Lely

Willi Beckmann - Lely Astronaut A3 - Germany

“If a cow goes lame I have to push her!”

The Beckmann farm is nestled between Xanten, dating back to Roman times, and the picturesque Kalkar am Niederrhein. The farm has been in the Beckmann family for three generations, and 89 ha is now under cultivation, with 31 ha permanent pasture, around 4 ha sugar beet, 15 ha grass seed production, 18 ha cereals and 21 ha maize. This acreage provides the feed for all 108 HF cows and their female offspring. As of 22.07.2008 the cows are milked using 2 Lely Astronaut A3 robots, Both equipped with Pura steam disinfection systems. The farm manager relies on the dedicated support of his wife, and of their son Felix.

Trough feeding provides the Beckmann cows with energy and protein enough for 23 kg milk, complemented by the additional 1.5 kg of soya/rape meal mix from the second feed type on the robot. This total ration is enough for 26 kg milk, with output beyond this amount being made up for with up to 5.5 kg concentrates. In summer, molasses is used to entice cows into the milker while through the winter when the molasses is thinner the Beckmann farm uses glycerine instead. Both fluids are reliably measured out using the Titania liquid feed dispensers on the A3 robots.

Willi Beckmann is fastidious about the health of his herd’s claws. The cows are visited three times a year by a professional hoof trimmer, And as an additional measure the farm implements a weekly foot bath. A rigorous procedure that the manager sees as crucial: “If a cow goes lame I have to push her!” says Beckmann.

The family decided to switch to automatic milking within the space of a year. After first discussing the scheme in summer of 2007, and visiting a series of informational events, the decision was finally made in early 2008. “I remember that day very well,” says Willi Beckmann. “We spent an evening with the salesman, then finally signed the contracts at half past eleven at night!” A key factor in the end was the manager’s state of health: he was simply no longer able to carry out the milking, which took up to three hours morning and evening. However after using automatic milking for nearly two years, he’s now relieved to find that his aches and pains are a thing of the past.

Willi Beckmann is highly satisfied with the service he receives from the Lely Center in Cologne. Their emergency hotline provides support seven days a week, 365 days a year. Beckmann says he has periods of up to five weeks at a time where the robots send no incident message at all. And if a message is received, it is usually to do with a minor occurrence such as an empty can of cleaning agent, which can be quickly rectified.

The Astronaut’s integral scales are used intensively on the Beckmann farm. Beckmann only inseminates his cows when it can be determined that they have stopped losing weight. Alongside the lifting gate to make it easier to hustle idling cattle along, the Discovery mobile barn cleaner is another reliable piece of equipment. Introduced onto the Beckmann farm at the same time as the two milking robots, the cleaner keeps the alleys and passage ways dry and hygienic. The Discovery is as important as regular hoof trimming in ensuring that cows’ claws on the Beckmann farm are kept in good condition. Willi Beckmann still cleans the lying spaces himself – and gladly acknowledges just how important the Discovery for the farm: “Whenever the Discovery is immobile for any length of time I notice immediately that the lying spaces become dirtier.”

The herd’s health status is a central factor in Beckmann’s daily routine: “Healthy animals will make their own way to the robots and don’t need any encouragement. Although I no longer milk the cows myself I work more intensively at herd management. Now I tend to have more time to spend in the barn keeping a close eye on the cows!”

Over the last two years the farm has been able to achieve and maintain the expected increase in production (a plus of 1,200 kg milk). And as regards the future, the manager is hoping to have to perform even less physical labour, to improve fertility, as well as to exploit the robots’ potential to an even fuller extent.

The next generation on the farm is equally enthusiastic about automatic milking with Lely. At the time of our interview the farm’s junior Felix Beckmann was helping out with the first milking of the 110 cows on a neighbouring farm, as they were introduced to their two brand-new A 3 Next milking robots!