The 50,000th Lely Astronaut was handed over to its new owner, dairy farmer David Cargill, at this year’s Balmoral Show in Lisburn, which ran from May 14th to May 18th. 

From left: John Hennin (Royal Ulster Agricultural Society President), David Cargill and Jim Irwin (Lely Centre Eglish Manager).  
 
The four-day-long Balmoral Show, the blue riband event on Northern Ireland’s rural and agricultural calendar, set the stage for this historic sale at the Lely Centre Eglish (Dungannon) stand. 
 
"We were honoured to have John Henning OBE, the 37th president of the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society, join us for the unveiling of the 50,000th Astronaut at our stand,” said Jim Irwin, centre manager of Lely Centre Eglish. 
 
“We are delighted that this momentous milestone for Lely has happened in our area and we would like to wish David Cargill the very best of luck with his new Astronaut.”   
 
For over three decades, the Lely Astronaut has proven itself in the world of milking, delivering a tremendous impact in the lives of numerous dairy farmers, their families, and their cows.
  
"We are proud to celebrate the handing over of our 50,000th Astronaut,” said Mark Brummel, managing director of Business Team Milking at Lely.
 
“Over the past 30 years, we have worked on improving farmer prosperity while contributing to the cows’ welfare and allowing them to follow their most natural rhythm. We look forward to support and positively impact the lives of many more farmers worldwide with our milking innovations.”