New Farm Dairies 2016 by Sun Media

Sun Media Ltd 07 578 0030

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Behind the designs

Motuiti Farms in Manawatu on pg 4

Metcalfe in the Waikato on pg 44

Tukituki Dairy Goats in Hawkeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bay on pg 54

Homestead Farm in Canterbury on pg 66

YiLi in China on pg 90

NEW FARM DAIRIES

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New Farm Dairies is brought to you by...

New Farm Dairies is New Zealand’s most comprehensive guide for farmers planning a new farm dairy construction.

Coast & Country

Inside this issue how to build a productive dairy

It showcases a range of the newest farm dairies in the country, offering farmers a vital, in-depth reference for their own dairy projects. We distribute more than 30,500 copies of the FREE publication to all dairy farmers throughout New Zealand, reaching all corners of the country’s vast dairying industry.

No.1 The Strand PO Box 240 Tauranga 3140 phone 07 578 0030 fax 07 571 1116 email lois@thesun.co.nz

Lois Natta Advertising/Coordinator 027 281 7427

Brian Rogers Director/Editor

Merle Foster Journalist

Kerri Wheeler Graphic Designer Page Layout Coordinator

Claire Rogers Managing Director

Elaine Fisher Editor

This is New Farm Dairies 11th edition – and once again the team is highly impressed with how farmers have made some gutsy, wise steps in how they invest in their farming futures. This publication is as much a celebration of your tenacity and clever management as it is a comprehensive study of 37 individual new farm dairy developments. For 2016 we have 112 pages, offering farmers, farmers-to-be and the rural sector in general a comprehensive guide of what’s on offer when considering building a new dairy. A range of experts with the most up-to-date information, products and services feature – from plants, parlour construction, to refrigeration, electrical needs right through to feed systems, equipment and storage facilities – rounding out to staff accommodation. And there’s some themes evolving and expanding. Farmers are advancing their efforts to keep operations environmentally-conscious and sustainable. Particularly so in efﬂuent storage and applications. Tighter milk refrigeration rules have meant many have paid attention to precooling, chilling and storage needs – now and in future. Prudent investment in products and services to

keep costs minimal has also been key. And farmers are always looking to make operations work smarter. So you’ll ﬁnd innovation from experts and DYI-ers on-farm in this issue. Animal health is also at the fore, with many plants and products being utilised to keep farmers biggest asset – their stock – in top shape. Staff are being well catered for too. There’s much forethought on staff accommodation – to retain good employees – and how dairies keep worker health and safety at a premium. This year we also cross the ditch, to Australia, USA and feature a Chinese operation, showing how these respective entities are carving a dairying future in their nations using Kiwi products and expertise. So we thank this year’s 37 contributors for welcoming us onto their farms and sharing their stories, in what may be the biggest investment of their lives other than the land itself. We must also thank our advertising consultant Lois Natta for coordinating this edition. Projectmanaging NFD for more than a decade, Lois has vast knowledge of the industry and already has a number of new dairies booked to feature in the 2017 edition. We know NFD is an important resource for all dairy farmers contemplating a new installation or upgrade. To be featured in 2017’s edition, please call Lois on 027 281 7427 to avoid missing out. Claire and Brian Rogers, Publishers.

NEW FARM DAIRIES

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Courage and foresight saluted You have to hand it to dairy farmers. In the face of economic uncertainties, which would drive many business people to give up, they not only stay steadfastly farming. But also many invest significant sums of money in new dairies or upgrades and all of the hightech equipment which goes with them. It’s these farmers we feature in this 11th edition of New Farm Dairies and we salute them for their courage and foresight. They are talking the long-term view. They’ve committed to farming smarter not harder and demonstrated their faith in the industry they have helped build – one which produces a high quality product in demand worldwide. And as 2016 entered its final quarter – it appears their optimism and savvy business sense is right. In August, after being in the doldrums, the world dairy prices rose sharply in the GlobalDairyTrade auction with the index up by 12.7 per cent. On the back of that Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited confirmed it will pay a further 10 cents per share of its previously

announced 2015/2016 forecast dividend of 40 cents per share. Reward for farmers at last for keeping the faith. The farmers, their sharemilkers and staff, whose stories are told in this edition of New Farm Dairies are benefiting from the latest in milking technology, which is designed to not only harvest milk more efficiently at even higher quality standards, but also improve the experience for cows and working conditions for staff. This is possible thanks to the fact that throughout the country there are teams of specialists in dairy parlour design and construction, milking plant installation and operation, refrigeration, and also the handling, storage and utilisation of effluent. Their knowledge and skill is what helps make our country a world leader in dairying. New Zealand’s economy may be diversifying and other export industries are earning an increasing share of our overseas income, but dairy remains, and will continue to be, the strongest and most significant performer. However, dairying is diversifying too with an increasing number of dairy goat farms being developed to meet demand especially for infant formula. Milking sheep looks to the be next big innovation. For 11 years New Farm Dairies publication has been reporting on the newest and best dairies in the land, and every year there’s more to feature. Enjoy reading 2016’s instalment. Elaine Fisher

Page 3 FARM

DISTRICT

Motuiti Farms DLR Farm Stewart Dairylands GJ Bagrie Pearce Tiger Hill Craigmore Farms Wildon Dairy Cow Pleasant Hitchcock Brialaine Oraka Farms Johmar Family Trust Metcalfe Steiner Avondale Terrace View Willow Creek Tukituiki Dairy Goats Terrace Turney Fox Peak Station Homestead Farm Tumunui Trust Fletcher Trust Farm Landcorp Endurance Parker Land Co Finlayson Alex Nankervis YiLi Java Farms Glanymor %HUU\À HOG Rosemount Dairy Mangapoua Farms Kavanagh & Co Ahu Ahu Farms

Manawatu Manawatu Manawatu Horowhenua Wanganui Otago Otago Otago USA Waikato Waikato Waikato Waikato Waikato Waikato Southland Southland Southland Hawkes Bay Canterbury Canterbury Canterbury Canterbury Central Plateau Central Plateau Central Plateau Central Plateau Northland Australia China Taranaki Taranaki Taranaki Taranaki Taranaki Taranaki Taranaki

PAGE 4-11 12-13 14-15 16-17 18=21 22-23 24-27 28-29 30-31 32-35 36-37 38-39 40-43 44-45 46-47 48-49 50-51 52-53 54-55 58-59 60-61 62-65 66-69 70-73 74-77 78-81 82-85 86-87 88-89 90-91 92-93 94-97 98-99 100-101 102-105 106-107 108-109

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Page 4 The 400ha farm was converted from forestry and dairy grazing.

MOTUITI FARMS

Coast & Country

The Motuiti Farms team: Mark Hodges, Tracy Lahmert-Hodges, farm owners Maree and Philip Gudopp, Karen Mexted, Barry McEwan and Michael Brown (not pictured: Kevin Lloyd).

