nfd10b

A special supplement by

Showcasing new dairy sheds throughout the North Island, NZ

Spring 2010

Sun Media Ltd07 578 0030

Dairy innovationsDairy innovations

This 2010 edition:* 27 new installations

* 104 pages of sheds* A must-have guide

* for dairy farm development

Coast & Country Page 2 NEW FARM DAIRIES

FARM DISTRICT PAGEAverill Waikato/King Country 4-11McLeod Waikato/King Country 12-17Glenrowan Farm Waikato/King Country 18-21Holmes Waikato/King Country 22-25Belton Waikato/King Country 26-31Waituhi Pastoral Waikato/King Country 32-33Longview Pastures Waikato/King Country 34-35Quirke Waikato/King Country 36-37Ag Research Waikato/King Country 38-43Field Waikato/King Country 44-47Stonham Farm Waikato/King Country 48-51Landsdaal Waikato/King Country 54-55Addison Te Puke 56-57Pinney Northland 58-59Shepherd Northland 60-63Martin Northland 64-65Bella Vista Farm South Auckland 66-67Ben Alpin Hawkes Bay 68-71Willowford Farm Hawkes Bay 72-75Waipapa Trust Central Plateau 76-79Waituhi Kurutau Trust Taumarunui 80-81Brinhill Farm Eastern BOP 82-85Kilwaughter Farms Eastern BOP 86-89Herrick Wairarapa 90-93Landers Taranaki 94-97Clince Taranaki 98-99Bishop Taranaki 100-101

Table of Contents

HiFLO PUMPSHiFLO PUMPS & IRRIGATION LTD


Weve milked the best new ideas and skimmed

the cream of dairy developments to again

bring you the best of NEW FARM DAIRIES in 2010.

When the best of home-grown Kiwi ingenuity is combined with world-leading technology the result is excellence in dairy innova-tion. Its all here in this latest edition of NEW FARM DAIRIES 2010 brought to you by the team at Coast & Country, the rural publishing sector of Sun Media Ltd.

Weve trudged the North Island to bring you a stunning cross-section of on-farm dairy developments.

Its been a trying year for the rural sector. It says a lot for the resilience of the New Zealand dairy industry that theres such steadfast com-mitment. That shows in the level of development featured on these pages.

Planning and building a New Farm Dairy is a highly specialised fi eld. New Zealand leads the world

in innovation and technology, a process of constantly-evolving improvement and performance.

Every time we walk into a new milking plant we discover fascinat-ing advances, ranging from the technologically brilliant to the downright so-simple-its-stupid ideas that change the life of the dairy farmer for the better.

Take a walk through the sheds on these pages, an essential guide for anyone considering upgrading their milking plant, planning a new shed, farm conversions or amalgamation. Theres a tale to tell in every one, brimming with clever Kiwi thinking and the latest and greatest equip-ment advances.

The dairy installations featured in this edition tell a story of incredible commitment to the land, industry, the science, family, lifestyle and best business practice. The common thread a drive for effi ciency, improvement, animal welfare, sustainable environmental practice and profi t. That balanced strive for excellence is the hallmark of good modern dairy farming in New Zea-

land. The team at Coast & Country thanks the many owners, suppliers, builders and contractors who have thrown open the gate and assisted so willingly with the production of this latest edition of NEW FARM DAIRIES.

We appreciate being made so wel-come on so many of your amazing properties. The morning teas, again, were legendary. Thanks for allowing our team to stride across your pad-docks, pick your brains; and poke, prod and photograph the inner workings of your spectacular milk-ing systems. A special thanks to our dedicated team of rural specialists who have worked so hard all year to bring your stories and pictures to these pages.

We are well advanced for the next edition of NEW FARM DAIRIES and as usual, spaces are fi lling fast.

The 2011 issue will cover dairy farms nationwide.

To be featured, call us early to avoid disappointment.

Sun Media 07 578 0030 or Lois McKinley at 027 2817427Publishers Brian & Claire Rogers

Changing the lives of dairy farmers

The regions independent,

locally owned rural publication.

No.1 The StrandPO Box 240

Tauranga 3140

New Farm Dairies is brought to you by...

Coast & Country is delivered free to more than 32,000 rural mailboxes,

covering all Bay of Plenty and Waikato rural areas. This annual NEW FARM

DAIRIES is circulated to all dairy farmers in the North Island,

covering 24,000 dairy farms.Claire Rogers

Managing Director

Lois McKinley027 281 7427 Advertising

Natasha MitchellEditorial

Andrew CampbellEditorial

Sue EdmondsEditorial

Ken UsmarEditorial

Brian RogersDirector/Editor

phone 07 578 0030 fax 07 571 1116

email [email protected]

Coast & Country Page 2 NEW FARM DAIRIES

FARM DISTRICT PAGEAverill Waikato/King Country 4-11McLeod Waikato/King Country 12-17Glenrowan Farm Waikato/King Country 18-21Holmes Waikato/King Country 22-25Belton Waikato/King Country 26-31Waituhi Pastoral Waikato/King Country 32-33Longview Pastures Waikato/King Country 34-35Quirke Waikato/King Country 36-37Ag Research Waikato/King Country 38-43Field Waikato/King Country 44-47Stonham Farm Waikato/King Country 48-51Landsdaal Waikato/King Country 54-55Addison Te Puke 56-57Pinney Northland 58-59Shepherd Northland 60-63Martin Northland 64-65Bella Vista Farm South Auckland 66-67Ben Alpin Hawkes Bay 68-71Willowford Farm Hawkes Bay 72-75Waipapa Trust Central Plateau 76-79Waituhi Kurutau Trust Taumarunui 80-81Brinhill Farm Eastern BOP 82-85Kilwaughter Farms Eastern BOP 86-89Herrick Wairarapa 90-93Landers Taranaki 94-97Clince Taranaki 98-99Bishop Taranaki 100-101

Table of Contents



Weve milked the best new ideas and skimmed

the cream of dairy developments to again

bring you the best of NEW FARM DAIRIES in 2010.

When the best of home-grown Kiwi ingenuity is combined with world-leading technology the result is excellence in dairy innova-tion. Its all here in this latest edition of NEW FARM DAIRIES 2010 brought to you by the team at Coast & Country, the rural publishing sector of Sun Media Ltd.

Weve trudged the North Island to bring you a stunning cross-section of on-farm dairy developments.

Its been a trying year for the rural sector. It says a lot for the resilience of the New Zealand dairy industry that theres such steadfast com-mitment. That shows in the level of development featured on these pages.

Planning and building a New Farm Dairy is a highly specialised fi eld. New Zealand leads the world

in innovation and technology, a process of constantly-evolving improvement and performance.

Every time we walk into a new milking plant we discover fascinat-ing advances, ranging from the technologically brilliant to the downright so-simple-its-stupid ideas that change the life of the dairy farmer for the better.

Take a walk through the sheds on these pages, an essential guide for anyone considering upgrading their milking plant, planning a new shed, farm conversions or amalgamation. Theres a tale to tell in every one, brimming with clever Kiwi thinking and the latest and greatest equip-ment advances.

The dairy installations featured in this edition tell a story of incredible commitment to the land, industry, the science, family, lifestyle and best business practice. The common thread a drive for effi ciency, improvement, animal welfare, sustainable environmental practice and profi t. That balanced strive for excellence is the hallmark of good modern dairy farming in New Zea-

land. The team at Coast & Country thanks the many owners, suppliers, builders and contractors who have thrown open the gate and assisted so willingly with the production of this latest edition of NEW FARM DAIRIES.

