Maassluis, 12 January, 2012 – The Lely Astronaut A4 milking robot has been acclaimed as ‘Agricultural machine of the year 2012’ in Poland. This prestigious award, granted by the Institute of Technology and Life Science, is the major prize awarded in Poland to leading manufacturers of equipment for the agricultural business.

The jury comprised of professors and staff members of several agricultural universities, the Ministry of Agriculture as well as the government body KRUS (which is a social insurance company for the agricultural sector). To come to their final judgement, the jury members visited, among others, various dairy farmers as well as agricultural shows.

The main criteria for granting this award were:
•    modern as well as innovative solutions
•    ergonomics and safety
•    functionality and performance
•    quality as well as an aesthetic construction
•    overall output

The award will be presented on the 16th of March during a professional show in Kielce.

The newest generation of milking robots, the Lely Astronaut A4, was launched in November 2010. For dairy farmers, this robot model offers an even more flexible and economic milking solution. In addition, this milking robot has further improved animal wellbeing as well as giving a new boost to acceptance of automated milking. The most revolutionary feature of the Lely Astronaut A4's milking unit is the walk-through design (I-flow concept). The cow can walk straight into and out of the box, without any obstruction whatsoever. Thus, the threshold for cows has been lowered even further and the animals can enter the milking unit at their own pace.

About the Lely Group
Lely, founded in 1948, directs all its efforts towards creating a sustainable, profitable and enjoyable future in farming for its customers. Lely is the only company worldwide to supply the agricultural sector with a complete portfolio of products and services ranging from forage harvesting to automated feeding systems, barn cleaners and milking robots. Lely is also working on business concepts to ensure energy-neutral operations in the dairy sector. Since many years Lely is the undisputed market leader in the sales and service of automated milking systems. The company has a strong position in forage harvesting products and with over 60 years unrivalled acquired knowledge in the agricultural cycle Lely has an unrivaled position in agriculture. The Lely Group is active in more than 60 countries and employs some 1,500 people. The annual turnover is around 470 million euro.
More information: www.lely.com.

For further information, please contact Els Versluis, International Marketing and Communications Manager Lely Group, eversluis@lely.com, + 31 (0)10 59 96 500.