The feeding robot: a preci­sion tool for beef farming  

Jean-Luc Bérard farms at EARL Bérard-Beau­vais in Noyen-sur-Sarthe, rearing 125 Limousin suckler cows and their offspring; a total of 300 head to be fed during the winter. 

In 1996, after having been a crop manager, stockman and finally manager of various organ­i­sa­tions in the regional live­stock sector, Jean-Luc returned to his passion: Rearing beef cattle. “I was able to take over my father-in-law’s farm with my wife; it was a farm special­ising in meat but had only 40 Rouge des Prés suckler cows,” he explains. This was followed by the purchase of 75 Limousin cows in the breed’s place of origin, the construc­tion of four closely grouped build­ings, and a sales contract with the Bovi­maine co-oper­a­tive.  

Three years later, with meat prices at a low, the owners of EARL Bérard-Beau­vais decided to diver­sify by planting 10ha of cider apple trees, which are now in full produc­tion. At the same time, the Loué Farmers’ Agri­cul­tural Coop­er­a­tive enabled Jean-Luc to start rearing broiler chickens. Avian flu has led to a renewed focus on duck produc­tion in the pre-fattening stage; a rather time-consuming activity, including bedding, feeding, various care tasks and so on.  

“How could we make ourselves avail­able for this if feeding 300 cattle took two to three hours a day,” says Jean-Luc. “The ques­tion of whether to use a robot natu­rally arose, and in 2016, when Lely offered its Vector solu­tion and after-sales service, we invested.”  

A ROBOT FOR OPTIMAL AVERAGE DAILY GAIN 

The busi­ness had employees, but it was not perfect, because humans make mistakes. “When weighing the animals, we noticed signif­i­cant growth discrep­an­cies of around 200g/day.” But the robot had a cost: Was the invest­ment worth­while? The farm employs two staff members, who are no longer directly involved in distrib­uting rations, although a straw blower remains in service and care must be taken to restock the robot’s feed kitchen every two days.  

There is no shortage of work in the fields either: The farm comprises 166ha of utilised agri­cul­tural area, including 50ha of grass­land, 25ha of maize, 25ha of cereals and 5-6ha of fodder beet, which has recently been rein­tro­duced into the rota­tion. 

“From a prof­itability point of view, based on 10 years’ expe­ri­ence, I would say that 130 suckler cows and their offspring are really the maximum for a single feeding robot,” says Jean-Luc. What remains is the tech­nical perfor­mance and the farmer’s peace of mind. “Before the robot arrived, we had a mixer wagon and a bale unroller, which required two trac­tors, diesel and between two and three hours’ work a day. We created one mix for the young bulls and another for the rest (weaners, preg­nant cows, and heifers). So the rations were not tailored to each batch, which limited the preci­sion of the feeding.” 

To encourage feed intakes and limit refusals, staff had to push up the forage several times a day, which, in addi­tion to the phys­ical strain, was also time-consuming, he adds. “Now the robot pushes the forage, and it does so silently.” 

Using his mobile phone app and a computer rationing programme, Jean-Luc has created seven precise rations: Two for young bulls, two for heifers, two for first-calf heifers and one for fattening cows. “In the feed kitchen, sensors on the grab motor esti­mate the weight of the feed; this weight is then adjusted, if neces­sary, at the mixer bowl,” he explains.  

Guided along rails laid on the floor, the robot passes in front of the feed face every hour; it uses ultra­sonic sensors to posi­tion itself perfectly in front of the troughs for each fattening pen. Fresh deliv­eries 24 hours a day improve palata­bility of the forage, encour­aging the animals to eat more. Lely France confirms this point: “The cow is a rumi­nant with a complex diges­tive system. With its four stom­achs, it has a high capacity for digesting fibre,” it says. “The avail­ability and acces­si­bility of the ration allow the animals to eat small meals throughout the day, thereby main­taining a stable pH in the stomach.” 

A ROBOT FOR ANIMAL WELFARE 

Contrary to expec­ta­tions, the robot does not distance the farm staff from the animals, notes Jean-Luc. “It frees up our time to observe them; this is essen­tial for a calm and peaceful herd.” And he admits that automa­tion isn’t a cure-all either. “I’m a bit of a pain when it comes to keeping the maize silo clean, for example; I insist on using nets to protect the silage face from birds, and I use a blade-type silage cutter to ensure the face doesn’t oxidise before the robot’s grab picks it up.” Further­more, he adds ensiled straw to the rations because of its bene­fits for rumi­na­tion.  

Contrary to expec­ta­tions, the robot does not distance the farm staff from the animals.

Jean-Luc Bérard

There are around 200 feeding robots in use on cattle farms in France, according to RobAgri, the asso­ci­a­tion set up in 2017 to repre­sent the agri­cul­tural robotics sector to the French govern­ment. This compares with the 14,000 milking robots in use, plus the 2,800 or so slurry scrapers and vacuums, and around 1,000 forage-pushing robots, etc. 

A report by industry players in the machinery sector recently stated: “Robots will play a key role in relieving farmers of the burden of stren­uous or repet­i­tive tasks. Agri­cul­tural machinery will be able to rise to the chal­lenge. On cattle farms, feeding is one of the most time-consuming tasks, often taking between one-and-a-half and two hours a day, depending on the size of the herd and the number of groups to manage.” It’s a predic­tion that Jean-Luc could have written… 10 years ago!