We appreciate being made so wel-come on so many of your amazing properties. The morning teas, again, were legendary. Thanks for allowing our team to stride across your pad-docks, pick your brains; and poke, prod and photograph the inner workings of your spectacular milk-ing systems. A special thanks to our dedicated team of rural specialists who have worked so hard all year to bring your stories and pictures to these pages.

We are well advanced for the next edition of NEW FARM DAIRIES and as usual, spaces are fi lling fast.

The 2011 issue will cover dairy farms nationwide.

To be featured, call us early to avoid disappointment.

Sun Media 07 578 0030 or Lois McKinley at 027 2817427Publishers Brian & Claire Rogers

Changing the lives of dairy farmers

The regions independent,

locally owned rural publication.

No.1 The StrandPO Box 240

Tauranga 3140

New Farm Dairies is brought to you by...

Coast & Country is delivered free to more than 32,000 rural mailboxes,

covering all Bay of Plenty and Waikato rural areas. This annual NEW FARM

DAIRIES is circulated to all dairy farmers in the North Island,

covering 24,000 dairy farms.Claire Rogers

Managing Director

Lois McKinley027 281 7427 Advertising

Natasha MitchellEditorial

Andrew CampbellEditorial

Sue EdmondsEditorial

Ken UsmarEditorial

Brian RogersDirector/Editor

phone 07 578 0030 fax 07 571 1116

email [email protected]

PH 07 578 0030 Page 3NEW FARM DAIRIES

As we go out each year to report on new farm dairies

being completed, there are always a raft of new

improvements in milking technology to view and

understand.The shed builders compete to

make their constructions both cow and milker friendly. The days of elderly herringbone sheds where it was freezing in winter and a sweatshop in summer are gone. Even this style these days is gener-ally light and airy, while having roofl ines which defl ect the wind and protect from driving rain.

Larger herdsWith herds continuing to get

larger, fi fty-four bail rotary sheds are more and more common, with even larger ones around. And these days we fi nd cows wear-ing electronic ear tags, or neck bands, and even anklets, which the computer technology installed recognises and responds to.

Coupled with these are more and more milk monitoring systems, installed under the platform for each bail. Some just measure resistance (cell counts) while others also measure the amount of milk which each cow gives at each milking. No slacking allowed on milk production these days. Fade away and youre out of the team and on the truck, straight from

the loading bay in the yards! And herd testing has been simplifi ed out of sight!

Electronic cup removers have become almost universal in just a few years, and for those sheds without them, theyre on the top of the wish list for next season. As well, todays milking plants allow endless improvements to be simply clipped onto whats already installed, rather than having to upgrade the whole system.

Changing bailsEven the bails are changing

shape, both to fi t various sized cows and to make entering and leaving easier, and they all seem to have retainers which keep slow milking cows on for a second round. In-shed feed systems can now produce individualised and measured meals for each cow, and we thought feed bins and troughs were pretty good not very long ago!

Hot competitionThere seems to have been hot

competition in the teatspray market this year, with new models squirting from different angles or multiple jets. And those simple looking lumps of plastic which separate cow back legs have made cups-on a visual activity, rather than a blind grope for front teats. In addition, the models where the clusters drop down below the bridge and get a quick wash as they

go through both reduces the spread of bugs, and offers the cups-on milker a clean set each time.

How yards are designed seem to get more sophisticated every year. Automatic drafting systems which can siphon cows off up to fi ve different ways can now see cows drafted and held for mastitis treat-ments or heat testing, extra time on a feed pad or standoff pad, or even get in line for a pedicure. Vet areas now allow for both indoor and out-door treatments, AI, and anything else your vet fancies to do.

But its probably the improve-ments in effl uent management which are the most noticeable. Even four years ago I used to be shown 25,000 litre holding tanks on farms which used around 60,000 litres of water every day. So what did they do when it rained? These days they dig huge ponds and use the spoil to create the shed foundation. Weeping walls separate out the solids into bun-kers, and stirrers keep ponds from crusting. And all that lovely free fertilizer, spread when the soil can cope, grows great maize and cheers up pasture.

Perhaps one of the best things happening, from the manufactur-ers points of view, is that our technical advances in milking sheds and their contents, are proving a real winner as exports to a growing list of countries. Kiwi ingenuity still growing strong!

by Sue Edmonds

As we go out each year to report on new farm dairies

being completed, there are always a raft of new

improvements in milking technology to view and

understand.The shed builders compete to

make their constructions both cow and milker friendly. The days of elderly herringbone sheds where it was freezing in winter and a sweatshop in summer are gone. Even this style these days is gener-ally light and airy, while having roofl ines which defl ect the wind and protect from driving rain.



Larger herds

larger, fi fty-four bail rotary sheds are more and more common, with even larger ones around. And these days we fi nd cows wear-ing electronic ear tags, or neck bands, and even anklets, which the computer technology installed recognises and responds to.

Coupled with these are more and more milk monitoring systems, installed under the platform for each bail. Some just measure resistance (cell counts) while others also measure the amount of milk which each cow gives at each milking. No slacking allowed on milk production these days. Fade away and youre out of the team and on the truck, straight from

New improvements and technology

By Lois McKinley

Kerry and Robyn Averill have owned their farm for 20 years now. On the outskirts of Morrinsville, this 50 hectare farm is surrounded by lush

countryside. Just a hop, skip and jump to town.

What was previously a cow dairy was converted to a milking goat dairy. Cur-rently into their fi fth season milking Saanen and Saanen cross milking goats, the Averills are thrilled with their choice of milking companions.

Goat farming is very labour intensive, says Kerry. But I would never go back to milking cows. The Averills are assisted on the goat dairy with the help of three full time labour units.

Kerry and Robyn started with 420 milking goats, and have now increased the herd to 1000. As the herd grew so did the need for a new shed. When the Averills began milking they used an old converted herringbone shed. The herd well and truly outgrew the shed, so the decision was made to upgrade to a new one.

Kerry works on the farm full time with Robyn doing kid rearing and other bits and pieces, as well as working at the local school as a teacher aide.

Kids and more kidsGoat gestation is only fi ve months, so mating occurs

in February each year, then the does have a dry period before kidding with milking commencing on the fi rst of July. The bucks can serve fi fteen to twenty does per day, and the Averills have three bucks penned up

with 140 does for mating. The bucks get swapped around quite often.Robyn copes with all the feeding of kids. The kid

feeding has an automated machine that mixes the powder with water, beats it to get the

lumps out and feeds it to the kids ad lib. Now

because calfaterias are unsuitable for goats as they jump into them, there is a series of concave holes in the wall of their pen with teats in, a very novel way for the kid to feed.

All the goats are permanently housed indoors. Indoor housing is done because it keeps the goats warmer and they produce more. The Averills purchased all their goat shelters from Harford Greenhouses Auckland branch Taylor Built Ltd.

Situated just to the rear of the milking shed, there are a series of eight 7x60 metre shelters, and two that are six metres wide by 45 metres long. In between the bays are covered bays, in

which the feed is spread numerous times during the day. Kerry feeds his goats small feeds during the day rather than

one big continuous meal. Brewers grain and Palm Kernel and freshly cut grass are fed during daylight hours, with another feed at night. This is fed by tractor in the bays each side of the shelters, and the goats put their heads out through the railings to feed.

