Description

Practice abstract

Being able to graze cows long enough in combination with a milking robot is often a challenge. This is the experience of dairy farmer Roger Brosens from Wouwse Plantage (Netherlands, 125 ha, 125 dairy cows, 2 milking robots, Planet Proof).  

Grazing gives the farmer peace of mind. While the animals are outside, the cubicles can be cleaned properly. Grazing can also result in better animal health, and is rewarded by the dairy cooperatives through a premium. 

To let the cows go outside, a pasture selection box is used. This box determines whether the cows can go outside or whether they should stay inside. Between sunrise and 10:00 a.m. and between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., the pasture selection box gives the cows that have been milked access to the pasture, and between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and between 9:00 p.m. and sunrise, the selection box remains closed, keeping the cows inside.  

Roger experiences that the cows go outside faster when an alarm clock radio is linked to the times of the pasture selection box. The alarm clock radio is placed on top of the pasture selection box and begins playing for 1 hour at the time that outside access begins. Because the cows have paired the sound of the alarm clock radio with pasture access, this works well. 

Roger Brosens states that the combination of grazing and automatic milking is very well possible,  if you have enough grazing area around your barn. He uses the “Nieuw Nederlands Weiden” system (“New Dutch Grazing”: compartmented continuous grazing, i.e. an adapted set-stocking system in which the cows rotate on a daily basis between 4-7 compartments on one platform). 

Context profil