Monster

Motuiti Farms

conversion at Motuiti Farms Everything on Philip and Maree Gudopp’s Foxton farm is super-sized. From the monster dairy shed to the 80-bail rotary milking platform, the new conversion has been upsized in every way to cater for 1000 to 1500 cows. The 400 hectare farm had been used as dairy grazing with 160ha planted in pines. To raise capital, the Gudopps sold three equity partnerships in the South Island and leased out the land while the mature trees were harvested, bringing in extra income. They took possession of the land in

December 2014, and the rush was on to turn it into a dairy farm before the start of the next milking season. In the ﬁrst season, 500 cows were milked, while pasture was still being established, rising to 1000 cows in the subsequent season. The farm is run by manager Tracy LahmertHodges, with two full-time workers, Barry McEwan and Michael Brown. Barry’s partner, Karen Mexted, is the relief milker and calf-rearer. Tracy’s husband, Mark Hodges, is a fencing contractor, and worked closely with other contractors during the conversion. Kevin Lloyd is employed as a casual digger driver. Philip and Maree live in Waverley on a drystock and run-off farm. Maree does the

bookwork for both farms, along with her daughter, Rebecca, who 50/50 sharemilks on a nearby farm. Philip says the Foxton farm conversion is not the ﬁrst project they’ve undertaken but it is the biggest. “It’s been a huge project for us, but a good challenge.”

Spraying pasture When the land was purchased the pasture between the forestry blocks was neglected runoff and covered in gorse and lupin. One of the ﬁrst contractors employed was Andrew Guthrie, from Guthrie Ag Work in Tokomaru. In January 2015, Andrew made baleage for winter by cutting the grass between the sand

PROUD TO SUPPORT MOTUITI FARMS 60T PKE bunker installed If you would like to discuss getting Presco involved in your supplementary feed storage project please contact Wayne on 0800 773 726 or email wayne@presco.co.nz and arrange a free on-site consultation.

dunes. He then sprayed all the pasture and mulched the gorse and lupin. Rather than drill seed and then broadcast fertiliser, he put fertiliser in the drill holes at the same time as the seed. “It’s a brilliant result – I can see a 50 per cent difference in pasture growth between those with drilled fertiliser and those without,” says Philip. Motuiti Farms has been one of the company’s bigger jobs – and Andrew will be there for another 12 months completing the reseeding regime. The spraying and reseeding of the farm was project-managed by Linda Hally of RD1 Shannon.

MOTUITI FARMS

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Ray Purser Earthmovers staff member Clifford Bennett and boss Ray Purser transformed deforested areas into pasture, helping to create Motuiti Farms.

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Former forestry blocks were turned into pasture with the help of four bulldozers by Ray Purser Earthmovers.

Farm owner Philip Gudopp and Linda Hally from RD1 Shannon.

From pine plantation to dairy pastures Linda, who is an RD1 technical sales representative, met with Philip a couple of months before work began to ﬁnd out his requirements. RD1 Shannon supplied all the farm resources from fencing, troughs, calf feeders, animal health products, spray and seed. “It was one of the bigger project management jobs I’ve handled,” says Linda, adding the job is far from over with there being a 10-year ongoing spray programme.

Grass seed Agricom provided RD1 Shannon with all the grass seed for the conversion. Western North Island sales manager Elton Mayo says Motuiti was an unusual conversion because the whole property was very aggressively developed out of pine plantation. “We would usually prefer to run these areas

via a crop rotation ﬁrst, such as kale, but given the lack of time and the stocking rate pressures already, a large proportion had to be sown into productive pastures straight off the bat.” The range of Agricom cultivars used on the property were ONE50 AR37, Request AR37, Ohau AR37 and Asset AR37. The heavily bulldozed areas and sand ridges were all being sown with 40kg/ha-60 kg/ha Milton oats as a cover crop to hold and help prevent any sand blow, says Elton. “The ONE50 and Request are sown into areas which will not have grass weed pressures. The Ohau has been sown as a medium term pasture [24-48 months]; and Asset as a short term pasture [12-24 months] in areas where we feel the ground will settle, require more contouring and where grass weeds are more likely to be problematic.”

Before the land could be regrassed, it needed fertiliser. Philip sourced chicken manure for the bulldozed areas to build up humus and help establish new grass. Himatangi Transport spread 800 tonnes of lime on the farm, which was trucked from the Wairarapa. The company has since spread the annual fertiliser requirements, such as super phosphate, on the farm. Despite the volumes, Himatangi Transport director Simon Pedersen says it was an easy job, as the infrastructure was already set up and working well. “This conversion has created a lot of work for all of us,” says Simon.

Dragging topsoil The deforested areas had to be transformed into pastureland and some sand dunes reduced in height. Philip knew Ray Purser Earthmoving had a very good reputation,

as well as two huge 50 tonne and 55 tonne bulldozers. “We needed big machines to get the job done, or it would have dragged on and cost a lot of money,” says Philip. Using Caterpillar bulldozers, Ray Purser and his colleague Clifford Bennett dragged the topsoil off the former forested areas, levelled the ground and placed the topsoil back again. Ray says the Caterpillars are specialised equipment for this type of work. “We started in April and worked every day until October,” he says. “I worked for 80 days straight at one time.” Ray Purser Earthmovers is based in Upper Hutt and founded by Ray 36 years ago. The Gudopps purchased four pivot irrigators from Waterforce Manawatu which cover 80 per cent of the farm. “They are an essential part of the farm because it’s sand country and prone to drying out,” says Philip.

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MOTUITI FARMS

Coast & Country

Huge project ‘but a good challenge’ The 80-bail rotary platform is the largest one Moa Milking and Pumping has installed in New Zealand.

Wanganui Welldrillers manager Colin Anderson was in charge of drilling the three bores needed on the farm.

One of the irrigation bores is 400m deep Unlike most other dairy shed builds, one company took charge of Motuiti’s entire shed build and all surrounding yardwork. ABC Contractors laid the concrete slab, built the shed and did all of the concrete work for the yard, underpass and effluent bunker as well as the yard steelwork. They also installed the floodwash and effluent system.

The 780m2 shed The Palmerston North company built the 780m2 shed in 20 weeks. The steel frame consists of hot-dip galvanised beams and a combination of concrete tilt slab walls to 1200mm and poly panels. The poly panels

on the walls and roof are 100mm thick for insulation and noise reduction. ABC Contractors operations manager Malcolm Keegan says the state-of-the-art shed is the largest the company has built. ABC Contractors mainly concentrates on concrete work and about half its business is from the farming industry. Three partners, Bruce Simcox, Darren Paurini and Matthew Pitcher, formed the company six years ago but have collaborated on projects for the last 20 years. A large shed allows for large ancillary rooms. The triangular-shaped staffroom has plenty of space for workers and contractors. The similar-sized ofﬁce doubles as a vet room, with

lockable medicine cupboards, a dispensing window and a fold-down double-width vet platform. Even the bridge is double the width, designed to handle up to 1500 cows with ease and prevent bottlenecks during milking. An underpass into the centre of the rotary was placed outside for easy access to contractors and cheaper construction. Surfatex coated all the interior concrete walls and the inside of the rotary platform with Acraflex Dairy Wall Coating. The hardwearing finish is a combination of epoxy base coat, acrylic and a solvent top layer. Surfatex spokeman Frits van Echten says a final fleck coating covers imperfections, hides

dirt and gives an attractive ﬁnish. Acraﬂex has a 10-year guarantee but has been proven to last many years more than that, says Frits.