Coast & Country Page 4 AVERILL

Just kidding aroundPage 4Page 4

Feeding out freshly cut grass.

Kerry Averill, Rob Broomfi eld

and Robyn Averill.

... continued

GREENER GROWING GREATER

Call today for a free quote with options to suit your application.

Direct to you from the team at

Heavy duty Italian vacuum pump for reliability

High grade steel tank and domed ends for safety

Galvanised high grade steel tank for long life

Double overflow protection for pump

Left and right side flange ports for filling points

Upper filling port Optional Ezi Load system

Large steel implosion rings in tank for strength

Hydraulic service brakes & mechanical park brake

Swivel tow hitch Optional leaf sprung drawbar

Effluent Tankers

FREE QUOTESPh > 0800 464 393

CALL US TODAY!

VASTLYSUPERIOR

EUROPEAN GALVANISING BOTH INSIDE & OUTSIDE

OF THE TANK

TANKERSIZES AVAILABLE

2,200-30,000 LITRES

PH 07 578 0030 Page 5AVERILL

Chewing it over

Goats eating in the Harford greenhouses.

continued...

... continued

The goat is a member of a group of animals called ruminants. Ruminants chew their cud.

Unlike us, they have special four-compart-ment stomachs especially designed to digest roughage such as grass, hay and silage.

The goats stomach has four chambers:

the rumen, the honey-

combed reticulum, the omasum, and the

abomasum or true stom-ach. The size relationship

of the four chambers changes as the animal grows up. The

abomasum gets proportionally smaller. To understand why this

happens, lets consider the function of each compartment and then review the goats diet.

The rumen acts as a big fermentation vat. Bacteria and protozoa in the rumen supply enzymes to break down the fi bre in the goats feed. The tiny organisms in the rumen also help to build proteins from the feed and manufacture all of the B vitamins needed by the goat. Many nutrients that help provide the goat with energy are also absorbed here. The fermentation process produces heat that

helps to keep the goat warm. When roughage is eaten by the adult goat,

it is chewed on, soaked with saliva, and then swallowed. This bolus of food is called the cud. It goes down into the rumen to be attacked and broken down or digested by the micro-organisms. At regular intervals the cud is brought back up to the goats mouth

to be chewed more and then swallowed again. This entire process is called rumination. If you watch the goats neck carefully, you can see it swallow and later regurgitate his cud. The goat will often burp to get rid of the gas produced by all the fermentation going on in its rumen. You can really smell the fermenta-tion process on their breath. If something causes the goat to stop being able to burp up the gases, the gas will build up and bloat or swell up its rumen and they may become bloated.

Once the food particles of cud become small enough, they pass to the second compartment or reticulum. Here any foreign objects that may have been accidentally swallowed with the feed settle out in the honeycomb structure of the reticulums walls.

The fermenting particles then pass on to the omasum. The omasum removes the water from them and also absorbs more nutrients called volatile fatty acids that help supply the goat with energy.

The particles are then forced into the abo-masum or true stomach.

D a i r y S o l a rD a i r y S o l a ro r D o m e s t i c


Here, the particles are digested by the stom-ach acid, hydrochloric acid (HCl). This form of digestion is the same as what occurs in our stomachs.

The remaining particles are then passed on to the small intestine where most of the nutrients are absorbed by the body and made available to the goat.

When a goat kid is born, its rumen, reticu-lum and omasum are very tiny and not useful. The goat kid depends on a liquid, milk, not roughage for its feed source. When the kid swallows milk, the milk goes directly to the

abomasum through the esophageal groove. Everytime the kid swallows, a fl ap of skin at the entrance to the rumen folds over to form

a grove that bypasses the rumen and sends the milk straight to the abomasum to be digested by stomach acid. As the kid gets older, they start trying to consume roughage. The rumen becomes active and starts to enlarge. Its population of micro-organisms increases. The reticulum and omasum also respond to the changes in diet by getting bigger. By the time the kid is an adult goat, roughage is their main source of food and his rumen is far larger than his abomasum.

A dairy doe should be milked in the same manner as a dairy cow, using good dairy hygiene. Does may be milked by hand or

machine. The milk requires the same careful attention to cleanliness and cooling as any other milk.

Goat milk has a more easily digestible fat and protein content than cow milk. The increased digestibility of protein is of importance to infant diets (both human and animal), as well as to invalid and convales-cent diets. Furthermore, glycerol ethers are much higher in goat than in cow milk, which appears to be important for the nutrition

of the nursing newborn. The milk from the Averills farm is picked up every second day by NZ Dairy Goat Co-op and sent to their fac-tory in Hamilton. From there the milk is sent to Asian countries and used as baby formula.

Site worksDarryl Goodwin from Okoroire Excavators

was employed to do the site prep work for this project.

Sited just below the old cowshed, the work began in earnest in a slight hollow, which needed building up by one and a half metres. The clay mixture, which was sourced locally to build up the foundations, was an excellent material for the base. The ground conditions were such that they got very good compaction.

Darryl Goodwin from Okoroire Excavators.

High export qualitycontinued...

... continued

The Milfos goat bails.

Goat milk has a more easily digestible fat and protein content than cow milk.


Working in with Rob was just a standard part of the job, and Okoroire Excavators are Robs preferred contractor of choice for his dairy shed projects.

Undercover workBuilder Rob Broomfi eld from Broomfi eld

Construction was employed to construct the goats new parlour. The nineteen metre by 36 metre building is all undercover, including the yard, as goats are not at all partial to water.

The steel clad building has refrigerated panelling on the inside walls. This is for ease of cleaning. Manufactured in Palmerston North by Insulation Panel and Door Ltd, and freighted up and installed panel by panel.

It was Robs job to organise and hire all the sub contractors, these are sub contractors that he uses on all of his jobs.

Morrinsville roofer, Owen Barlow was called upon to put the roofi ng on the new shed. Owen is involved in numerous dairy build projects.

Easy clean surfacingModern Coatings from Waiuku was chosen

to cover the block work with his acrafl ex high-build coating. The coating is a six coat process with three coats of highbuild acrylic, two coats of decorative spots and a top coat of solvent glaze which melts into the whole product and hardens as one. This makes it far more hard-wearing than other coatings. It can handle all chemicals used in the dairy shed from acids to chlorine based products.

Roger Farley will be coming back to the Averills to paint the blockwork on the exterior

of the shed in Dulux acrylic, to make it look nice and neat. This will be painted in slate blue to give it a swish clean look.

Roger said that the rotary goat shed was something different than the good old cow-shed, but the walls were still the same and needed their hardwearing fl eck coating to ensure an easy clean surface for the farmer.

Life long friendsStarting in March 2009 and fi nishing the

build in October was a novel experience for Rob. He learnt an enormous amount about goats, he once even had the local escape artist come and knock over his theodolite, get into his power tools, you name it they did it! Rob even has a life long friend in a goat called Lee now.

Rob also made a few extra trips back to the shed to put in overfl ow drains, and lay con-crete for the area between the housing and the yard, which has tidied the area up a great deal.

Rob employed Brunton Soanes from Mor-rinsville to sort the plumbing and septic tank issues out for the Averills shed.

Keeping the goats drycontinued...

... continued

Looking out towards the Harford shelters.

The new shed.

Keeping the goats dry


At the exit to the yard is an animal han-dling system, and at the end of milking the hooves are trimmed as the goats exit. Kerry says that approximately 20 goats have their hooves trimmed at the end of each milking. This keeps things ticking over nicely. On the odd occasion one slips past the drafter.

