The history of Lely

On 2 June 1948, our first successful patent is registered for a finger wheel rake, the Lely Acrobat. It marks the start of our company.

Introduction of the single-disc spreader, which is also the first product to be manufactured in series by ourselves. 

Market introduction of Lely Lotus, with a uniquely designed hooktine to turn crop faster and more evenly. 

Market launch of the Lely Roterra power harrow, later called the Lelyterra. It marks our international expansion. 

Installation of the first prototype of the Lely Astronaut milking robot at two Dutch dairy farms. The official market introduction follows in 1995.

Introduction of the Lely Discovery manure scraper, our first autonomous vehicle on the market.

Launch of the Lely Vector mixing and feeding robot, offering automated, flexible and fresh feeding of cattle. 

Launch of T4C InHerd (Time for Cows) apps, putting milking robot management at the farmer’s fingertips. 

Opening of the new Lely Campus by Her Majesty Queen Máxima: 20,000 m2 production area and 10,000 m2 office area under BREEAM Outstanding certificate.  

Introduction of the Lely Astronaut A5 and the Lely Orbiter for on-farm milk processing during the first ever Lely Future Farm Days. 

André van Troost becomes the first non-family CEO. At the same time, Lely establishes a Supervisory Board chaired by Alexander van der Lely.

Introduction of three major innovations: Lely Exos for autonomous mowing and feeding, Lely Sphere for manure handling, and Lely Horizon, our farm management platform (replacing T4C).

The expanded Lely Campus is opened by His Majesty King Willem-Alexander. This means a doubling of office and production capacity in Maassluis, the Netherlands.

On 2 June, we celebrate a remarkable milestone: our 75th anniversary.

Launch of three innovations during the Yellow Revolution event: Discovery Collector C2 for sand bedding, Juno Max feed pusher for large-scale farms, and Lely Zeta for smart monitoring.

During the Future Farm Days, Lely launches Astronaut A5 Next, Astronaut Max for large-scale farms, and Lely Hub for digital resilience and data security.