Trouble-free WMS Waikato Milking Systems was chosen for the milking plant by the Gudopps because Philip “liked what they had to offer”. He says WMS was trouble-free to deal with and he’s pleased with the result. Philip and Maree chose an 80-bail Orbit rotary platform which is 2.7m wide with a large walkway in front of the cows. It was installed by Waikato Milking Systems’ authorised dealer, Moa Milking and Pumping.

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MOTUITI FARMS

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Malcolm Keegan of ABC Contractors speaks with farm owners Maree and Philip Gudopp in the yard.

Philip Gudopp chose a Presco Products bunker for Palm Kernel feed.

Designed to handle 1500 cows Moa Milking and Pumping owner Nathan Hitchcock says some of the set-up was a little different because of its size, and he put four workers on the job rather than the usual three. But it was still completed in less than three weeks. “I expected the dairy downturn would give us a bit of a break, as the last three years have been extra busy, but sales are going extremely well for the climate we are in,” says Nathan. “We are doing lots of major maintenance in water and milking systems, and rotary platforms. Out of 400 platforms we maintain, only three customers said they’d skip the regular maintenance this year.”

‘Smart’ add-ons Waikato Milking Systems area manager Brian Luff says Philip has a number of the brand’s

‘Smart’ add-ons which make milking quicker and more efﬁcient. The milking system features SmartECRs, which is a premier cup remover system that triggers an automated sequence of events during milking. The SmartECR enables the operator to customise the milking routine. SmartSPRAY replaces the need for manual teat spraying and teat dipping, while ensuring maximum coverage, regardless of the cow’s position in the bail. A SmartSPRAY bullet is positioned in every bail and two adjustable spray nozzles can be rotated to cater for a variety of cow sizes. “SmartSPRAY is signalled by the electronic cup remover to spray soon after the cups have been removed which allows the udder to be sprayed while the teat oriﬁce is still open,” says Brian. Digital pulsation system SmartPULS is also

a feature of the milking plant. The system is designed to limit congestion and oedema in teat tissues during milking, reducing discomfort for the cows and minimising new mastitis infections. And SmartPULS is the only pulsation system on the market where each pulsator services two clusters, says Brian. SmartWASH has a touchscreen with a userfriendly interface. It can manage any wash scenario, with 10 wash regimes and customised day-to-day programming.

Two receiving cans Motuiti’s milking system also has two receiving cans, rather than the usual one, to handle the greater milk volume. The milk is processed through a double-bank heat exchanger, which reduces the milk down to ground water temperature.

It is then further chilled by a glycol refrigeration unit which snap chills the milk to four degrees Celsius before going into the vat. The Patton Pak 67kW unit is the largest one Tru-Test sells. “Chilling the milk to such a low temperature before entering the vat saves power, reduces inefficiency and provides better quality milk,” says Tru-Test’s Dairy Technology Services area sales manager Tim Rix. Glycol systems use a very small volume of fluid and create the chilled fluid on demand at milking time. They are particularly suitable to areas which have extreme hot and cold weather conditions and for areas with varying water temperatures throughout the season. Philip chose a Longveld gas dairy hot water system because of the massive savings in hot water costs.

MOTUITI FARMS

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Coast & Country The 780m2 dairy shed is constructed of concrete panels and poly panels.

John Atkin of Longveld sold Philip Gudopp a cost-effective gas dairy hot water system.

Waikato Milking Systems’ area manager Brian Luff with farm owners Maree and Philip Gudopp.

FIL Manawatu/Horowhenua territory manager Clinton Humphries with the detergents supplied by FIL Dairy Detergents.

Utilising state-of-the-art technology Longveld spokesman John Atkin says the system offers up a 45 per cent reduction in water heating costs, even more when hooked up to a heat recovery system. The 1,000L system, the company’s largest, heats this farm’s water to 85 degrees Celsius in 45 minutes for the plant and vat wash.

Hot savings “You only need one water cylinder, because you only heat water when you need it,” says John. “Hot water shortages are a thing of the past.” An additional beneﬁt is the Bosch califont system which provides tap-accessed 55 degree Celsius hot water for washing equipment.

And the system can be pre-programmed for milking times. A 500L permanent gas cylinder outside is topped up weekly. The Longveld gas dairy hot water system has been available for the last two seasons. Philip is convinced on the merits of the system. “I couldn’t say ‘no’ to the concept of cutting my heating costs nearly in half.” FIL Dairy Detergents supply the cleaners and teat spray for the shed. Manawatu/ Horowhenua FIL area manager Clint Humphrey says Iodoshield Active teat sanitiser has a high level of emollient and Manuka honey. The every-day acid cleaner is Quantum Red (formerly Quantum Blue), which has a

very low risk of residue traces. The alkaline cleaner is Quantum XL, recommended for high turbulence machines, and C3 chlorine is added to the XL to boost the wash. Clint says all products are fully compliant with milk company requirements. “The game is always changing and we, as a company, need to keep one step ahead.”

Future feed pad The rectangular yard includes a drafting gate and holding area, race and loading ramp. Philip and Maree intend on building a feed pad adjacent to the rectangular yard next season which will allow them to feed out Palm Kernel in a

convenient, controlled environment. The feed pad, which will accommodate 600 cows at a time, was chosen over an in-shed system because the feed is cheaper than the more expensive in-shed mix. A 54m2 PKE bunker, supplied and installed by Presco Products, will be joined by another bunker for maize next season. The existing bunker holds 100m3 feed and is made from tilt-slab concrete with concrete bracing. The roof and rail system was designed by Presco and installed by Kiwi Span. It can be rolled on and off the bunker to allow for trucks unloading and tractor loading out stock food, fertiliser or anything else that requires dry storage.

MOTUITI FARMS

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New dairy delivers economic spin-off Central ITM in Fielding supplied the material and built the calf shed.

Contractor Mark Hodges worked with Andrew Guthrie from Guthrie Ag Work during the farm conversion.

The rectangular yard slopes down to an extra-long stone trap. Presco Products general manager Oliver Prestidge says a number of features help prevent water contamination including an under-floor liner stopping ground water getting in and flashings on all external walls to prevent wind-driven rain entering the bunker. The bunker holds a little more than a truck and trailerload, ensuring stock doesn’t have to run out before ordering more. Presco Products can install an operational bunker in just three weeks from order confirmation, with only five days construction on-site. Wanganui Welldrillers has drilled three

bores on the farm, one for farm supply and two irrigation bores. Philip wanted the water supply at 100L per second, which determined the width and depth of the bores, says Wanganui Welldrillers manager Colin Anderson. Both irrigation bores are 400m deep. Colin says Wanganui Welldrillers was founded in 1971 and is still run by Lyle Sharratt, one of the original owners.