The fi rst of its kindMilfos manufactured the Milfos Iconveyer

milking machine for goats and the custom built 100 bail electric drive steel deck platform with electric drives for the Averills new goat dairy.

All installation of the Milfos plant, was done by McLarens Rural Services at Morrinsville. The cluster removal system is fi tted with Milfos smartrams, and the milk metering feeds information to the computer system. The electronic system was made in Israel and is the fi rst of its type in any rotary in the world, says Kerry. Now I just need to set up the internet and send my data off to Israel, to monitor progress.

The Epifl ow Goat and fl ock management package, including com-

puter data from bail system controls,

and drafting all fl ock records,

are maintained in the system. This system is easy to use and data from every milking is loaded against the goat. Goats have an anklet for ID in bail. There are readers on the plat-form which pick up the anklet ID.

With the new milking parlour in place milking times have reduced from fi ve hours in the morning to just two hours, and afternoon milking has gone from four hours to only one hour twenty.

The vacuum system and some parts of machinery from the old shed were able to be reused, cutting costs somewhat. The machin-ery is the same for goats as it is for cows. There was some minor adaptions and custom work involved, says Mark McEwen from Milfos. It has been a journey with minor modifi cations for the goats.

This is the fi rst of its kind worldwide with this level of automation, says Mark. We are not aware of any other rotary of this size in the world with this level of automation. This has been custom built from scratch.

There are only four of these electronic systems for goats in the world. One in Italy, France, Israel and NZ.

The Averills are not currently herd testing, but due to the fact that the software currently only gauges the milk yield, they will com-mence herd testing at some stage to get the fat and protein and SCC counts.

The software manufacturer is currently work-ing on the SCC side of things. McLarens Rural Services from Morrinsville are the Milfos dealers who installed the plant and machinery. Tony McLaren had three to four men working

on the job. One was full time on the develop-ment and over saw the entire job from start to fi nish. Because a lot of this stuff was pretty new to us, says Tony. There was a lot of research and development on the job.

We had a lot of fi ne tuning with the cup removers, as there were only two other lots in the country, so we had to make sure we got the job right.

This has been a unique install for us, and our partners in the whole event have really come to the party, says Tony.

The software system is a whole different setup from dairy cows. In operation in about half a dozen farms in Israel, and all to a much smaller scale than the Averills farm.

There is ongoing development with the soft-ware. McLarens did all the water reticulation, which was pretty standard to all rotaries.

The platform has small enclosed bales, which in comparison to the cow platform is quite minute. The goats quite obviously love their new shed, and this was evident when I was told that the giant water soaker at the exit area, was not used by the workers for fun, but to get the goats off the platform.

What people wantPaul Donderwinkel from Centigrade in

Matamata was on hand to discuss refrigera-tion with me.

Says Paul: Its not what we want to sell people, its about what people want to put into their new shed. Having worked with Kerry for the past fi ve years, what we did was

Pedicure time

Mark McKewen area rep for Milfos, and Tony McLaren from McLarens Rural Services.

continued...

... continued

PAN ELLEADING MANUFACTURERS

OF INSULATED PANELS

M11609_Trident_The Sun Ad_FA_OL.ai 9/18/09 9:35:47 AM


look at his project and as there was nothing wrong with the refrigeration system he already had, it was decided to re-house it all to the new goat milking parlour. We had to make a few tweaks here and there, says Paul.

It kept costs down for Kerry too, by using the existing gear.

There was a solid foundation of equipment which was all utilised, including the icebank, and is the key to what Kerry has done, says Paul.

Paul says Centigrade is now gaining a lot of knowledge in the local goat industry.

The milking shed has been equipped with a PPP silo outside the shed.

The silo is connected to the shed feed system by an auger. Theo Janssen from PPP

Industries explained that the feed comes through the pipe and onto a cross auger

box based on a timer control system. Once the auger is set it releases the

feed into the bins. The coreless cross auger is a worm type, so is not a solid auger. The augers come in various sizes, and are installed dependant on the shed size.The silos are imported from over-

seas, and assembled at the Tuakau factory. They are then carted to the farm and installed on a concrete pad. The auger line is also manufactured at the factory. The auger system

copes with all types of feed.PPP Industries was founded in 1962,

and was predominantly setup to supply the poultry industry. This has now branched out into the dairy and pig industries, and covers most agricultural areas.

Wiring and designLaser Electrical Services, Morrins-

ville, was proud to be the preferred electrical contractor for the Averill

farms new goat milking shed, having

been involved in past upgrades of the original goat milking shed, it was great to be involved from the beginning of the project in planning and complete wiring and design of the new state of the art 100 bale rotary goat milking plant.

Laser Electrical Services say they are looking forward to the future with positive enthusiasm, as new and exciting electronic products are continually being brought out into the market place for all industries, and are continually up-skilling all staff to service

and install all these new products of the electrical industry.

Leask Engineering from Morrinsville did all the welding and pipework for the new shed. Instead of having rails in the yard it was con-structed of mesh as the goats like to climb on the rails. Most of the work was done on site at the Averill farm, with the gates being made at the factory.

Re-using systems

Theo Janssen from PPP Industries.

continued...

... continued

BZ

Rom Stellingwerf and David Leask from Leask Engineering.


We supply Rob Broomfi eld with all the steel posts and everything else that goes in the concrete, says David Leask.

Rob and his crew then place it as per the drawings.

Leask Engineering rolled all pipes to make gates, backing gates and the water boom, these were also constructed in the workshop and fi tted on-site.

Modifi cationsThe goats milking

parlour has been equipped with a WETiT teat spraying system. Now this did require some minor modifi cations for the standard cow setup, due to the difference in teat angle from a cow to a goat.

I had the company of Peter Cooke from WETiT to show me around. The teat spraying electronic sensor setup is located underneath the platform for the goats, whereas with the cows it is mounted on top of the platform. Because goats only have two teats, the spray unit is mounted on the bridge and angled to get full coverage. Peter said they had to scratch their heads a bit to adapt the unit for the goats.

WETiT, the teat sprayer specialists are once

again the Supreme Business of the Year in their region, Franklin. They won this coveted prize last time they entered the Business Excellence Awards in 2003. This year two districts joined forces for the awards which means WETiT are now the Franklin and Papakura Business of the year.

Winning innovationA clear example of the innovation that

makes WETiT a winner is the Platform Magic automatic teat sprayer for cows in rotary sheds, designed to adapt to most types of sheds and user requirements. The

recent installation in Kerry and Robyn Averills goat milking operation in Morrin-sville demonstrates how easy it is to adapt the Platform Magic for the different type of spraying requirements. The system was easily adjusted to produce the right coverage angle, volume and length of spray needed for goats. Fine-tuning can be done by the operator, as changes happen over the season.

Once a year the goat poo is scooped off the dirt fl oor of the shelters, and loaded into truck and trailer units, where it is trucked off to Katikati and made into compost for kiwifruit orchards. The Averills fi nd this a good way to get rid of the excess waste. Last year fi ve and a half truck and trailer units were fi lled with the goats doings.

We supply Rob Broomfi eld

everything else that goes in the

Rob and his crew then place

Leask Engineering rolled all

system. Now this did require some minor modifi cations for the standard cow setup, due again the Supreme Business of the Year in

Innovative ideas

Peter Cooke, Robyn Averill, Kerry Averill, Mark McKewen, Theo Janssen,

Paul Donderwinkel, Rob Broomfi eld, Tim Stevens, Tony McLaren,

Darryl Goodwin, David Leask and Rom Stellingwerf.

