llaeth Lleol (Local Milk) project and as part of that Cadwyn made a significant contribution towards the cost of the Juno machine.
“We installed it in the feeding shed in February and since then we have noticed that the milk yield of the herd has increased significantly, going up by about one-and-a-half litres a day per cow, from 26 litres to 27.5 litres.
“There are lots of other advantages to Juno too. It ensures the cows get a consistent and balanced feed which is good for their health, it demonstrates to our students what it’s like to work with farm technology of the future in a practical setting and it shows members of the farming community who visit us regularly throughout the year what kind of technology is available to them.
“We are very grateful to Cadwyn Clwyd for the financial support it has given us towards this valuable project and we are looking forward to working with them on other things.”
The Juno Feed Pusher was supplied and installed at Coleg Llysfasi by the Stafford depot of Dutch agricultural machinery company Lely which developed the robot.
Its Sales Specialist Neil Simcock said: “We are very happy to have been chosen to supply the Juno to Coleg Llysfasi and to be working closely with them on this project.
“It’s well known that frequent feeding results in an increased feed intake and higher milk production and this has certainly been the case with the college herd.
“Frequent feeding also has a positive effect on a cow’s health. The cows have a better roughage intake and the herd is calmer and more tranquil.”