Motuiti Farms

Water resources Farm Supplies in Rongotea was responsible for managing and installing all of the water resources in and around the shed. This included water for the milk plant,

Tru-Test’s Dairy Technology Services area sales manager Tim Rix with the Patton Pak glycol refrigeration unit.

treatment and reticulation of the shed washdown, installation of the Longveld gas hot water system, as well as metering and dosing. Stock water around the farm and silo washing hardware were also installed by Farm Supplies. The company is managed by Grant and Brice Ebert with 10 staff and has been in business for 22 years. Central ITM in Fielding supplied the material and built the large calf shed, including all interior pens. Managing director Rob Jones says the 480m2 shed is one of the bigger ones the company has built. Parent company, Rural Timber and Hardware Ltd, also owns a store in Marton. They supply all farming timber, including fencing, and supplies and builds all type of farm buildings.

Rob says customers are mainly from dairy, sheep, and beef farms and horticulture.

Generating jobs Philip wouldn’t be drawn on the total cost of converting the land into a substantial dairy farm with state-of-the-art technology and infrastructure. However, he stated that the farm will generate 10 times the income that was being produced under the previous leased dairy grazing arrangement. “With half of this income spent in running costs, this has generated jobs and an economic spin-off for the local community,” says Philip. A worthwhile project for this hard-working family indeed. Sonja Matla

GEA Farm Equipment GEA provide high quality, robust farm equipment for pastoral or barn efﬂuent management. GEA also have barn equipment designed ﬁrst and foremost for cow comfort. To speak with your local farm equipment specialist call 0800 GEA FARM (0800 432 327)

engineering for a better world

MOTUITI FARMS

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Coast & Country

Floodwash and effluent system The rectangular yard includes a drafting gate and holding area, race and loading ramp. It features a Houle floodwash, supplied by GEA. It is designed to reduce fresh water usage, which could be up to 70 per cent here. The floodwash is supplied by two 25,000 litre tanks of recycled water. It has four valves, two on the yard and two on the race and drafting area. The valves are programmed to open independently for a nominated time period or a prewash setting, which opens all valves for 10 seconds prior to bringing the cows in for milking. Operating the floodwash is as easy as pushing a button inside the shed and walking away. Houle sales manager Murray McEwan says the fresh water savings are considerable. “Milking can use, per cow, 50-100 litres a day.” By taking green water out of the effluent pond, once solids have been separated, the yard can be washed efficiently and without wasting freshwater. Murray says this system has an option where fresh bore water can fill the tanks, in case the recycled water deteriorates too much under dry conditions.

Effluent from the yard and the shed is washed into a 15m by 4m stone trap. The extra-long trap is designed to accommodate 45,000 litres of water in three minutes. From there, it washes into a large sump, where it is mixed to keep solids in suspension, then pumped up to the slope screen by a Houle Agi-pump. Murray says the Agi-pump uses a pulley and belt drive; the advantages are output fine tuning and product safety where blockages may damage the plant. As the stone trap is more than 1.2m deep, it has a drain dam door which reduces the water level while leaving the sand and stones, allowing for easy stone trap cleaning. The Houle slope screen is 2.4m2 – the largest the company sells. It has the ability to process 1500-1800 litres of effluent per minute. The screen acts as a giant sieve that passively separates the dry matter from the liquid. The dry matter collects in a large concrete bunker, and after composting for a few months, can be spread anywhere on-farm to provide extra nutrients and soil conditioning. The slope screen has no moving parts and the only maintenance needed is a weekly wash down. The green water is collected in a 3.5 million litre lined pond and from there is recycled back to the floodwash tanks or spread onto the land.

Bruce Simcox and Malcolm Keegan of ABC Contractors with Houle sales manager Murray McEwan from GEA, test out the ﬂoodwash.

Murray McEwan from GEA with the Houle slope screen.

ABC Contractors’ Malcolm Keegan and Bruce Simcox, with GEA’s Murray McEwan with the Houle slope screen and concrete efﬂuent bunker installed by ABC Contractors.

Sonja Matla

PROUD PARTNERS TO

MOTUITI FARMS

0800 436 723 | waterforce.co.nz

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MOTUITI FARMS

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DLR FARMS

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Coast & Country The picturesque farm gates.

Ryan Smith runs Friesian cows on his farm.

Pretty parlour inside and out Ryan Smith’s new dairy shed must be the prettiest farm building in the Rangitiki district. Apart from being a good, solid build, it is surrounded by red-ﬂowering standard roses, rows of native griselinias, and fenced with an eye-catching pair of electronic gates. Situated ﬁve minutes from Marton, just off State Highway 3, in an area of long established pastoral farming, the shed incorporates a DeLaval 50-bail PR 1500 rotary milking platform, a system which allows Ryan to upsize in future. It was installed by local agents, MacDougalls Rural Services & Supplies. With a long history in the farming industry, more than 40 years, MacDougalls offers a wide

range of farm equipment but also provide a high level of service and professionalism. A strong focus of the company is the promotion of rotary milking safety standards, and compliance with current Occupational Health and Safety regulations.

Quiet performer DeLaval is a trusted, well-proven brand with a strong, innovative European history, and Ryan opted to include their MPC 150 Automated Cup Removers. “The ACR can be controlled by either time or milk ﬂow. They also control pulsation so when the cups are removed, they turn off the pulsator,” says Brett MacDougall of MacDougalls Rural Services & Supplies. “ACRs enable the farmer to spend less time in the dairy, so more time with herd health

GEA FIL’s farm service area manager Clint Humphrey with barrels of detergents for wash system.

The front of the shed. and management.” The heavy duty vacuum system is a DeLaval LVP 4500 with variable speed control, stabilising the vacuum level required in the plant and reducing energy costs by up to 70 per cent. The system is especially good for long run times, “reliability without sacrificing performance”. The pumps are also quiet performers, whether you’re milking or in the pump room. Customised programmes and easy-to-use touch-button controls are a feature of the C200 automatic wash system. “The system allows for a single push of the button to complete a full wash of the milking system,” says Brett. “It controls both water filling and chemical dosing along with air pulses to aid agitation. It ensures the plant is consistently cleaned to required hygiene standards.” An LED display confirms successful comple-

tion of the operation – if a power failure has occurred or water temperature is insufﬁcient, then the unit tells you.

Efficient solutions A major focus in current dairy farming is the search for efficient solutions to meet higher requirements on milk quality. To comply with the introduction of new cooling regulations, a DeLaval MD 1022 water chiller has been installed. Brett says this system rapidly reduces the temperature of milk before it goes into the bulk milk silo. With nominal flow rates of 2200-2500 litres an hour, milk temperature is quickly lowered by eight-10 degrees Celsius. Further benefits include a reduction in energy costs, and a decreased exposure to bacteria, thus safeguarding the quality of milk.

DLR FARMS

PH 07 578 0030 MacDougalls Rural Services & Suppliesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Darryl Karp in the cleaning room.

Central Silo Systems designed, supplied and installed the feed silos & PK extract auger.

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The Wrangler enables hoof-trimming to be a one-person job.

DeLaval Cleaning Unit 200.