By Lois McKinley

Authentic Pieces of New Zealand

Kaimai Woolshed Winter Hours, Open 7 days 10am 4pm

Kaimai Cafe on site for you to also enjoy.

1603 State Highway 29, RD1, Tauranga Ph: 07 543 0750. Just 8 kms from Cambridge Road

Merino Men Billy Tees -

Nick Tautari from Elite Innovations.


We supply Rob Broomfi eld with all the steel posts and everything else that goes in the concrete, says David Leask.

Rob and his crew then place it as per the drawings.

Leask Engineering rolled all pipes to make gates, backing gates and the water boom, these were also constructed in the workshop and fi tted on-site.

Modifi cationsThe goats milking

parlour has been equipped with a WETiT teat spraying system. Now this did require some minor modifi cations for the standard cow setup, due to the difference in teat angle from a cow to a goat.

I had the company of Peter Cooke from WETiT to show me around. The teat spraying electronic sensor setup is located underneath the platform for the goats, whereas with the cows it is mounted on top of the platform. Because goats only have two teats, the spray unit is mounted on the bridge and angled to get full coverage. Peter said they had to scratch their heads a bit to adapt the unit for the goats.

WETiT, the teat sprayer specialists are once

again the Supreme Business of the Year in their region, Franklin. They won this coveted prize last time they entered the Business Excellence Awards in 2003. This year two districts joined forces for the awards which means WETiT are now the Franklin and Papakura Business of the year.

Winning innovationA clear example of the innovation that

makes WETiT a winner is the Platform Magic automatic teat sprayer for cows in rotary sheds, designed to adapt to most types of sheds and user requirements. The

recent installation in Kerry and Robyn Averills goat milking operation in Morrin-sville demonstrates how easy it is to adapt the Platform Magic for the different type of spraying requirements. The system was easily adjusted to produce the right coverage angle, volume and length of spray needed for goats. Fine-tuning can be done by the operator, as changes happen over the season.

Once a year the goat poo is scooped off the dirt fl oor of the shelters, and loaded into truck and trailer units, where it is trucked off to Katikati and made into compost for kiwifruit orchards. The Averills fi nd this a good way to get rid of the excess waste. Last year fi ve and a half truck and trailer units were fi lled with the goats doings.

We supply Rob Broomfi eld

everything else that goes in the

Rob and his crew then place

Leask Engineering rolled all

system. Now this did require some minor modifi cations for the standard cow setup, due again the Supreme Business of the Year in

Innovative ideas

Peter Cooke, Robyn Averill, Kerry Averill, Mark McKewen, Theo Janssen,

Paul Donderwinkel, Rob Broomfi eld, Tim Stevens, Tony McLaren,

Darryl Goodwin, David Leask and Rom Stellingwerf.

By Lois McKinley

Authentic Pieces of New Zealand

Kaimai Woolshed Winter Hours, Open 7 days 10am 4pm

Kaimai Cafe on site for you to also enjoy.

1603 State Highway 29, RD1, Tauranga Ph: 07 543 0750. Just 8 kms from Cambridge Road

Merino Men Billy Tees -

Nick Tautari from Elite Innovations.

PH 07 578 0030 AVERILL Page 11

Coast & Country Page 12 McLEOD

Rex and Nyrene McLeod of Walton have been sheep and

beef farming for 40 years and on looking towards

retirement, but still wanting to live on their property, had to consider their options by relying on the income from

their farm under a manager or lessee to keep them going.

However on consultation a dairy conversion proved to be the best course of action.

But like many before them, they hadnt quite realised how such an undertaking would stretch the brain, despite loads of willing help.

Guiding the wayColin Horton, a farm advisor

experienced in farm conversion gave guidance and direction on things such as resource consents and plan-

ning the development.But turning 300ha of rolling to

steep country into a well set up modern dairy operation is very complex, and Rex and Nyrene have been glad to have Colins knowledge throughout the process.

For the start the earthworks have been a major undertaking, Rex and Nyrene have been determined to use local contractors wherever possible and long time friend Don Browns excavator business has been involved

from the start. Don assisted in developing a plat-

form for the dairy shed, yards and feed pad, which is reached along a 1.4km broad driveway.

Divide the wayThis long accessway, has now been

shaped, compressed, graded, and divided into two parallel lanes and fenced. One side has been fi nished with fi ne grit as a race for cows to traverse. The other side has brown

rock and heavy gravel to provide an all weather tanker track.

Another long race winds its way around the shoulder of surround-ing hills, to what was originally the home farm, all created at a gradient to make walking easy for the cows, fi nished in fi ne grit, and fenced on both sides.Fortunately there was a source of Rhyolite and sandstone on the farm, and this has made a big cost saving, despite the hundreds of truck

Conversion gets everyones heads togetherby Sue Edmonds

Paul Lowe shows off a big concrete pile.

Dave Lowe, speckle fi nish expert.

Some of the many involved in the conversion.

Shanes welding gang. Rex and the Straight Up fencing team.

For further information and advice contact your local Humes Sales Centre.

Hamilton, 573 Te Rapa Rd....................... 07 849 4861Tauranga, 79 Courtney Rd........................07 578 6114Rotorua, Cnr Lake & Railway Rd.............07 348 4914

Humes - BOP & Waikato

Proud Suppliers to Rex McLeod, Matamata of: Concrete Pipes

Concrete Box CulvertsHumes, your local supplier for a wide range

of top quality rural products.

Coast & Country Page 12 McLEOD

Rex and Nyrene McLeod of Walton have been sheep and

beef farming for 40 years and on looking towards

retirement, but still wanting to live on their property, had to consider their options by relying on the income from

their farm under a manager or lessee to keep them going.

However on consultation a dairy conversion proved to be the best course of action.

But like many before them, they hadnt quite realised how such an undertaking would stretch the brain, despite loads of willing help.

Guiding the wayColin Horton, a farm advisor

experienced in farm conversion gave guidance and direction on things such as resource consents and plan-

ning the development.But turning 300ha of rolling to

steep country into a well set up modern dairy operation is very complex, and Rex and Nyrene have been glad to have Colins knowledge throughout the process.

For the start the earthworks have been a major undertaking, Rex and Nyrene have been determined to use local contractors wherever possible and long time friend Don Browns excavator business has been involved

from the start. Don assisted in developing a plat-

form for the dairy shed, yards and feed pad, which is reached along a 1.4km broad driveway.

Divide the wayThis long accessway, has now been

shaped, compressed, graded, and divided into two parallel lanes and fenced. One side has been fi nished with fi ne grit as a race for cows to traverse. The other side has brown

rock and heavy gravel to provide an all weather tanker track.

Another long race winds its way around the shoulder of surround-ing hills, to what was originally the home farm, all created at a gradient to make walking easy for the cows, fi nished in fi ne grit, and fenced on both sides.Fortunately there was a source of Rhyolite and sandstone on the farm, and this has made a big cost saving, despite the hundreds of truck

Conversion gets everyones heads togetherby Sue Edmonds

Paul Lowe shows off a big concrete pile.

Dave Lowe, speckle fi nish expert.

Some of the many involved in the conversion.

Shanes welding gang. Rex and the Straight Up fencing team.

For further information and advice contact your local Humes Sales Centre.

