Two local farms feature at event
Lely Centre Gippsland manager Dale Serong (left) gets a dairy tour from Grant Williams at his Hallora farm.
Dairy farmers, industry experts and other rural professionals recently descended on Warragul as part of the “Connect, Care and Grow” event.
Run by Lely Australia and Lely Centre Gippsland, the event aimed to educate farmers about the future of robotic milking and the steps and practicalities involved in automating dairies.
Participants gathered on day one at the West Gippsland Arts Centre to watch a presentation from Lely Australia and hear from agri businesses DLL and Rabobank, before enjoying a farmer panel presentation about robotic farms.
Following a dinner, the group assembled the following morning at the farm of Grant and Leesa Williams in Hallora where they enjoyed a tour of their 570 Friesian cow farm and dairy. The Williams’ were just the second farm to use the Lely robotic system when they installed the system in 2009.
After this, the group attended Wallacedale farm in Poowong where farmers Luke and Mel Wallace provided insights into the benefits their farm had seen since the introduction of robots to their Jersey herd.
Robotic farming has emerged and become more popular in recent years and is gathering quite a following in the Gippsland region.
Robotic dairy farming combines sensors with a robotic milker and feed system, automated gates to move cows around and data analytics to interpret the production and health of each individual cow.
Instead of the traditional morning and night milking, robotic farms allow cows to be milked when they feel like it - with a system of gates letting cows into the robot to be fed and milked at the same time.
Luke Wallace said the new system had seen an increase in productivity, with their herd averaging 2.3 milkings a day - up on the traditional twice daily milking.
The robotic system also allows for advanced health monitoring of every individual cow across the herd.
The “Connect, Care and Grow” event is the first. However, it is hoped to be an annual event which will be held all across Australia.