DLR Farms View of the DeLaval 1500 rotary milking platform, installed by MacDougalls Rural Services & Supplies.

Easy use means more family time GEA FILâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s farm service area manager Clint Humphrey knows his stuff. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been with the company for about 25 years, and has a strong belief in their products. GEA FIL supplied the dairy detergents for the new shed. The high quality formulations are designed to keep the herd in good shape, with healthy udders helping prevent mastitis, and dairies clean and hygienic.

Blending minerals Central Silo Systems supplied and installed both the standard M450-100m rotary meal feed ststem and a CSS 4500k meal mixer to the shed prior to start up. A 30 tonne Valco meal silo and Palm Kernel Extract auger was set up to the mixer to allow blending of minerals in the mixer outside of milking time. Central Silo Systemsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Sean Currie says the stage one equipment was

laid out to provide for the addition of milling at a later stage to reduce meal feeding costs. NZ Specialised Coating supplied the AcraďŹ&#x201A;ex Dairy Wall Coating to Palmerston Northbased, Surfatex. The acid and alkali-resistant coating provides a bright, smooth, easy care ďŹ nish which is both hygienic and goodlooking. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also extremely hard-wearing and long-lasting. Bruce Cameron gives the product a 10-year guarantee â&#x20AC;&#x153;but thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still a couple of cow sheds around operating that we painted in 1978â&#x20AC;?. Surfatexâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Frits van Echten applied the distinctive, ďŹ&#x201A;ecked AcraďŹ&#x201A;ex coating, chosen for all interior walls of the dairy. He says the product can tolerate the harsh environment of a dairy shed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It can withstand high pressure washing twice-a-day and still look like new.â&#x20AC;?

As well as UV protection, it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t yellow, AcraďŹ&#x201A;ex is a combination of epoxy base coat, acrylic and solvent top layer which seals surfaces against bacterial build-up, meeting the high hygiene standards of the dairy industry.

Staff safety sorted The yard is equipped with a Wrangler, an invention of Wilco Klein Ovink. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an ingenious device reďŹ&#x201A;ecting our Kiwi inventiveness, incorporating an immobilising system which eliminates the need for â&#x20AC;&#x153;rope, grunt and grindâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Wrangler allows staff to easily and safely check cowsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hooves, calve cows, or perform any other animal handling or veterinary tasks,â&#x20AC;? says Waverley Klein-Ovink. Ryan is conscious of safety issues, so made sure a Wrangler was part of the shed design, saying: â&#x20AC;&#x153;safe facilities for staff are an

important considerationâ&#x20AC;?. With the cow held in the headbail and held underneath by slings to prevent her falling, the leg can be winched onto a support block for easy treatment. The constraint system means the farmer can do a proper job with no danger of the cow falling down and comprising the safety of farmer or cow.

Extra time â&#x20AC;&#x153;Treating cowsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hooves early and properly is not only good for herd health, but will pay dividends ďŹ nancially as well,â&#x20AC;? says Waverley, who with husband Wilco produces the product full-time in Whakatane. Having an efďŹ cient, reliable and easy to use dairy means Ryan gets extra time to spend with wife, Lisa, and their three small children â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future-proofed. Vivienne Bailey

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STEWART DAIRYLANDS

Page 14

Faith

herringbone shed.” A Milfos GEN 2 Rotary platform with iCORE was installed by GEA Farm Technologies’ service provider Farm Supplies Central. It replaces an “old, unsustainable” 16-aside herringbone, and allows for simplistic upgrading without discarding existing components.

in the future of dairying James Stewart is a ﬁfth generation farmer with a focus on dairy farming, particularly in the Manawatu district.

launched by Palmerston North Mayor Grant Smith and Manawatu Mayor Margaret Kouvells, the future-proofed shed is a signiﬁcant gesture of faith in the future of dairying in the region.

His family arrived in 1886 from Gargunnock, near Stirling, in Scotland, settling on 80 acres of bush, part of the Manchester Block. And today, the family’s Stewart Group – a combination of highly sustainable and intensively farmed Manawatu properties – includes the farm Dairylands, which is home to a new dairy James farms together with brother, Tim, and father, Dave. Based in Ashhurst, a 10-minute drive from Palmerston North, James, who is also the Federated Farmers of New Zealand Manawatu/Rangitiki provincial president, believes his new multi-million, state-of-the-art dairy shed will be a showcase for the many people, including school children and overseas dignitaries, who visit the farm. Opened early-December 2015, and

Two elements “There’re two elements to the shed – the working commercial side but also an educational, training area,” says James. He’s installed a viewing platform in the shed where visitors can watch good farming practice through a wide window. He believes the location of the shed, close to urban development, is an ideal place to illustrate and promote dairy farming “to show the positive side of dairy farming, to attract young people into the industry”. Currently milking 370 cows, a mixture of Jersey and Friesian, James says the shed is built for up to 800 cows. “The new shed with its 54-bail rotary platform has cut milking time to two hours, with one person milking, instead of up to ﬁve hours in the old

Plug and play

The Houle automated yard ﬂush valves opening. An overhead washdown line with a custommade bracket featuring the template of Scottish thistle, reﬂecting Stewart heritage.

“The iCORE bail control system allows easy ‘plug and play’ modular upgrades whenever the farmer wants,” says Grant Ebert, project manager from the Rongotea-based farm supply business. James has chosen to The iCORE milking point include a milking point management system displays notification, an option ‘traffic light’ notifications. that alerts the farmer to cowflow and comfort – and Cameron says the managechanges in milking status. ment system can be built upon in future. GEA area sales manager Cameron Claridge says that means if a cow kicks off cups, or if there’s any interupThe Houle automated flush system is “state-of-the-art” tion, such as low milk, a colour-coded notification, and also a GEA product installed by Farm Supplies Cen“like traffic lights” it alerts workers. tral. Grant says the effluent system is an efficient method Automatic cup removers, cow restraints, leg separaof cleaning alleys and holding areas. tors and Platform Universal Devices, called iPUDS, But the highlight of the installation was the customhave also been added. The iPUDS ensure cows stand made brackets on the overhead wash-down line in the correct position in the bail, making it easy to featuring a template of a Scottish thistle, reflecting the put cups on. Stewart heritage. A Heads-Down Display unit is also built into the “It’s a personalised touch that added interest to the iPUD. Located immediately in the area where operators installation process,” says Grant. are working, the feature makes it easier for workers to The PLC controller operates valves individually, know exactly what mode the bail is in. programmed to farmers’ requirements. The multiple An automatic per point teat spray which dispenses programs include pre-wetting the yard, and running soon after cups come off, and a backcut screen, helps valves at different times depending on amount of James effectively manage udder health. manure to move. It ensures even and controlled distriGEA specially designed the GEN 2 bail to improve bution of flush liquid across the yard area.

