Breaking barriers to better Grazing

Grazing that works

Introduction

How to graze with robotic milking

Grazing with Lely demonstrates that UK dairy farmers can successfully combine high-tech automation with traditional pasture management. This approach allows you to integrate robotic milking systems into a grazing-based model, giving your herd the freedom to access fresh grass while maintaining total control over their milking frequency and nutritional intake. By seamlessly connecting automated technology with precision grassland management, you can promote better cow welfare and increase overall farm efficiency without the need for constant manual intervention.

Free Cow Traffic

Milking on the cow’s natural rhythm

The Lely Astronaut milking robot is based on the principle of Free Cow Traffic, a concept proven on farms worldwide. Cows can move freely between the barn, the robot, and the pasture, deciding for themselves when to eat, rest, graze, or visit the robot for milking. By following their natural rhythm, they experience less stress and more comfort, both indoors and outdoors. This contributes to a calm and healthy environment, which can lead to more frequent visits and consistent milk production.

  • ABC Grazing

    Lely developed the ABC grazing principle more than 15 years ago, which continue to be utilised today for our pasture-based systems worldwide. ABC grazing sees the farm allocated into three separate grazing sections, encouraging cows to walk voluntarily, motivated by fresh grass.

  • Easy access to be milked

    Cows prefer clear and simple routes, and the Astronaut’s I-Flow design ensures smooth and unhindered access, guiding them naturally to the robot. This can support more frequent milking visits and consistent milk production.

  • Training

    As part of Lely service, your local Lely Center will create a start-up and cow training program tailored to your farm and specific needs. This process is further simplified by the Astronaut milking robot’s exclusive I-Flow design, which gives cows easy and unobstructed access to enter and exit the robot. 

  • Cows are incentivized

    The Lely Astronaut milking robot encourages cows to return for milking by offering small feed rewards during each session. This positive reinforcement not only motivates cows to visit the robot regularly but also establishes a natural rhythm that encourages them to return on their own.

Lely Grazeway

Maximize grazing efficiency with the Lely Grazeway

The Lely Grazeway is an innovative grazing management system designed to give cows the freedom to choose when they go out to pasture while maintaining optimal control for the farmer. This smart selection box seamlessly integrates with Lely’s automated milking systems, directing cows to grazing when it best suits their milking schedule and nutritional needs. By promoting efficient pasture use and reducing the need for manual intervention, the Grazeway helps improve cow welfare, milk production, and overall farm efficiency.

5 tips for successful grazing with robotics

  • Ensure a good infrastructure

    Cow tracks should be wide, well-maintained, and always accessible. Avoid narrow points and sharp turns, as these can block cow movement and limit access for less dominant cows and heifers.

    01

  • Access to water in the paddock

    Cows should have constant access to fresh water in the paddock, without having to walk long distances. When water sources are too far away, it can affect cow movement. On average, cows may drink approximately 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of milk.

    02

  • Limit grazing to a maximum of 3 days per paddock

    To prevent back-grazing, avoid grazing the same paddock for more than three days. Extended grazing can damage plant regrowth and reduce long-term pasture health.

    03

  • Cows are more active during the day

    Cows are more inclined to travel during daylight hours Therefore, graze cows in paddocks closer to the milking shed at night and allow them to travel longer distances during the day.

    04

  • Adapt to changing weather conditions

    Weather conditions such as heat, cold, or rain can influence cow movement and grazing behaviour. Where possible, provide shade in the paddock to help cows stay comfortable on hot days.

    05

Want to discuss your options for Grazing?

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Improve cow flow between pasture and robot

How data from Lely Horizon supports grazing

Dairying is a 24/7 operation, which is why Lely Horizon software comes standard with the Lely Grazeway Drafting system. The cow collars collect valuable data, which is processed by Lely Horizon Farm Management software. This system not only analyses the data but also enables you to track health treatments, inseminations, pedigree, calving, and much more. 

