CORRIGAN
Page 12
Coast & Country
Young love for family farm Twenty-two-year old Josh Corrigan is a young man who had to step up to the mark and take over the running of the family farm when his father became ill.
A great team: Carly Muggeridge, Josh Corrigan and his mother Fiona Corrigan, Hamish Thomson from DeLaval, Nick Callingham from Tru-tests Dairy Technology Services, Wonder Minerals sales representative Wayne Trethewey, Central Silo Systems Ltd’s Sean Curry, and Paul Gibson from DairyPro Hawera.
Discussing the merits of swing arm cup removers, Hamish Thomson from DeLaval, farmer Josh Corrigan and Paul Gibson from DairyPro Hawera.
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Corrigan The 34-aside herringbone dairy shed.
The second eldest of 10 children and the fourth generation on the farm, he’s taken on the challenge and with the support of family has increased the area of the dairy platform, increased herd numbers and production – and just built a new 34-aside herringbone dairy. When New Farm Dairies visited in February he was also looking forward to getting married to Carly Muggeridge in 25 days’ time. The farm is on Whakatau Rd near Hawera in Taranaki and has 142 hectares in dairy and 70ha in sheep and beef. Josh’s parents, Duncan and Fiona Corrigan, moved to Whakatau in 1991 with three children. Sadly Duncan died in October 2012 just after signing the contract for the new farm dairy. The farm is now in a trust with Josh as manager and his mother Fiona overseeing the operation of the farm. Older siblings lend a hand, as well as cousin Chris Reed; and Josh’s fiancé Carly Muggeridge is an “all-rounder” helping in the dairy and the house. The farm had an old 18-aside herringbone shed which needed to be upgraded with an increase in herd numbers. The planning started in September 2012 and the project was completed during January 2013. “We decided to build a 34-aside her-
ringbone, as it was the most cost-effective option. We chose a DeLaval milking system for its reliability and it was installed by DairyPro Hawera,” says Josh.
Choosing reliability
DairyPro Hawera managing director Paul Gibson, who is the agent for DeLaval in South Taranaki, says he showed Josh and Fiona all the different options which were available “and they chose DeLaval for reliability and after sales service”. “The plant has swing down arms, which give excellent cluster alignment, and the automatic cluster removers are incorporated into the swing arms. Paul says swing arms make plenty of room for the milkers to move in the pit, being ideal for herd testing. “The jetters swing down for ease of use and the vacuum system has a variable speed drive which gives maximum power savings and minimum noise,” says Paul. Hamish Thomson is the milk quality specialist for DeLaval and takes care of after-sales and hygiene requirements in South Taranaki. “We have an excellent back-up service and we are always available when required,” says Hamish. Josh says the DeLaval DSG3 automatic drafting system is a real time-saver. “I can programme my drafting requirements weeks ahead and it’s all done saving labour, money and time. “The drafting gate and milking plant can be integrated with the milk meters for accurate drafting of low production or sick cows.”
Bridge St, Eltham
Address 57 Mihaere Drive, Roslyn Palmerston North, 4414 Email
centralsilosltd@xtra.co.nz sean@centralsilosystems.co.nz bernie@centralsilosystems.co.nz
Phone (06) 358 5805 Fax
(06) 358 5806
Mobile 027 275 6575