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Fifth generation Farm Supplies Central’s Darryl Bennett, James Stewart, farm staff Hayden Mehlhopt and Guy Harvey, Tim Stewart, Frits van Echten from Surfatex, Tru-Test’s Tim Rix, Keven Roberts from Roberts Contracting, Dave Stewart, Levi Stewart, and GEA area sales manager Cameron Claridge. The Milfos plant management system operates on an iFLOW GEN 2 Rotary platform. Stewart

Farm Supplies Central’s Grant Ebert installed the iCORE milking point management system.

The farm dairy uses recycled water for flood washing of yards and feedpads, using a system that thins out water. Reusing the green water fits with James’ sustainability focus, and the solid separation using the GEA Houle slope screen, combined with the flush valves, reduces fresh dairy water use. The HERDFLOW backing gate was installed by Farm Supplies Central, an agent for Reporoa Engineering/HERDFLOW manufacturers. And the automated cow management and loading operation means less stress on animals as cows are moved easily and gently from yard to shed. The Stewart yard is equipped with a Wrangler hoof trimming system which allows workers to easily and safely check hooves, calve cows, and perform various animal handling or veterinary tasks. “Treating cows’ hooves early and properly is not only good for herd health, but pays dividends financially as well,” says Wrangler spokesperson Waverley Klein-Ovink.

Dairy good detergent

GEA FIL provided dairy detergents, which high quality formulations designed Dairylands are to clean the dairy and keep the herd in good shape. GEA FIL’s farm service area manager Clint Humphrey says: “Pretty much every new shed runs with us, we’ve got a good, reliable product”. James says he decided on a Longveld gas-fired water heating unit, which was installed by Farm Supplies Central. Consisting of a Bosch boiler and a stainless steel cyclinder over a stainless steel frame and dump tank, the system can be pre-set to have hot water available at specific times. Or can be turned on manually to give hot water on demand. Longveld is the exclusive New Zealand distributors of the Bosch gas retrofit kit. Farm Supplies Central also installed the GEA iCONVERTER AquaCHILL, a pre-cooling, on-line milk chiller system which results in power available for cooling at the Plate Heat Exchange only being what is produced by the chiller. “What that effectively means is that it only operates Frits van Echten checks interior during milking time,” says Cameron. Acraflex finish on underpass walls. The system uses fast-chilling glycol which is circulated through the evaporator to the milk PHE and

Page 15 back to the buffer tank. This provides a ‘thermal shock absorber,’ preventing compressor short cycling with milk pump switching.

Hot day, cold milk We’re standing in a hot Manawatu summer temperature of 33 degrees Celsius, but the chiller is currently sending milk into the vat at 1.8 degrees Celsius. James also chose a refrigeration unit, the Realcold 25 kilowatt chiller, supplied by Tru-Test Dairy Technology Services. Tru-Test’s area sales manager Tim Rix says the chiller is used predominately to maintain milk temperature at four degrees Celsius. A TempPro remote temperature monitor was also installed. This means the temperature of milk in the vat can be viewed from almost anywhere in the shed. Prior to start-up, Central Silo Systems supplied and installed the first stage of a meal feed system to the farm dairy shed, including the standard Model 450 slow running 100mm meal auger to the platform, and a standard PLC meal dispensing controller. A 30 tonne Valco meal silo was installed with provision in the silo concrete foundation to include a meal milling system as a second stage. James brought in Frits van Echten to apply the Surfafex interior wall coating, a combination of epoxy base coat, acrylic and a solvent top layer. The practical fleck finish flattens the surface, diminishes imperfections and disguises dirt. “The product has a 10-year guarantee for new sheds but reports show it has a longer life. In 20 years it will look the same,” says Frits. The Blackley Group supplied all the aggregate for the shed site and built up existing cow races to meet the new yard level. They were also involved in the placement of culverts, digging the hole for the effluent tank, and landscaping the area around the shed once construction was completed. Manawatu-based Roberts Contracting constructed the 7000m3 effluent pond using surplus clay taken from the farm dairy foundations during building. In-depth research into dairy sheds throughout the North Island, undertaken by James and Dave, combined with a high level of technology and workmanship, has resulted in a future-proofed commercial dairy shed with modern educational facilities. Vivienne Bailey

GJ BAGRIE FARMS

Page 16

Coast & Country

Dedication to detail Levin farm owner Graeme Bagrie at his new rotary dairy.

Planning was the key to success for the new dairy complex at Graeme Bagrieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Levin farm. He estimates he spent about 12 months in the planning and preparation of the site â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which he did himself using bulldozer and digger thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s part of his other ag-contracting business. It was his dedication to detail, and his desire to get it right â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the ďŹ rst time â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which has resulted in a state-of-the art dairy complex. Graeme has always farmed on this family property on the outskirts of Levin and fondly remembers milking in a six-aside walk-through shed when he was very young. That shed was updated to a 13-aside herringbone and subsequently lengthened again to 28-aside when herd numbers increased. But this was its maximum, so grew a need for a new shed capable of a larger herd. The new dairy is more centrally located on the 340 hectare property, which cuts down the time the herd spend walking to the shed. The new shed has the capacity to grow herd num-

The underpass is light and airy.

bers again with plenty of space for a feed pad or covered barn/feed pad if Graeme wants to go down that route.

External rotary In the early planning days Graeme visited eight different sheds to get ďŹ rst-hand experience of how they worked; he came to the conclusion an external rotary was much more practical for cow ďŹ&#x201A;ow and would give a better work environment for his staff. The shed is a 54-bail external rotary but it sits in a building capable of 60-bails because Graeme wanted plenty of space around the platform. Functionality was a big part of the design of the shed â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it had to work well for staff. This is a theme running throughout the build â&#x20AC;&#x201C; he spent many hours conďŹ guring all the stairways, to get them all the same height and tread width again for safety and ease of movement about the shed. The underpass is another area which took plenty of thought and planning. Graeme wanted it to have maximum height with

GJ Bagrie Farms

Milk vats are located inside the complex.

minimum effort to be worker-friendly. So it is conďŹ gured in a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; shape with two levels, making it light, airy and easy for staff to move from one side to the other, and gently stepped down with drainage at each level to ensure efďŹ cient cleaning.

Clear-cut targets Hotter Engineering built the rotary platform. Hotter has the experience and expertise to manufacture and install milking platforms to speciďŹ c requirements to their exacting standards. Hotter has three deck options â&#x20AC;&#x201C; steel, which is painted chequer plate, Superdec, which is a corrosion-resistant alloy tread plate, or concrete. All platforms are prefabricated in their factory then shipped to site in kitset form and then assembled to Hotterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exacting standards. MacDougalls in Palmerston North supplied and installed the plant. Branch manager Darryl Karp says before and during the build there was good communication between Graeme and the builders. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was very clear what was needed.

The adjustable entry gate.

Targets Graeme set were clear-cut. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was a lot of emphasis on ease of maintenance and accessibility for maintenance. All components/pipework was above ground with extra height to ensure it was ergonomic for staff both milkers and others.â&#x20AC;? Darryl says this dairy complex build was the best heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d been involved with. The result is a ďŹ rst class dairy complex. With milk cooling standards changing, a DeLaval compact water chiller was installed. This chills a mixture which is then circulated through a double-bank plate heat exchanger. It is an extremely efďŹ cient unit that only runs during the milking period and means milk enters the vat as low as six-eight degrees Celsius.

