Softwr

Agriculture · head to head

Lely Horizon vs Valley Irrigation

Lely Horizon logo

Lely Horizon

Agriculture

Dairy herd management software billed per lactating cow that only runs a Lely robot barn

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Valley Irrigation logo

Valley Irrigation

Agriculture

Smart irrigation management systems

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Lely Horizon billing is per lactating cow, so the software cost grows with the herd indefinitely and a farm that expands from 120 to 200 cows takes a permanent software cost increase it did not budget when it bought the robots.; Valley Irrigation the technology products are tied to Valley irrigation hardware such as center pivots and ICON control panels rather than sold as standalone software
  • They diverge on capability: Lely Horizon covers Per-cow milking data, Valley Irrigation covers Remote monitoring.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lely Horizon and Valley Irrigation actually diverge.

Attributes where Lely Horizon and Valley Irrigation differ
AttributeLely HorizonValley Irrigation
Starting priceOn request$29/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, WindowsWeb, Ios, Android, Hardware
FoundedUnknown1946

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Agriculture).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Lely Horizon

  • Per-cow milking data
  • Health and fertility alerts
  • Work list generation
  • Feed management
  • Farm Management Support
  • Multi-site view
  • Mobile alerts
  • Reporting and benchmarking

Only in Valley Irrigation

  • Remote monitoring
  • Variable rate irrigation
  • GPS guidance
  • Water management
  • Pump control
  • Climate FieldView
  • John Deere
  • Soil sensors

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Lely Horizon

  • A 180-cow dairy running four Astronaut robots that needs the attention list to replace walking the barn twice a daynot Valley Irrigation
  • A farm adding Vector automatic feeding that wants ration delivery driven by the same cow data as milkingnot Valley Irrigation
  • A dairy manager tracking transition cow health across two sites from one accountnot Valley Irrigation
  • A Lely advisor benchmarking a client's robot utilisation against comparable farms before recommending a fourth boxnot Valley Irrigation

Valley Irrigation

  • Remotely monitoring and controlling center pivot irrigation machinesnot Lely Horizon
  • Variable rate irrigation applying different water depths across a fieldnot Lely Horizon
  • Diagnosing pivot faults and pump status without driving to the fieldnot Lely Horizon

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Lely Horizon

  • Billing is per lactating cow, so the software cost grows with the herd indefinitely and a farm that expands from 120 to 200 cows takes a permanent software cost increase it did not budget when it bought the robots.
  • Horizon is not optional: the barn equipment depends on it, so the subscription cannot be cancelled in a difficult year the way a discretionary analytics tool can, which removes any negotiating position at renewal.
  • It manages Lely equipment and effectively nothing else, so a farm running a Lely robot alongside a conventional parlour or another manufacturer's feeder ends up with two systems and no combined cow record.
  • The migration from the older T4C system was compulsory and rebuilt the interface and reporting, and farms that had years of T4C reports and custom lists found the equivalents either missing or shaped differently, costing retraining time.
  • Everything is bought and supported through the local Lely Center, so pricing, response time and the quality of advice vary by dealer with no published rate card, and a farm with a weak local centre has no practical alternative supplier.

Valley Irrigation

  • The technology products are tied to Valley irrigation hardware such as center pivots and ICON control panels rather than sold as standalone software
  • No price is published for any product; the site routes buyers to a Get a Quote form and to local dealers

Pricing, plan by plan

Lely Horizon

On request
  • Horizon Basic$undefined/month
    • Core robot operation and monitoring
    • Per lactating cow subscription
    • Invoiced digitally by the local Lely Center
  • Horizon Control$undefined/month
    • Adds herd management and fertility tooling
    • Per lactating cow subscription
  • Horizon Advance$undefined/month
    • Adds analysis, benchmarking and advisor tooling
    • Per lactating cow subscription

Valley Irrigation

$29/month
  • BaseStation3$1200/year
    • Remote monitoring
    • Basic control
    • Alerts
  • AgSense$2000/year
    • Full VRI
    • Advanced analytics
    • API

Which should you pick?

Choose Lely Horizon if

  • You need per-cow milking data.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
  • You also want health and fertility alerts.
Lely Horizon review

Choose Valley Irrigation if

  • You need remote monitoring.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Hardware.
  • You also want variable rate irrigation.
Valley Irrigation review

Questions people ask

Is Lely Horizon or Valley Irrigation better?
Neither clearly leads. Lely Horizon starts at On request and Valley Irrigation at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lely Horizon or Valley Irrigation?
Lely Horizon starts at On request and Valley Irrigation at $29/month.
Does Lely Horizon or Valley Irrigation run on more platforms?
Lely Horizon runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows. Valley Irrigation runs on Web, Ios, Android, Hardware.
What is Lely Horizon best used for?
Lely Horizon is most often used for a 180-cow dairy running four astronaut robots that needs the attention list to replace walking the barn twice a day, a farm adding vector automatic feeding that wants ration delivery driven by the same cow data as milking, a dairy manager tracking transition cow health across two sites from one account, a lely advisor benchmarking a client's robot utilisation against comparable farms before recommending a fourth box. Of those, a 180-cow dairy running four astronaut robots that needs the attention list to replace walking the barn twice a day and a farm adding vector automatic feeding that wants ration delivery driven by the same cow data as milking are not what Valley Irrigation is typically brought in for.
What can Lely Horizon do that Valley Irrigation cannot?
Lely Horizon covers Per-cow milking data, Health and fertility alerts, Work list generation, Feed management. Valley Irrigation covers Remote monitoring, Variable rate irrigation, GPS guidance, Water management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Lely Horizon: How is Lely Horizon priced?

As a subscription per lactating cow milked by the Astronaut robots, in Basic, Control and Advance tiers. Lely does not publish rates; the local Lely Center quotes them.

Valley Irrigation: Does Valley Irrigation publish pricing on their website?

No, Valley Irrigation does not display pricing publicly. The company directs customers to work with local dealers who 'can give you the best advice on which irrigation equipment and options are right for you.'

Source
Lely Horizon: Can I run Horizon without Lely robots?

No. It is the control and management layer for Lely equipment and has no meaningful function without it.

Valley Irrigation: How do I get a quote for Valley Irrigation equipment?

You can request a quote directly through their 'Get a Quote' link on their website, find a local dealer using their dealer locator, or contact them at (402) 359-2201 or [email protected].

Source
Lely Horizon: What happened to T4C?

Horizon replaced it. Migration was required rather than optional, and reporting was rebuilt rather than ported.

Valley Irrigation: Does Valley Irrigation sell directly to customers or only through dealers?

Valley Irrigation emphasizes working with local dealers rather than direct sales. Their website states that customers should connect with regional representatives for equipment recommendations and pricing discussions.

Source
Lely Horizon: Does the subscription end when the robot is paid off?

No. It continues for as long as the robots are milking, which is the cost most robot business cases understate.

Valley Irrigation: What support channels are available for existing customers?

Existing customers can reach AgSense technical support at 1-888-223-0595 for assistance with irrigation systems and equipment.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Lely Horizon

More on Valley Irrigation

Keep looking

Other head to heads