With Lely Horizon, you can monitor factors such as milking frequency, cow traffic, and time spent grazing or in the barn. These insights help you understand how grazing impacts your herd and allow you to adjust your grazing strategy when needed. For example, if cows visit the robot less often during grazing, the system highlights this, so you can optimise pasture access or routing.
 
To improve cow flow between pasture and the robot, Lely Horizon provides insight into movement patterns and helps optimise routing and grazing schedules.
Read more about Lely Horizon

Customer stories

Hear from Mac Findlay and his experience on Grazing with Lely in England

Farmer stories

Explore how farmers are maximising grazing efficiency

Marc Finday, United Kingdom

Converting to robots saved the dairy. But it was imperative that we could continue to graze the herd. That was non-negotiable.

Tara Whitty, Ireland

ABC grazing system

We run an A-B-C grazing system here, which involves the use of three paddocks, three times a day – every eight hours. This ensures that when cows skip a paddock, they have first access to the newest block, meaning they’ll get the best quality grass available
Read the story

Jerome O'Connor

Work life balance with Lely system

To be able to get up on a Sunday morning and get your jobs done quickly, then be gone for the day, and come back at, say, seven, eight or nine o’clock and do 20 minutes to half an hour’s work, that’s massive. Since the robots and the Grazeway System were installed, it’s also become easier to get help
Read the story

Brendan English, Ireland

Optimising Grazing with the Lely Astronaut

We positioned the Grazeway at a location that gave cows easy access, whether they were coming from the A, B, or C milking groups. Once the system was in place, we moved all cows to pasture and trained them to go through the Grazeway and directly into the Astronaut.
Read the story

Disclaimer: Results have not been verified by Lely or an independent party. Your results may vary.

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Milking28/05/2026

How the Lely MQC-C supports selective dry cow therapy

The dry period plays a crucial role in the health and productivity of dairy cows. It allows the udder to recover from the previous lactation and prepares the cow for a successful start of the next one. At the same time, it is a key moment to reduce the risk of mastitis and udder infection in early lactation.

In recent years, dairy farming has moved towards a more targeted approach: selective dry cow therapy. Instead of treating all cows with antibiotics at dry off, treatment decisions are based on individual cow health. Accurate and timely insight into somatic cell count (SCC) is essential for this approach.

Milking07/04/2026

Grazing with a milking robot: challenge or opportunity?

Grazing plays an important role in dairy farming in many regions, especially when cows return to pasture in spring. At the same time, many farms already work with automatic milking systems. For robot farmers, combining grazing with a milking robot often raises a fundamental question: does grazing become a challenge, or can it turn into an opportunity?

In a robotic milking system, cows decide for themselves when to be milked, following their own rhythm throughout the day. Introducing grazing changes cow motivation and movement, which can influence how often cows visit the robot. This is why grazing and robotic milking are often seen as a difficult combination.

In practice, grazing can work well with a milking robot under the right conditions. Understanding how cows balance eating, resting and milking, and how grazing influences that balance, is key to maintaining milk production, cow health and smooth farm operations during the grazing season.

Milking01/04/2026

The evolution of robotic milking

For more than three decades, robotic milking has changed the way dairy farms operate. What began as an idea to reduce physical labor has grown into a smart system that supports farmers, cows, and long-term farm performance.

Early robotic systems were designed to solve one key challenge: how to milk cows safely and consistently without direct human involvement. Over time, these systems developed into reliable, data-driven tools that support free cow traffic, flexible working hours, and healthier herds.

Today, robotic milking is not only about efficiency. It is about creating a barn environment where cows can follow their natural rhythm, farmers gain insight from the data, and daily work becomes more sustainable and future-proof.

Lely Grazing

Make grazing with robotic milking work on your farm

Ready to combine grazing and robotic milking?

With the right setup, tools, and insights, you can give your cows the freedom to graze while maintaining full control over milking and herd performance. Lely supports you every step of the way. From smart solutions like the Astronaut and Grazeway to data-driven insights from Lely Horizon, you have everything you need to make grazing with robotics a success.

Want to discover what grazing with robotic milking could look like on your farm? Get in touch with your local Lely Center and explore the possibilities.

Contact your Lely Center