Take-off function All pumps are ďŹ tted with variable speed controllers to make the plant energy-efďŹ cient. Heat recovery from the refrigeration is used to heat hot water. A vat temperature read-out above the staffroom door allows anyone to check vat temperature from any part of the shed.

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Page 17

Graeme gets it right – the ﬁrst time

Herd manager Gary Burnette in his office, which overlooks the working platform. The shed is intended to be run by one person. The latest in technology from DeLaval includes automatic cup removers that activate the take-off function by either milk flow or time – whichever comes first. The benefit for the farmer with this type of DeLaval system is they don’t have to install Cow Retention Bails because no cows come for a second rotation unless manually chained on the platform. This also means milking times should be quicker as cows coming for a second lap are only the ones the farmer chooses to keep on-platform. The DeLaval C200 Automatic Cleaning unit ensures the plant is always washed the same way with the correct detergent levels each day irrespective of which staff are rostered. A vet and Artificial Breeding technician platform is also a feature. The wide platform is wound down so it sits flat at the feet of the cows on the platform, allowing all work to be carried out in a safe and ergonomic manner. When it is not in use it sits against the side wall of the dairy. It makes the jobs much easier for both vets and technicians.

Calf milk storage.

There is a separate penicillin cows milking area, with Graeme ‘recycling’ the old shed’s equipment.

Graeme has ‘recycled’ the old herringbone equipment and installed it in a small dairy speciﬁcally for ‘penicillin’ cows, which can be drafted off and milked – ensuring the milk is always kept completely separate. Also in this area is a vet race and animal-handling crush. Once cows have calved they’re milked or stripped on the main platform with the milk going direct to the calf-feed collection point located on the outside of the shed, making it an easy operation of backing the trailer up to the outlet pipe and ﬁlling the calfeteria ready to take to the calf-rearing pens.

Heat detection The new complex has a camera installed to detect cows in heat. The animals are ﬁtted with heat patches; when the animal is ‘ridden’ and the dye breaks and spreads the camera picks it up automatically and drafts it to a separate yard. It can over-draft. If there is manure on a heat patch the cow will be drafted out or if a patch is only just broken it will do the same. By doing this it enables the herd manager to make the ﬁnal decision so it’s a good combination of

Plenty of space around the platform, with Graeme choosing a 54-bail rotary over a 60-bail.

technology and human decision making. The roof is constructed using freezer panels which insulates the shed well, gives a cleaner ceiling, lighter and no condensation. The concrete ﬂoor has a swirling pattern which is an attractive way to incorporate non-skid. Central Silo Systems designed supplied and installed the in-shed feed system. The Valco 30 tonne meal silo gives the farmer the option to order a truck and trailer unit at the same time reducing meal delivery costs, compared to one 16 tonne silo. Central Silo Systems also manufactured and installed a stainless steel mineral injection hopper, which has the advantage of being able to add minerals into the feed to help with nutritional requirements when needed. As a second stage to the feed system Central Silo Systems also offer their on-farm feed mill. This allows the future ability to store raw cereal for milling; and a meal mixer to improve feed quality, increase productivity and reduce labour and production costs. At the Bagrie dairy farm they run a split calving operation with 200 cows calving in autumn and 300 in spring. The farm also

includes about 300 beef on a 200ha run-off. The beef calves are reared alongside the dairy calves. Rearing of the young stock has become Graeme’s special responsibility – something he enjoys and means he has plenty of involvement in the day-to-day running of this successful dairy and beef operation.

Terrific boss Canvasland supplied and fitted the pond liner for the dairy effluent pond. The pond liner was manufactured off-site under special environmental controls where the welding could be carried out under good conditions, giving quality welds with no contaminants into the weld. This also means the actual installation only takes about half a day and is less weatherdependant. The last word about this new dairy complex goes to herd manager Gary Burnette, who has worked for Graeme for the last three years. “Graeme is a terrific boss. His experience is amazing and he’s always thinking of how things will affect his staff. He has your back and is part of the operation during good and bad.” Fritha Tagg

PEARCE

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Coast & Country

Building

Farm owner Andrew Pearce and builder Quintin Oakes in front of the new dairy.

on budget

Pearce

A storm, described as a one-in-85-year event, destabilised land where Andrew and Nicky Pearce’s dairy shed was built. This provided the catalyst for a new dairy, which was ﬁnished just before the end of the 2015/2016 season. In June 2015 a massive storm battered the Rangitikei region and took a large chunk of land from the Whangaehu River, which runs through the Pearce’s 129 hectare property. The subsidence took out part of the tanker track and brought the new river’s edge to within ﬁve metres of their 32-aside herringbone. While the shed was still able to be used, it wasn’t viable long-term; and the insurance company eventually wrote it off, paving the way for a new build. Like most insurance policies, the Pearce’s coverage stipulated like-for-like replacement. But Andy pushed for a cash settlement to allow the building of a shed more suitable for their requirements going forward.

Built on budget It was critical for the project to be completed within budget, says Andrew, who used a competitive process to select both the builder and milking plant supplier. In both cases Andrew sought three quotes, and while he considered factors such as availability of local servicing, the ﬁnal decision largely came down to price. While the insurance payout provided a good portion of funding for the new dairy, Andrew and Nicky invested further funds as well. This coupled with a low dairy payout meant every penny spent on the new

The Chapman Dairy shed from the yard. build had to count. “I had to be very disciplined and get done what I could with a set budget. “The shed needed to be smart and tidy. We didn’t want any unnecessary bells and whistles. It had to be functional, cost-effective and allow one-person milking,” says Andrew. A major consideration on the build – along with cost – was making sure the building could withstand a ﬂood. Andrew selected a Chapman Dairy dairy parlour, and the design was modiﬁed to suit the Pearce’s’ budget and farm conditions, says local licenced Chapman Dairy builder Quintin Oakes. After meeting with Andrew on-site to understand his requirements, Quintin passed this information to the team at Chapman Dairy, who took the lead on the design.

“With this shed we had to speciﬁcally design for ﬂood protection,” says Don. For example, the standard dairy parlour design uses about 8m3 of concrete under the platform, says Quintin. And this build required 42m3 to provide the necessary structural strength for the unique design, which includes open walls on all sides of the parlour.

Protection changes Additional reinforcing and a cinder block base to all external walls were among the ﬂood protection changes to the standard Chapman Dairy design. Located in a valley, the shed enjoys a microclimate with minimal wind and generally warm temperatures.

PEARCE

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Page 19

Storm paves way for new dairy A tenuous ﬁve metres between the edge of the shed and the river below was the catalyst for the new dairy build.

A cinder block base to all external walls is among several design changes to protect the new dairy against ﬂooding.

FIL’s Clint Humphrey reviewing the shed’s dispensing system, which doesn’t require any human handling of chemicals.

plant and equipment installed, and came together well from an electrical perspective. “On modern dairy sheds like the Pearce’s, electrical installation is becoming simpler and simpler in terms of componentry concerned. Everything is designed to connect together.”