Hamilton, 573 Te Rapa Rd....................... 07 849 4861Tauranga, 79 Courtney Rd........................07 578 6114Rotorua, Cnr Lake & Railway Rd.............07 348 4914

Humes - BOP & Waikato

Proud Suppliers to Rex McLeod, Matamata of: Concrete Pipes

Concrete Box CulvertsHumes, your local supplier for a wide range

of top quality rural products.

PH 07 578 0030 Page 13McLEOD

loads which have been extracted and moved around, as well as the trucked in grit and brown rock used.

Keep it straightBig sheep paddocks have had to

be subdivided and fenced. Dave Thrupp, another local, had just taken over ownership of Straight Up

Fencing, and when he heard what Rex was planning he approached him and offered their services. His team have been hard at it on the McLeod farm since October 2009.

Paddocks have been fenced with three wire electric, and the races and areas near the sheds done with fi ve wire. Rex took on the job of hooking up the electrics at appro-priate places. Dave estimates that

they have completed around 7km of fencing.

And more wireYou need a lot of materials to

build that amount of fencing, and Hamish Millward of Goldpine in Morrinsville was very happy to supply all of it, delivering untold numbers of posts, strainers and coils of wire.

Dairy cows drink a lot more than sheep and beef, and Shaun Jellie of Milk and Water Services in Matamata described the huge job of reticulating not only the shed area, but 12km of pipe already installed around the farm, with another 8km still to go. The sloping sides of pad-docks have meant that up to four troughs have been needed for some, a total of 110 all up.

Rex described how all required water in the past was drawn from a large spring and bore in a nearby valley. The needs of the shed and all the new troughs had necessitated putting in a new bore. Fortunately the local aquifers are plentiful, and the new deep bore was sited between the three huge tanks at the shed.

Let the hard grafting begin for resultsA very long feed pad. Shed from the feedpad. Two large effl uent ponds.

A race around the hilltops.

Don Brown Excavators LtdIntroducing our new ED 150 Blade Runner.

Zero swing excavator with a power angle, power tilt bulldozer blade.A very handy addition to the Don Brown Excavators eet!

Metal Cartage Motor Scraper Grader HireYour earthworks & drainage solution!

Phone 07 888-7417 anytime

ELECTRICALKING

Environmentally friendly and colour blendedCoast & Country Page 14 McLEOD

But the hilly landforms mean theres a lot of surface runoff when it rains heavily. The original wet-land has a stream running through it and has now got cows grazing on both sides.

Massive culvertSo theyd opted to bridge it by

putting in a massive 6 metre wide box culvert, 4 metres long and 2.4 metres high. Dave Casey from Humes described their compa-

nies ability to create custom made culverts of any size and strength. As all that would be crossing this one would be cows and tractors, they had been able to considerably reduce the amount of steel that would have been needed for a road crossing, making the exercise less expensive.

During planning it had been decided to increase the width by 1.5 metres to cope with fl ood fl ow, and this decision had already proved its

worth in recent heavy rain.Its even environmentally sound,

as the needs of fi sh and river life have been accommodated by cover-ing the concrete fl oor with rough concrete and rocks. This breaks and slows the fl ow and allows fi sh move-ment up and down the river.

Rotary in the middleAnd yes, there is a dairy shed in

the midst of all this. Its a 54 bail rotary built by another local, Paul

Lowe, which accommodates all of Rexs suggestions and is fi nished with Pauls signature construction features. Coloursteel panels, toned to blend with the landscape, outside and in, are fi nished off with the base blocks inside all fi nished with the multi-process speckled plastic and polyurethane fi nish at which Pauls brother Dave is now an expert.

Paul explained that because of the site and the subsoil, he has used massive portal frame concrete piles

which are 3 metres long with half set into the ground. The shed itself therefore doesnt rest on the ground, but is bolted to the piles all round the perimeter.

Perfect fi nishHis other trademark, which really

appealed, is that every vertical pipe which rises out of the concrete fl oor has the concrete around it, fi nished in a neat small circle, while the rest is done with a non-slip fi nish.

Overhead wash gland and auto wash.

Controls and air purge.

Milfos drafting gate.

Milfos cluster.

We supply total solutions for your kitset farm buildings eg:

Lean-toGableRoofonlyCustomised

CallFree:08002GOLDPINE08002465374

BUILT TOUGH. STAND TOUGH.S H E D S , B A R N S & S T A B L E S

Goldpine are proud to support Rex McLeod with his

Dairy Conversion

Keeping up with a large herd needs thinking


Rex and Nyrene chose a Milfos milking plant, and Mark McKewen explained the equipment which had been installed. The ICompac platform and centre area have a fl at fl oor, with the area outside it slightly inward sloping for drain-age. The platform has cabinet bails, and a dual hydraulic drive. The rollers sit between two steel beams and there are no bearings to wear out. And of course the clusters

get dropped down and washed as they pass beneath the bridge. The vacuum pump has a variable speed drive.

Top milk systemThe plant itself is Milfoss

Intelscan Plus premier milking management system, including milk meters, cup removers and cow restraints. In the centre is their overhead wash gland with its Milfos auto wash and auto drain

system. Mark pointed out that they had been able to install for this gland their latest improvement, a rechargeable greaser cartridge which only needs fi lling once a year.

Milk is snap chilled and vat temperature is maintained, chilling is done with what is now called an IConverter (previously known as NZ Cold) with its attached tank fi lled with glycol and plastic balls containing saline solution. And yes, it heats the wash water too.

You cant do everything in one go, but the system is capable of being upgraded to Milfoss Datafl ow, which will allow recognition and records for each cow including daily weighing. There is already an ISort drafting gate in place.

What power shortage?All the electrics were done by more

locals, King Electrical of Matamata. The electrics are hidden away in their special all-purpose cabinet

switchboard. Because power sup-plies in the hills can be sometimes irregular, they have also installed their generator takeoff to save the day when power fails.

Outside in the yards theres a good sized vet area, complete with a Wrangler hoof trimming crush. With over 650 cows doing a lot of walking, keeping up with the podia-try can save having to cope with all the problems that multiple lame ones can bring.

Vacuum pumps and variable speed drive. Main power board with generator takeoff.

Master control panel.

Wrangler hoof trimmer.

Everything up and running for calving Coast & Country Page 16 McLEOD

The main yard is circular with a double backing gate, and alongside it is an enormous sloping feed pad, to which the gang from Shanes Mobile Maintenance were fi tting and welding the last of the rails. The two rows of troughs which would line up down the centre had yet to arrive. The pad will have a fl ood wash from two tanks, and drains directly into the fi rst of two

deep effl uent ponds. Shanes team have done all the welding for shed, yards and feed pad, which has kept them coming and going for several months from their Tirau base.

Large storage neededOn such steep country spreading

effl uent is defi nitely only a job for when soils will absorb it, so theyve gone for more than 60 days storage. It was obviously going to be a race

between getting the ponds com-pleted and the fi rst calves arriving! However, theyve been lucky that the clay subsoil was suitable for pond lining. The effl uent will be pumped, on a timer, through a four pod and rain gun system, which may be doubled, depending on how it works in practice. The pump installed was capable of coping with a bigger system.

The day to day running of the

farm is being done by the new 50:50 sharemilkers, Marcel and Halei Aarsen who have brought some of their 650 cows from a property near Huntly. The remain-der have been bought in for this season.

