Partnership between Lely and Konrad Pumpe GmbH offers farmers more flexibility in automatic feeding

Flexible use of the Lely Vector

One of the key benefits of the Lely Vector system is offering flexible feeding. Adding the Konrad Pumpe GmbH dosing systems to the list of feed loading methods ensures even more flexible ways for farmers to work with the Lely Vector feed automation robot. The dosing system is an addition in a feed kitchen where many ingredients are stored. In this way, the feed strategy can be adjusted to the herd at any farm. And it enables growth, the Lely Center creates a feed kitchen solution that best suits the individual future needs of the farm.

"As we see a growth in awareness on larger dairy farms for automatic feeding, we are now able to increase the number of cows per kitchen with the addition of high-speed dosing systems," says Jelmer Ham, Product Manager Feeding at Lely International. He explains: "When a customer is working with a single mixing and feeding robot (MFR), a second MFR can be added to increase the capacity with business expansion. With the addition of the Konrad Pumpe GmbH dosing systems, the capacity of the Vector kitchen can be increased to a next level. By adding high-speed dosing systems, over 500 animals can be fed with a double MFR set-up."

Hybrid kitchen

The dosing system is ideal to set up as a hybrid kitchen, where one or two ingredients will be loaded by a dosing system and all other ingredients will be loaded by the feed grabber. In this way the kitchen has a high capacity but is still flexible in feeding many different feed components loaded by the feed grabber. The farmer is not stuck to feed a fixed amount of feed types depending on the amount of feed dispensers or silage pits and can profit from all other benefits the Lely Vector offers. This automatic feeding system provides the exact mix and amount of ration for the herd. When precision feeding with the Lely Vector system, it could have a positive impact on the health of the herd and milk production.

First in first out

The dosing technology adapts optimally to the feeding strategy on a farm. Different models and sizes are available in order to offer the right solution to the right customer needs. The dispensers are unloading the ingredients via a dosing sword. This creates a first in first out way of working, which ensures the quality since the feed will not be mixed during storage.

A constant distribution is realized by transferring the substrate to the screw conveyor mounted below the solid material dosing unit. This is done by the rotating sword inside the dosing unit.

We plotted our experiences and knowledge from the Biogas industry, where the quality of the substrates is needed for high energy production, into our dosing systems. These systems work perfectly together with the Lely Vector feeding robot to guarantee a high-quality ration for the complete herd," says Paul Watermann, Sales Manager at Konrad Pumpe GmbH.

About Konrad Pumpe GmbH

Founded in 1830 in Sendenhorst, Germany as a smithy, today Konrad Pumpe GmbH is an innovative company specialized in plant engineering, with approximately 85 employees producing customized equipment and machine systems for diverse applications such as conveyor technology for a wide variety of feeds and dosing systems for biogas plants. The company primarily processes steel and stainless steels. The main strengths of Konrad Pumpe GmbH include custom-made equipment and own developments.

Please visit www.pumpegmbh.de for more information.