Background Anniversary
After 75 years, Lely is still far from being out of innovation
When Cornelis and Arij van der Lely started developing agricultural machines in 1948, they could not have imagined that their company would grow into what it is today. 75 years later, the machine builder is the trendsetter in the field of robotisation in dairy farming, with sales in more than 50 countries. The anniversary will be celebrated extensively today and tomorrow at the Campus in Maasluis, under the credo '75 years red impact'. Although market conditions are certainly challenging, the company is optimistic about the future of dairy farming.
In recent decades, Lely's focus has shifted from mechanization to robotization. Yet the DNA of the family business has not changed much since the early years, when the war had just ended and the agricultural sector was changing rapidly. Inspired by Meccano toys, the brothers developed the Lely Acrobat, a hay tedder to make agricultural work easy. "That's where Lely's success started," says CEO André van Troost. He explained to a large delegation of international dealers and the press how the company wants to continue to innovate in dairy farming in the coming years.
Sphere and Astronaut
A product launch did not materialize today, but it was not expected either. Lely is currently busy bringing the innovations launched in 2020 to the market. The most remarkable of these is the Lely Sphere, a device that can significantly reduce nitrogen emissions on a dairy farm. According to the Rav list with 77%. Although the innovation promises mountains of gold, the road to market is bumpy. Due to the nitrogen uncertainty, dairy farmers often do not yet bite the bullet, although the interest is certainly there. Nevertheless, the company remains convinced of the potential of the Sphere. According to Van Troost, this device will also be introduced in other countries in the coming years, such as Belgium, Germany and Denmark. He already warned the international group that the political will to reduce livestock, as is currently the case in the Netherlands, will sooner or later also appear in other countries.
Andre van Troost
Although the Sphere is currently the main focus, milking robots have been the biggest hit over the years. In 1995, Lely was one of the first to market the Astronaut milking robot. Van Troost said that 18.500 Astronaut A5s have been sold in the past five years. "This means that the latest generation of milking robots has recently surpassed its predecessor in terms of numbers."
Challenging times
The anniversary is celebrated in challenging times, says Van Troost. By this he refers, among other things, to the war in Ukraine and the global chip shortage, which affects business operations. Still, he looks optimistic. "Despite the rise of vegetarian and vegan, dairy consumption continues to grow by 2% year-on-year." Although these are growth figures that offer perspective, the CEO believes that the trick is to keep in touch with society. The innovations Lely is working on can be traced back to five principles. One of them is animal welfare. This could include free cow traffic, but also the social wishes regarding calf with the cow cannot be ignored. Lely also expects milk from grass-fed cows to become a widely supported consumer trend. With the Lely Exos, the world's first concept for fully autonomous harvesting and feeding of fresh grass, Lely thinks it is responding to this. This machine has now been introduced to about 20 dairy farmers in the Netherlands in pilot projects. The commercial market launch will follow in 2024.
One thing is certain: after 75 years of pioneering and often successful product launches, Lely has not had enough of dairy farming innovations. "On to the next 75 years", Van Troost said several times during his presentation.
Wouter Job
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