The right choiceRex and Nyrene are confi dent that

their choice of Marcel and Halei brought both big herd experience

and the business nous to make a profi table go at running the new enterprise. Certainly a quick look at part of the herd grazing near the long driveway showed that they were in the right sort of condition for calving. Rex and Nyrene are still living on the property, and a new house has been built which is conveniently located for the sharemilker.

by Sue Edmonds

Some of the many pumps.iConverter chiller system.

The farmers first choice in tanks for

20 years!

0800 244 503

Water tanks Molasses tanks Whey/Proliq tanks Colostrum tanks Slimline tanks Handi-tanks

Everything up and running for calving Coast & Country Page 16 McLEOD

The main yard is circular with a double backing gate, and alongside it is an enormous sloping feed pad, to which the gang from Shanes Mobile Maintenance were fi tting and welding the last of the rails. The two rows of troughs which would line up down the centre had yet to arrive. The pad will have a fl ood wash from two tanks, and drains directly into the fi rst of two

deep effl uent ponds. Shanes team have done all the welding for shed, yards and feed pad, which has kept them coming and going for several months from their Tirau base.

Large storage neededOn such steep country spreading

effl uent is defi nitely only a job for when soils will absorb it, so theyve gone for more than 60 days storage. It was obviously going to be a race

between getting the ponds com-pleted and the fi rst calves arriving! However, theyve been lucky that the clay subsoil was suitable for pond lining. The effl uent will be pumped, on a timer, through a four pod and rain gun system, which may be doubled, depending on how it works in practice. The pump installed was capable of coping with a bigger system.

The day to day running of the

farm is being done by the new 50:50 sharemilkers, Marcel and Halei Aarsen who have brought some of their 650 cows from a property near Huntly. The remain-der have been bought in for this season.

The right choiceRex and Nyrene are confi dent that

their choice of Marcel and Halei brought both big herd experience

and the business nous to make a profi table go at running the new enterprise. Certainly a quick look at part of the herd grazing near the long driveway showed that they were in the right sort of condition for calving. Rex and Nyrene are still living on the property, and a new house has been built which is conveniently located for the sharemilker.

by Sue Edmonds

Some of the many pumps.iConverter chiller system.

The farmers first choice in tanks for

20 years!

0800 244 503

Water tanks Molasses tanks Whey/Proliq tanks Colostrum tanks Slimline tanks Handi-tanks


www.wesco.co.nz0800 643 643 0508 643 643

...AnD ReLIABLe, PRoVen PAsTURe

PeRFoRMAnce AT An eXceLLenT

PRIce?

LookIng FoR QUALITy

gRAss seeD ThAT LAsTs

In The PAsTURe?

superb wesco seed Mixes for Pasture Production - compare our Prices, Buy Direct and save $$$. From $1.60 to $10.30kg +gsT

MILK

MILK

Phone: 0800 643 643 / 0508 643 643 email: [email protected]

Call Wesco today

Free delivery NZ Wide ON Orders Over 30kg

grass seed Type Up to 75kg 75-500kg 500kg+Saxon Ultra Pak - Dairy & Station Blend $9.40 $8.45 $8.40Saxon PPR Dairy Mix - Dairy Stock Mix $8.15 $7.40 $7.35Saxon Aqua-Pak - Sheep & Beef Mix $6.95 $6.35 $6.30Saxon Premium Rye Clover - 45% Saxon $5.85 $5.30 $5.25Rye Clover Plus - 35% Saxon $4.65 $4.25 $4.20Rye Clover Mix $3.20 $2.90 $2.85Pasture Recovery Mix $5.20 $4.85 $4.80Fascinate High Sugar Tetraploid Italian $5.40 $4.90 $4.80Active Italian (Long Rotation Hybrid) $5.40 $4.90 $4.80Rocket Grass, 2-3 year Italian $5.40 $4.30 $4.20Italian Multi-Blend $4.70 $4.35 $4.30Italian Mulching Mix $2.90 $2.50 $2.45Premium Bushburn $2.60 $2.35 $2.25Bushburn $1.95 $1.60 $1.55

sMALL seeDsItem and Description Up to 10kg 10-25kg over 25kgSwede (Dominion) $14.50 $13.50 $13.20Swede (Doon Major) $13.50 $13.00 $12.50Kale (Medium stem) $15.50 $16.00 $15.00Kale (Rawera) $15.50 $15.00 $14.00Hunter Brassica $13.50 $12.50 $12.00Kingsford Rape $10.00 $9.70 $9.20Winifred Rape $11.00 $10.50 $10.00Summer Turnip (Rival) $13.50 $13.00 $12.50Green Globe Turnip $11.00 $10.50 $10.00Plantain (Hercules) $12.50 $10.75 $10.00Chickory $14.50 $14.00 $13.50Lucerne $16.00 $15.00 $14.50Lotus $27.50 $25.50 $24.50

seed Treatment - extra $1.50kg for grass seed, and extra $3kg for small seed. All prices +gsT

heres a sample of our selection:

2015

2014 2016

2017 +

20132012

2010

2011

Coast & Country Page 18 GLENROWAN FARM

KW

Dairy cows instead of sheepHerd assistant, Brad Gore, farm owner, Ralph Gore

and farm manager Kevin Thom.

Leask Engineerings

design and construc-

tion manager, Rom

Stellingwerf.

Ralph Gore, Adam Franklin and Steve Morley discuss milking cup requirements.

continued...

Dairy cows instead of sheepDairy cows instead of sheepRalph and Pam Gore of Hin-

uera are relatively new to dairy farming. Their gently rolling 450 acre farm near Matamata was a sheep and beef farm until 2008.

My father, Jim Gore, came here from Ngahinapouri in 1936 and the farm was then 760 acres, says Ralph.

Only 500 acres was in pasture, the rest was semi developed and included a 100 acre swamp.

Dad sold 310 acres to his brother after he came back from World War Two.

The farm used to be a racehorse breeding property owned by the Ring family.

Started with sheepJim Gore started with sheep and

some cattle and when Ralph bought the farm in 1972 he carried on the sheep farming tradition along with some maize and barley cropping.

In the latter years I got concerned about the soil structure with con-tinuous cropping.

It is Tirau ash and a very for-giving soil. It can be abused with pugging in the winter and continued cropping, but with good husbandry will still produce good pasture.

My challenge this year is to get some worm life back into the crop-ping pasture.

In the early 1980s there was a downturn in lamb prices and Ralph

diversifi ed with deer. I had 200 breeding hinds on part

of the farm for 25 years. Later I farmed yearling hinds and fattened them up for venison.

The switchLamb prices improved in the late

80s and early 90s, but the wear and tear on Ralphs back from sheep work was starting to take its toll and for a few years they grazed dairy heifers. About this time the couples 24-year-old son, Brad, had just fi nished a building apprenticeship and indicated that he would like to go dairy farming.

Numbers stack upI thought this would be a good

opportunity to take things a bit easier so we sought some advice

on the merits of converting the farm to dairying and the numbers stacked up, says Ralph.

After a lot of research and advice from Rob Broomfi eld of Broomfi eld Construction, Ralph decided to build a 50 bail rotary. It is similar to other Broomfi eld Construction dairy sheds and has been refi ned to suit this clients requirements.

The dairy shed was started in 2008 and completed for the 2009 season. It is centrally located on the farm so the longest distance the cows walk is 1.6km.

To start with, Ralph bought two dairy herds of Friesian cross and Kiwi cross cows totalling 420 cows and this year that has been increased to 450 cows.

After milking in the new rotary

for one season, Ralph and his farm manager, Kevin Thoms have nothing but praise for the dairy shed.

