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On April 21 and 22, the Grassland Grazing Days took place at Aeres Farms in Dronten. With more than 200 dairy farming students and young dairy farmers in attendance, this year’s event focused entirely on the theme ‘Smart grazing, smart milking’. Various workshops were organized around grassland management and grazing (in combination with robotic milking). The project Robot & Grazing? We’ve Got It Covered!, a collaboration between NAJK, Aeres University of Applied Sciences Dronten, and Netwerk Grondig, also made an active contribution.

Within the Robot & Grazing project, a key priority is to objectively determine and register grazing during robotic milking.

In March, four dairy farmers joined a study trip to Ireland organized by Robot & Weiden. In a new video, the participants look back on this trip and share what struck them about the Irish farms. They also explain which insights they are taking back to the Netherlands.

"If you want the cows to graze in the pasture, you shouldn’t overfeed them in the barn" and "if you want to make good use of the pasture grass on your farm, you should definitely walk around all your fields at least once a week to monitor the grass growth."

These are just a couple of the lessons that dairy farmer Jan Dirk de Wit from Hazerswoude is taking home with him after a visit to Ireland. At the invitation of the ‘Robots and Pastures? A Perfect Match!’ project, he and three colleagues visited Irish farmers who combine robotic milking with day and night grazing.

Do you milk with a robot and record how many hours your cows spend in the pasture? Then we would love to talk to you!

On 10 February, practitioners, scientists and policymakers from eight countries came together in Brussels as part of the Grazing4AgroEcology project. The central question was: how can policymakers better support grazing?

We brought up a familiar bottleneck from the Netherlands: monitoring grazing at robotic farms. The Robot & Grazing factsheet has previously described how this can be a significant obstacle in practice.

Automatic milking and grazing are often seen as a difficult combination. However, new research from the Robot & Weiden? Voor Elkaar! (Robot & Grazing? For Each Other!) project shows that robot milking and grazing do not have to be mutually exclusive, provided that conscious choices are made that suit the entrepreneur and the business.

The research results were presented on 21 January during a national webinar entitled Robot & Weiden? Voor Elkaar! [Robots & Grazing? For Each Other!]. A compact fact sheet summarises these results and is available online.

On 21 January, the second Webinar Robot & Grazing? For Eachother! took place, live from the location of one of our ambassadors. Were you unable to attend or would you like to watch the webinar again? The webinar is now available to watch.

Today, a new European online platform was launched where dairy farmers from ten countries can exchange practical experiences on the combination of robotic milking and grazing. The platform was set up by and for dairy farmers and focuses on daily practice: www.robotgrazing.eu 

Would you like to gain new insights by literally looking across the border? Then this is your chance. From Monday 23 to Wednesday 25 March 2026, a fully catered study trip to Ireland will be organised. During this trip, you will visit professional Irish dairy farms, where grass, craftsmanship and technology come together. The four winners will be announced on 21 January 2026 during a live webinar.

Sweden is a pioneer in robotic milking and the only country in the EU where grazing is legally required. Since 1988, Swedish law has mandated grazing, supported by a widely accepted social norm. Not only dairy cows but also youngstock from six months old must go outside. Interestingly, the law does not require cows to actually consume grass—it’s about access to pasture. Many Swedish farms therefore have a simple exercise paddock. Yet, there are also highly committed grazers who manage to achieve many grazing hours. These farms prove that robotic milking and grazing can go hand in hand.

Last month, four Dutch dairy farmers—the winners of the study trip—visited four Swedish dairy farms. There, it became clear that cows can easily graze outdoors while being milked by robots. The result? New experiences, surprising insights, and renewed confidence in the power of automation combined with grazing.

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A project is the perfect opportunity to scrutinize existing rules and opinions. Take the current condition for the pasture premium: 

Did you miss it? No problem, you can watch the webinar now
During the kickoff of the Robot & Weiden project, we delve into the opportunities and challenges of automatic milking combined with grazing.

The suspense is over. Four winners for the free study trip to Sweden have been announced!
The draw took place live during the webinar on April 23. 

On April 23, the draw will take place: which four dairy farmers will win the all-expenses-paid study trip to Sweden?

On Wednesday, April 23, 2025, a webinar will take place about the combination of grazing and milking robots.

In mid-June 2025, we will travel to Sweden for a study trip. Sweden has its own approach, involving grazing and advanced technology...

A mobile milking robot is an innovative concept where an automatic milking robot is used in a movable way...