Feeding
Is Robotic Feeding Right for Your Farm?
Is Robotic Feeding Right for Your Farm?
Times are hard, if anything them seem to be getting harder, especially for the agricultural sector. At Lely Center Longtown we are well aware that for some family run farms in the UK, are looking to the future at this moment and it’s looking bleak. The desire to hunker down and wait for the storm to pass is strong, but we believe there is another way.
More and more farms are having to look toward ingenious ways to utilise their time, efforts and save as many pennies as possible, all the while caring for their farm and livestock. It can be a thankless task, but Lely Center Longtown is hoping that we can help you no matter your size, and however far along in your farming journey, you are. This blog is to help you decide whether a robotic feeding system is right for your farm.
Automatic feeding your beef or dairy herd can help you cut down costs of diesel, labour and actually improve the growth and health of your cows.
Before Automatic Feeding
The alarm goes off. The clock is blinking some ungodly hour, but your cows need feeding. This time-consuming task has many variables to it, it takes precision but the to do list on the farm is always growing.
- Time consuming
- Labour intensive
- With shift patterns or staffing shortages, you put out larger quantities of food so your herd can eat when they want
- Your tractor and feeder wagon are heavily used which over time builds up wear and tear that can lead to high maintenance costs, never mind the diesel receipt!
The problem with this is that food can get wasted and spoiled very easily. Never mind the degree of mixing accuracy for your herds dietary requirements.
You may enjoy this way and feel like you have a hands-on approach which allows to watch your cows more intimately. But are you making the best use of your time? And can you keep running on diesel and caffeine?
After Automatic Feeding with the Vector
Imagine this... you have installed a Vector onto your farm, and you are able, for the first time in a LONG time, sleep in.
This is because the Vector Automatic feeding system operates 24/7. Through digital precision, your herd will be getting feed that is constantly being calibrated to achieve up to 18 different mixed diets. What does this mean?
It means you can
- Have breakfast with your family
- Take the kids to school
- Enjoy wasting less feed as the Vector delivers small amounts when needed
- Use the tractor for other tasks around the farm
- See lower energy and fuel costs coming across your accounts.
The return on your £180k investment is flexibility to utilise your time with the family and on other tasks on the farm, reduce wastage in food and overall running costs. Whether your farm is large or small, surely that is value for money!
Added to that, the average time for the Vector to pay itself off for as little as 3 years. Plenty of time to enjoy more memories with the family and to see the benefit to your herd.
The New Lely Vector MFR Next
Check out the Instagram video below of Sarah Broadwith, a beef farmer and customer of Longtown, took part in a study to help develop the new Vector MFR Next which was launched March 2025. Her feedback on the benefits of the Vector were:
- Increase growth rate (100g a day) in their beef herd with fresh food being available 24/7
- Better rumen health which helped to improved growth rates
- 9,000 ltr of less diesel used on site
If this sounds like the future of farming that you would like to be a part of then please contact us today to discuss further the opportunities that Lely Vector feeder and our full range of automatic robotics can bring to your farm.
Speak to our Sales Team on:
📞 01228 792 735 (Option 3)
Email: info@lclongtown.co.uk