It pays to do the job right from the start, says Ralph, everything

has run smoothly at the fl ick of a switch.

And what about Brad Gore, the herd assistant, he is rising to the challenge.

By Helen Wilson

NGINEERINGEASKEstablished 1958

PH 07 578 0030 Page 19GLENROWAN FARM

XKW

New rotary runs smoothly

Ralph Gore (obscured) shows Steve and Adam some No. 8 wire ingenuity. The Frontier system.

Adam Franklin, area manager for WMS with Ralph Gore, check the system.

continued...

Waikato Milking Systems have a sound reputation for supplying quality milking machines to suit New Zealand dairy farmers. The plant at Glenrowan Farms is no exception. It has a Full Frontier herd management system which includes ICRA approved electronic milk metres, auto feeding to production on the plat-form, effi cient drafting and a weighing scale.

Individual cow informationThe cows have a pedometer fi tted around

their back leg so the device can measure the activity of an animal. Information about each cow is recorded at milking as the cow is identi-fi ed when entering the platform, building a complete history over the entire life of each animal. This information is recorded on the farm computer.

It gives us a good picture of each cow and her production. We have three herds. The age of the cow determines which herd she goes in

to, says Kevin. The milking plant needs to be fi tted by an expert, and Matamata company, Morley Engineering, is the local agent for Waikato Milking Systems.

In this dairy shed we fi tted a Waikato rotary 101mm looped milk line with electronic cup removers managed through the Frontier system.

Minimal maintenanceWe have installed a Fristam milk pump

which we have found very reliable and eco-nomical. It is a high performance milkpump that requires very little maintenance. It is able to pump large volumes of milk and wash water and uses less power to deliver a better result, says Steve Morley of Morley Engineering.

Waikato Milking Systems Smartwash auto-mated wash plant is a new product launched at the Fieldays in 2009. It has a touch screen panel that lets the operator make program-ming changes and formulate wash regimens to suit individual needs. The programming is MENU driven, easy to understand and simple to programme.

Smartwash has 10 key wash functions with infi nite programming ability and can alert the operator if a fault occurs. Monitored detergent availability is available using sensors that deter-mine the presence of chemical and report to the farmer if the chemical containers run dry.

Its a fi rstAn effi cient water system with under fl oor

reticulation was installed by Morleys using a new product called fusiotherm.

Its the fi rst time we have used this product. It is a type of plastic pipe, bright green and has less resistance to corrosion, says Steve.

We have had 100 per cent positive results from it so we will be using it in more dairy sheds.

The washdown pump is a Kelco GPS with 15 horse power. The pump is controlled by a fl ow switch with pressure backup.

The Elite 50 bail platform has a concrete deck, angled bails and dual control consoles.

Over 30 years of product development has gone into making these platforms, and the integration of the entire installation is very apparent, says Steve.

The dairy shed walls are covered with an easy care hygienic covering supplied by Nuplex and applied by Dave Sutherland of Matamata.

Automated measurementsArea manager for FIL, Greg Duncan, set up

the dairy hygiene programme. The automated wash system meters the detergents automati-cally to ensure the correct dilution rate. The teat spray used on the farm is a new iodine and manuka honey based product which is proving very popular with farmers.

The healing properties of the manuka honey help keep the cows teats in excellent condi-tion, says Greg.

FIL is a New Zealand company based at Mt Maunganui. It has 15 area managers through-out the country. The company offers a full backup service for their farmer clients.

The non intrusive Wetit Teat Sprayers auto-matically give the cows teats an even covering as they exit the platform. They are a labour saving system and do not interrupt cow fl ow.

...continued

SAVE TIME AND MONEY

72 Portside Drive, PO Box 4144, Mt Maunganui South, 3149, New ZealandTel + 64 7 575 2162, Fax + 64 7 575 2161FREEPHONE 0508 434 569 WWW.FIL.CO.NZ

For all of your dairy hygiene and animal health requirements call your local FIL Area Manager now!

Greg Duncan0274 721 505Cambridge / Matamata / Morrinsville East / Te Aroha

FARM INNOVATION / HYGIENE / ANIMAL HEALTH / MARKERS / NUTRITION MAKING YOUR JOB EASIER

Coast & Country Page 20 GLENROWAN FARM

Good planning is essential...continued

The new dairy shed sits nicely on a small rise.

A view of the dairy shed from the yard.

View for the centre of

the dairy shed.

Andrew Arts of Electrico does all kinds of electrical work. For the Gores dairy shed he installed a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) with Human Machine Interface (HMI) and integrates with the Frontier system so the operator has a central control via an LCD touch panel for total system control. This system is becoming vey popular, is user friendly and any changes are software related. Electrico provide a 24/7 service backup.

Planned for everythingA well planned yard is essential for

easy management of cows during milk-ing, drafting, vet care and AIing. The yards were designed by the builder Rob Broomfi eld and Leask Engineering did the construction work.

The yards rails are made from galvanised pipe and the large circular yard has two entrances for convenience

and another holding yard so cows can be moved from one to the other while other cows are entering and exiting at the same time, says Rom Stellingwerf, design and construction manager for Leask Engineering.

AI friendlyA fold down platform in the shed

allows easy access for the operator for AIing, vet work or tail painting.

Leask Engineering is based at Tatuanui near Morrinsville and has been there for 52 years. Their expertise has recently taken them to Ireland to help with dairy shed constructions.

A byproduct of dairy farming is effl u-ent. Farmers often see this as a nuisance but it can be used as fertiliser and if less water is used effl uent production can be reduced.

All that water turns into effl uent,

which has to be pumped on to the pasture. When it is wet and soils are sat-urated, the water can cause a reduction in application rates and increase the area to apply the effl uent to, all of which cost money and soaks up time.

The Gores have installed a Dungbuster automatic yard wash-ing system which reduces water by at least 40 pre cent, if not more. There is also a saving in electricity costs and time.

Quality servicesOkoroire Excavators prepared the

ground to build the dairy shed on and prepared the raceways. Centigrade of Matamata knows the importance of effi -cient farm refrigeration and the urgency when something goes wrong. They offer a 24 hour breakdown service where one of their technicians will be on site whenever needed. This sort of quality and service was a good enough reason for Ralph to choose this company to keep the farms product in the optimum condition ready for pick up by the tanker.

By Helen Wilson

When you need plant reliability

A 100% New Zealand owned and operated company

delivers

PH 07 578 0030 Page 21GLENROWAN FARM

Coast & Country Page 22 HOLMES

by Sue Edmondsby Sue Edmonds

A new design of platformsThe habit of buying up the neighbours has been

the cause of building a lot of new dairy sheds in the

past few years. And of course the existing sheds are

inevitably small, old and in the wrong places.

The perfect excuse to take advantage of all the wonderful new technology, and build the shed youve always wanted. So it was with the Holmes family of Matamata. Terry and Carol origi-nally owned 105ha. Now with the acquisition of farms on either side they have 215ha, allowing them to milk 700 Friesian-cross cows on a

seasonal basis. With the expansion their two sons, Michael and Bryan have returned from careers as a joiner and a mechanic, to help run the farm. The familys combined skills mean that practically every-thing can be done by one or other of them, and those skills were used to great effect during the construc-t

nfd10b

Documents

new farm dairy

quirke waikatoking country

field waikatoking country

mcleod waikatoking country

belton waikatoking country

landsdaal waikatoking

holmes waikatoking country

farm dairy developments