Baan family

Heykoop family

“I did not push the feed with my tractor at night but now the Juno is always on the move!"

Arnold Heykoop and his wife Ida run a dairy farm in Oud-Alblas. Between them, they have six children with ages ranging from 15 to 28 years. Arnold feeds his cows twice a day and until August 2010 he pushed the roughage manually, a physical task that became increasingly heavy. Now that he has invested in a Lely Juno feed pusher, he would not have it any other way.

From 1980, Arnold ran the dairy farm in association with his father and brother. Since 1997 Arnold has run the business together with Ida. After Arnold had to work without the assistance of his father, and as the family grew bigger, the work in the barn weighed on Arnold's shoulders more and more. The amount of work had become so massive that he had less and less time to spend with his family.

Arnold and Ida then started to investigate alternatives to relieve the work pressure while still being able to grow their business. They had to make a choice between hiring more staff or automating the business. Quite soon, it became clear that automation was more advantageous, also in terms of cost-effectiveness. Therefore, they invested in two milking robots, a Lely Discovery barn cleaner plus a Lely Juno 100 feed pusher.

Why a Lely Juno?
“Well, it ensures labour saving, it is reliable and always on the move, day and night. Moreover, I find that, especially the low-ranking cows take in more feed. Whenever the cows can hear the Juno driving they come and have a look, so they are stimulated to take in their roughage. Since the cows always have the opportunity to take in feed, there is more peace and quiet in the barn. Some cows do not even bother getting up when I arrive for feeding. Due to spreading out the activity in the barn, the number of visits to the robot has increased.

I myself have far more flexibility thanks to the automation so that I can spend more time with my family or can do other work. In addition, I experience a tremendous relief of less hard physical labour. I'm sure that I could not have gone on much longer with manual feed pushing. What I would like to tell my

fellow dairy farmers when purchasing a feed pusher is that they have to bear in mind that you must keep the feed alley clear at all times whilst you also have to allow space for the charging station. Admittedly, it is a large investment but it is definitely worth-while!" says Arnold.

Lely keeps improving
When asked if we have covered everything, Arnold comments: "I am particularly pleased with Lely! The company meets its appointments, they are correct and they manufacture sustainable, durable products of a good solid quality. I find it very special to see how Lely keeps improving products until they are 100% in order. The Lely Juno 100 now functions perfectly: an outstanding technical masterpiece!"

Up to date for the future
Arnold: "With the current size of our business we are very well poised for the future. Currently, our priority is to increase our production per cow per year and we already have the necessary milk quota to achieve that. Right now, we still lease out a small part of our quota but we strive to fill that part ourselves within the foreseeable future. I have full confidence that we are going to achieve that shortly due to the purchase of the milking robots as well as the Lely Juno 100. In addition, I try to keep my business up to date as much as possible with a view to my successor, if any. At this point of time, succession is not sure but it may well happen. At any rate, this dairy farm is ready for the future"!

“The Lely Juno is an interesting investment, and is good for the cows!"

The dairy Farm Hazendonkhoeve in Molenaarsgraaf is run by Matthijs Baan (31) with support from his father Bas (56). Since august 2010 a Lely Juno 100 automated feed pusher has operated on the farm. Matthijs considers the Lely Juno to be an interesting investment and in addition he has noticed that cow behaviour has become more natural.

The Hazendonkhoeve is a farm that was once a land consolidation company and it has been established on its present location in Molenaarsgraaf since 1973. Three years ago, Matthijs took over the dairy business from his father. Currently, he is busy setting up a child day care centre, which he can achieve by automating his dairy farm. Two milking robots are operated on the farm while roughage is pushed using a Lely Juno 100 automated feed pusher. Besides setting up his child day care centre, Matthijs takes care of feeding cows for three fellow dairy farmers.

Matthijs has a clear opinion about work: “My vision on working, is that any additional task you have to carry out not only takes more time but energy as well, because of the time it occupies your mind, it increases the actual time to do the job. The work performed by the robots gives me more peace of mind." Moreover, time saved allows Matthijs to do other jobs. “Quite often, farmers are not aware of the costs of one minute's work. As an entrepreneur you should be very much aware of those costs", says Matthijs.

The Lely Juno 100 feed pusher
Before his purchase of the Lely Juno, Matthijs pushed the feed four times a day using a tyre pusher, i.e. a tyre fitted in front of his tractor. Currently, the Lely Juno pushes the roughage every two hours, except for the period between 08:00 and 12:00 hours. Matthijs: “This is the time just after feeding and there is more than enough roughage in front of the feed fence. I have set up an extra routing - twice a day - for sweeping the barn clean; in that way, the barn is always neat and tidy! On one occasion, when my mixer loader wagon had broken down, I even placed large heaps of feed in the feed alley and had the Juno push the roughage to the feed fence. That went fine. I have set the sweeping times of the Juno myself. I took some time to sort out the settings but now that it operates properly, it simply looks after itself."

A rough calculation
Matthijs considers the Lely Juno to be a good investment and explains his view with a rough calculation: “For each minute of the week that I save I can make an investment of € 100,- per year. I calculate an amount of € 25/hr for myself and I work with a depreciation term of 5 years (1 min./week = 52 min./year x € 25/hr = € 21/year x 5 years = € 100). If I assume that feed pushing takes me 30

minutes per day (including walking to the tractor, driving to and fro etc.) then this job requires - without the Lely Juno - 210 minutes per week. 210 min. x € 100 = € 21,000. So that is the amount I am allowed to invest if I don't have to push the feed myself. Of course, you have to take additional costs (interest and maintenance) into account but even so the Lely Juno remains a very good investment!"

In addition to this sound investment, Matthijs notices increased activity in the barn during the day and there is more peace and quiet during feeding times. Matthijs: “In the daytime I observe the kind of behaviour that is natural to cows: eating, resting and ruminating in the animals' own good time. I think that feed intake has increased by at least 2%, which results in 0.5 kg milk. Low-ranking cows, with more difficult access to the feed fence can especially increase their feed intake. In addition, I see that these animals are in better condition." In terms of visits to the robot, Matthijs does not notice a distinct increase in frequency: “My robot visiting frequency was already high. If you feed the cows properly, they will come to the robot more often of their own accord." The increase of milk production has taken place notably in the lower segment of the herd.

When asked if Matthijs would recommend the Lely Juno to fellow dairy farmers, he replies: “I will never say that a dairy farmer shouldn’t purchase a Lely Juno; it is an interesting investment and it works out well for the cows. But, dairy farmers should always decide for themselves."

Future
For the time being, Matthijs' dairy farm is not likely to grow. “After the take-over, three years ago, my milk quota plus associated herd size has grown by 20%. In addition, I have increased the efficiency of my business on various points. To allow further growth, I would have to buy a new barn, extra land etc.", Matthijs comments. For the time being, he will focus on the child day care centre, which should open its doors in April 2012.

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Heykoop family

Baan family