Maassluis, September 12, 2012 – The Worldwide Lely Open Farm Days on August 31 and September 1/2 were a resounding success. More than forty thousand people visited the participating dairy farms.

The Open Farm Days were centred around the 20^th anniversary celebrations of automated milking. In 1992, Lely launched a trailblazing novelty in the dairy farming business: the Lely Astronaut milking robot. Since then, more than 15,000 Lely Astronaut milking robots have been sold. During the Open Farm Days, dairy farmers in many countries opened their doors to share their long-standing appreciation of the Lely Astronaut milking robot with potential users. ‘A blessing for many cows and a high milk production as our reward’ and ‘the best investment in years’ were among the quotes noted at the event.

Many dairy farmers not only highlighted their milking robots; they also took the opportunity to recommend other Lely products such as the Lely Juno automated feed pusher, the Lely Discovery mobile barn cleaner and the Lely Vector automated feeding system. In cooperation with Lely dealers, forage harvesting machines were also on display at this event.

Many customers played an active part throughout the preparations for the event, helping Lely to enable a unique celebration of this milestone.

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 acquired knowledge in the agricultural cycle Lely has an unrivaled position. The Lely Group is active in more than 60 countries and employs some 1,600 people. The annual turnover is around 500 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.