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PVC PVC
SWNEY
in this in this dairy dairy
Coast & Country
Garry and Bev Swney are the glue behind this operation.
The view of the new dairy near Invercargill challenges industry standards at every level.
Garry and Bev Swney have crafted a new rotary dairy that challenges industry standards at every level. Anyone who knows Southland’s Garry and Bev Swney weren’t surprised by their decision to build their first rotary basement dairy with an extraordinary eye for detail, and a full focus on their team and cow comfort. Based at Morton Mains – 25km from Invercargill – they have worked their way up through the industry with that “detail” riding high on both of their shoulders. They have bought and sold land over the years, worked hard, and when they consolidated…they
have done it in style. They tapped into their trusted advisors and suppliers on this journey – building a full 54-bail rotary dairy housed in a shed sized for 60 bails. It includes a bespoke stainless-steel platform, an expansive underpass for staff, no polyvinyl chloride – known as PVC – pipes, and minimal underground water pipes. Their motivation comes down to their personal ethic, and their desire to look after their sharemilkers, Craig and Heidi Williams, so their 50/50 sharemilkers and “key partners in their business” never want to leave. Everything on this property – including the immaculate driveway – leans into the dairy
now sitting proudly at the apex of 210 hectare property. Even the disused 44-aside herringbone looks neater than most active dairies.
Rotary vs herringbone
Craig and Heidi will calve down 630 and milk 610 cows through the peak this season. Garry says they always had three milkers in the old shed, and that herringbones are no slower than rotaries with good cow flow and shed systems. The decision to swing to a rotary came down to marketability, and meant Garry and Bev had some homework to do. “We’d asked Craig what they wanted, and
they were more than happy with the shed they already had,” says Garry. “But it was aging, and we wanted to address it. We got plans drawn up by Doug’s Engineering for a new herringbone on the same site.” They checked in with another trusted contact, Grant Chamberlain, of GT Chamberlain Builders. “We’ve been doing work for them for quite some time now – not only in Southland – but as far away as the Marlborough Sounds,” says Grant. “Initially Garry was very motivated towards a herringbone. But I rang him one Saturday morning, and suggested he should also consider a rotary.