DAIRY NEWS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2014
NEWS // 7
African dreams start in SA Charles Wallis and Ntsikelelo Baleni.
LIZ RYMILL
INNOVATIVE FARMING ideas, practical skills
operation as it takes time to teach people and this way, we get to work together and develop skills that are mutually beneficial,” Mr Wallis said. “It is also providing a solution for labour challenges, which play a large role in running a sustainable business.”
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Talk to us about all types of grain handling systems for your dairy • Attrition Disc Mills • Roller Mills • Automated Grain Milling Plants • Bulk Grain Unload and Silo Fill Systems • Solid Flight and Flexible Augers • Rotary & Herringbone Feed Systems • Grain Cleaner • Vertical/Ribbon Mixers • Mineral Additive Dispensers • Oil Pump • Drafting Gates Call Ian Yeo on 0418 510 511 or visit our web site www.feedmasternfs.com.au for your nearest Northern Feed Systems Dealer
NORTHERN FEED SYSTEMS 03 5482 4800
The Teatwand 400 has 400mm reach on a flexible arm (further than the original Teatwand) allowing the nozzle to position closer to the front teats and so gaining ideal spray coverage on all four teats. The Teatwand 400 is placed at the exit bridge and uses it’s own movement along with the movement of the platform to produce an ideal spray pattern.
OR NEW D AJ E M
Spreadeagle leg spreader Flexible spray arm
Feature
Benefit
Moves under the udder
Consistent coverage of all four teats
Self cleaning nozzle
No blockage worries
Sprays from close to the udder
Very economical spray
One spray nozzle and solenoid
Few operating parts
Stationed on platform at exit bridge
Better coverage because cow is stationary
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WITHOUT THE LABOUR UNIT
Africa… when we don’t have a shortage from the monkeys eating the maize crops.” Working on Charles and Stacey Wallis’ 650cow Harrimar Dairy at Compton since the start of the year, Lelo is undertaking a number of on-farm roles and enjoys learning from Charles, who has dairy farmed on three continents. A major difference Lelo has noticed is the productivity of Australian cows, with Harrimar cows averaging 30 litres a day compared with South African cows that produce around 10L a day. Lelo says there is more opportunity to do a variety of tasks on-farm here, as opposed to back home. “Before I came here, I’d driven tractors but not with implements. South African dairies tend to employ a lot of staff but there is not as much scope for working across all
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THE CLOSEST THING TO A MANUAL TEAT SPRAYER
incorporating a nature reserve. Lelo believes the subtropical climate of his village is suited to dairy farming and can produce quality pastures with its 1000 millimetre annual rainfall, mostly occurring over summer. He feels comparing Australia’s pasture-based dairy systems will provide valuable insights for the plans to establish a dairy in his community. “Although I’ll be dairying on the other side of the world, there are quite a number of similarities between dairy farming in Australia and dairy farming in South Africa, particularly the grass-based production. “I’m learning as much as I can about pastures while I am here in Australia as I will be working in a grass-based system back home. We also incorporate maize silage into the feeding program in South
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but it would supply the local residents and generate profits able to support community investments in health and education,” Lelo explains. The Mabandla community and Transkei tribal homeland is one of the few communities in South Africa that has not relied upon Government support to sustain it. Despite its isolation and limited access to electricity and running water, the community has driven development with most households contributing financially to setting up the Mabandla Community Trust and the Mabandla Development Company. Of the many agricultural projects run by the community, a 7000ha forestry initiative is in its ninth year and with plans to invest in a sawmill to add value to production. Other programs include beef and sheep operations and a tourism venture
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and first-hand experience in large-scale dairy farming are key learning areas for South African Ntsikelelo Baleni, as he spends the year working on a dairy farm in Mount Gambier. Twenty-one-year-old Baleni - or Lelo as he’s known – is the son of a South African tribal chief and plans to establish a 2000-head dairy farm to help employment and provisions in his rural community, when he returns to Umzimkulu, in the KwaZulu Natal province, about six hours south east of Johannesburg. Lelo says he feels positive about creating a largescale dairy in South Africa, despite the country’s own market challenges, which have seen dairy farmer numbers decline by more than two-thirds in the past eight years due to rationalisation and pressure from the corporate processing sector. South Africa produces about 200 million litres of milk per month or 2.4 billion litres of milk per year, while Namibia produces 22 million litres per year, making up about 0.5% of world milk production. “Unemployment is a big issue across South Africa, but the ‘Mabandla (meaning many tribes) community’ I belong to is committed to helping create jobs locally. Developing a large-scale dairy in the community - and perhaps in time, a processing facility able to make cheese - would not only result in job opportunities,
Network. He is the third South African employee Charles has had and joins a team of workers, including backpackers and travellers from Germany and France. “Having an employee on-farm for a year is beneficial for their learning and for our
aspects of the farm. It’s also nice to have more work-life balance, with double shifts for 25-days straight not uncommon back home,” he explains. Lelo has also completed dairy training courses through TafeSA and has become involved in DairySA’s Young Dairy
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The Teatwand controller now automatically adjusts the timings of the system as the platform speed is changed. Visit www.onfarmsolutions.com
For further information call 1300 767 596 or visit www.onfarmsolutions.com to check out our other products.
6/05/13 11:16 AM