Lely launches a new robot ... in case you missed it
During an iPhone launch-style production this week that was broadcast live from a farm in the Netherlands, Lely announced a new robot, a barn ammonia capture system and new updates to its herd management software.
Source: Lely Future Farm Days, Oct. 6, 2020The company’s newest robot can harvest fresh grass and then return it to the barn to dispense it directly in front of cows in feedbunks. The robot is named Exos because it “goes beyond the walls of the barn into a farm’s exosphere.”
“Let your cows graze nearby the barn and the milking robots, while the Exos will go to the fields located further away,” said Lely’s Chief Commercial Officer Gijs Scholman.
The new fully electric-powered robot will be “commercially available in a few years.” On pilot farms in the Netherlands, the robot has also been testing the application of liquid fertilizer immediately after mowing. This innovation dovetails with the company’s other new announcement – Sphere.
The Sphere system is designed to work in slatted floor barns. Specially designed floors allow cow urine to drip through small holes in the slats in the floor while the solids and fiber of manure are pushed clear from alleys using another of the company’s already existing robots – Orbiter. The ammonia released from the liquid manure collected in pits under the floor is cycled through an outdoor conversion unit to turn the gas into a crystalized solid that can be applied as fertilizer. The company claims a farmer using the system would have three unique waste streams for exporting off farm or on-farm land application – liquid urine, crystalized ammonia and manure solids.
The system reduces ammonia emissions by up to 70 percent and can capture 10 to 20 kilograms (22 to 44 pounds) of nitrogen per cow per year, according to the company.
The final announcement of the event was a new software platform to not only handle farm data but also apply data for decision support. The product will be called Horizon.
“It's a real decision support platform – one that analyzes data, offers insights and proactive advice on how to better manage your farm,” Scholman said.
The new software program will calculate fat-protein ratio changes from milk to identify suspect ketosis cows. Raising a farm’s ketosis detection rate up to 45 percent, the company claims. This is a feature that is also available today in some traditional parlor milking systems.
“The data was already there,” Scholman said. “But constantly monitoring it. And doing the math is something horizon takes care of from now on.”
The software platform is intended to be able to connect with other systems and combine data. The company reported it has 20 integrations through its API.
“We're open. We hope that many more companies will help us in enabling farmers to get access to their data,” said Age Hempenius, Lely’s head of farm management support.
Lely users who are familiar with the company’s current software platform – T4C – will be converted over to Horizon within the next year.
Lely’s CEO Andre van Troost reported that despite COVID challenges early in the year the company is on pace to “achieve our sales targets for this year.” Van Troost mentioned that new installations have continued and that some have been happening completely virtual, especially in China.
While the three innovations announced this week are not commercially available now, the company does believe they are not limited in their eventual application globally.
“We do think that the systems presented today are relevant for any dairy farm, anywhere in the world,” Scholman said.
Watch a 3-minute video recap of the event below.
Cainthus will announce a new functionality next week
As alluded to in last week’s Dairy Tech Start-up Spotlight and confirmed this week by The Cow Tech Report, Cainthus will announce a new functionality of its computer vision system. The company will unveil its first behavior module – a cow comfort index – within the next week.
“We will start to provide insights as to how comfortable cows are. We use the same set of cameras to keep track of that,” hinted Cainthus’ portfolio growth manager Tyler Bramble during last week’s online event. “We keep track of the lying time and how many minutes out of the day these cows are actually standing and on their feet.”
In spite of COVID, DFA will host another accelerator round in 2021
Also confirmed this week, DFA is still planning to host another tech accelerator group next year. More details will likely be available before the end of the month. Applications have typically been due in the fall to participate in the spring event.
DFA Accelerator is a 90-day immersive program, with a combination of on-site meetings and virtual programs to provide training, growth opportunities and mentorship to ag tech startups. Most startup participants typically spend about four weeks in Kansas City, where DFA is headquartered.
Past accelerator rounds have jump-started cow tech companies still in operation today such as Armenta, CattleCare, Labby, Livestock Water Recycling, SomaDetect and PharmRobotics.
Learn more about the program here.