This thesis work is about a new type of mixed feeding system called Vec-tor. The system has been implemented only on a few dairy farms in Fin-land, and the goal of the thesis work was to introduce the parts which the Vector system is comprised of and what benefits can be achieved through its use.

The theory part of the thesis work deals with the mixed feeding in gen-eral, practicality of the mixed feeding on the dairy farms, and mixed feed-ing systems. On an automatic milking dairy farm the feedback for the suc-cess of the mixture can be observed through the number of the daily milk-ing times of the cows at latest on the next day. The base mixture should be left mild while the amount of the compound feed concentrate served by the automatic milking station should be high enough. The feeding process can be made more streamlined and less time consuming by combining dif-ferent mixed feeding systems, leaving more time for livestock monitoring. Daily monitoring of the livestock, milk quantities and the composition of the manure will help to intervene with feeding based problems.

Five milk producers using the Vector- mixed feeding system were interviewed for the thesis work. The interviewees found that the implementation of the Vector- system has brought more freedom to their farms and eased the feeding work, as the feeding is no more tied to the time of the day. The behavior of the livestock has become more tran-quil and there is not as much competition for the feeding spots as there used to be. In addition, the possible expansions of the farms are consid-ered easier as the Vector- feeding system can be scaled up as well.

As a conclusion of the thesis work it can be stated that the Vector- sys-tem represents the future of livestock feeding on dairy farms. Working time saved on the feeding by the system can be used for other purposes. Comprehensive reports on the milk production and feeding help to optimize the production and the service of the Vector guarantees the help in case of technical difficulties.