Time-saving gate A word-of-mouth recommendation from the engineer who worked on the pipework in the yard led Andrew to install a backing gate from Taranaki ﬁrm Michael Bloemen Engineering. While they’ve only had a couple of months milking in the new shed, Andrew says he’s really happy with the gate so far. Fitted with a scraper to remove muck from the yard, and a unique selfcalibration mechanism to help run freely and without jamming up, the gate was another component in Andrew’s plan for a dairy in which one person could milk outside spring. With pre-programmed wash cycles, one touch starts the GEA Milfos iNTEL Wash system. FIL supply the Pearce dairy with detergents and chemicals. FIL area manager Clint Humphrey says the system is designed so

Tru-Test dairy automation solutions manager Gillian Fullerton-Smith.

there is no human handling of chemicals, “which is great from both an accuracy and health and safety perspective”. Another efficiency feature is the dairy’s platform can be used while the plant is being washed thanks to the GEA Milfos 3C gland, which includes a water line as well as the normal air and milk lines. This offers greater flexibility to schedule things like Artificial Breeding without having to wait for the plant wash to finish first, says Andrew.

Intelligent milking Going with GEA milking technology, as well as being price competitive, allowed Andrew to continue the relationship with Ian Mackay from Machinery Maintenance in Wanganui. He’s the local GEA installation partner, and has been servicing the Pearce farm for many years. Ian says milk sensor technology on the GEA automated cup removal system minimises the risk of cows not milking out properly because the threshold can be easily adjusted to suit the conditions. For instance, a higher threshold during peak ﬂow and a lower threshold at other times.

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Andrew expects the shed’s open walls will help keep cows and the milker comfortable as well as make the parlour easy to keep clean. Also helping to keep the dairy clean and hygienic, is the sevenlayer Acraflex wall coating, which is impervious to chemicals and enables muck to be just hosed off, says Frits van Echten from licenced Acraflex applicators Surfatex. The new dairy reuses existing feed pads from the old dairy, so the shed design also took account of this to optimise cow flow. The shed was used for three weeks at the end of last season and cows adapted very well to moving from a herringbone to rotary, says Andrew. “Milking in the new shed this season is going smoothly as well.” “One feature of the whole build is that we’ve been able to do it through the season, and the fact that we could use the old shed while building the new one eliminated some of the pressure associated with a new build,” says Andrew. Walker and Thomas Electrical had a couple of people on-site during a two-month period to wire up the new shed. Walker and Thomas Electrical director Stewart Thomas says the new dairy features the latest electrical technology for the

Tru-Test automation, including automated drafting, was very price competitive compared to other options Andrew investigated.

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Authorised licensee www.chapmandairy.com

PEARCE

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Coast & Country

Every penny spent had to count “It means I didn’t have to sacriﬁce milk harvest for the one-person milking goal,” says Andrew. “If they haven’t milked out, we’re not going to lose that ﬁve per cent of milk. The cow will simply stay on the platform and be re-presented.” As well as automated cup removers, retention arms and automated wash system, a GEA Milfos iFLOW 40-bail rotary platform was installed. The platform’s nylon roller system was one of the features Andrew liked. The nylon rollers on the unique double beam platform rotation system eliminate steel-on-steel friction, says GEA area manager Cameron Claridge. There are 53 rollers spaced 600mm apart, and each roller takes two tonne loading. “That’s 106 tonnes that the platform can bear. This is much more than is needed, even on a fully-loaded platform. Roller placement helps evenly distribute the weight, reducing stress on the beams and rollers.” Once installed the platform is very low maintenance, says according to Farm Supplies Central’s Bryce Ebert. Farm Supplies Central is GEA’s local platform installation partner. All the farmer really needs to do is replenish the lubricant for the automated lubrication system, says Bryce.

GEA Milfos was the plant of choice for the new Pearce dairy.

Tru-Test Vat Manager monitors vat temperatures and provides peace of mind for the Pearce’s.

GEA supplied the milking plant at the Pearce’s new dairy including platform, retention arms and automated cup removers.

Herd management Andrew opted for Tru-Test dairy automation in the new shed, because the system was very price-competitive compared to other options he looked at. “I was able to get more functionality at a lower price so it was an easy decision to go with Tru-Test,” says Andrew. He opted for walk-over weighing, EID herd tracking and automated drafting. And because the system is modular other functionality can be added as need and budget allow, says Tru-Test dairy automation solutions national sales manager Gillian Fullerton-Smith. “The system offers the ability to make better decisions and be more productive. Weight data helps take the guesswork out of culling decisions, for example.

“Automated drafting saves time managing cows that need treatment or follow-up. Setting up drafts can be done from a smartphone anywhere, anytime making the system very convenient,” says Gillian. Large in-shed display screens give Andrew real-time information about production during milking. And he can also access a range of pre-deﬁned reports to look at mastitis, cow weights, herd age distributions and any number of other factors, explains Gillian.

Vat monitoring Milk in the 21,500L vat is protected by Tru-Test’s new Vat Manager product. If, for example, milk is not cooling quickly enough, or milk temperature goes outside identiﬁed parameters, an in-shed alarm goes off. The system can also send a text alert to the farmer, says Tru-Test’s

area sales manager for milk cooling and tanks Tim Rix. The Vat Manager is particularly important for the Pearce’s because milk collection is once every two days due to access to their property, which includes 5km of largely unsealed road. A double bank cooler uses farm water on the ﬁrst pass and chilled water from a 15,000L tank on the secondary side, bringing milk to between eight-10 degrees Celsius when it enters the vat. The 10hp Patton Pak refrigeration offers quick and efﬁcient chilling once milk reaches the vat, and also provides hot water for the shed. Andrew’s approach has proven that a futureproof, well-appointed dairy is possible on a tight budget. The Pearce’s have achieved what they set out to achieve and are now well positioned for the future. Josephine Reader

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TIGER HILL FARM

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Coast & Country Tiger Hillâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new dairy shed below the Dunstan Ranges.

regrets

Farm staff member Abbi Ayre, farm manager Frikkie Terblanche, farm owner Michael White and son Jake White.

Tiger Hill Farm Tiger Hill Farm near Omakau in Central Otago has been in the White family since the 1860s. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I guess back then it was a self-sufďŹ cient family farm with a bit of cropping,â&#x20AC;? says Michael White. â&#x20AC;&#x153;During the years bits have been sold off and others added and it became a sheep and beef farm,â&#x20AC;? says Michael, who owns the property with wife Nikki. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We went out of sheep and moved into dairy grazing, mainly heifers, then we decided to go into dairying.â&#x20AC;? The 350 hectares dairy farm sits comfortably under the Dunstan Ranges, which had a dusting of snow at the end of May. Michael and Nikki had always been keen about converting to dairying and â&#x20AC;&#x153;gave it a goâ&#x20AC;?

eight years ago but it did not eventuate. The time was right in 2014 and they went ahead with the conversion. They now milk 600 cows off 220ha, a further 110ha is used as a runoff and the rest is made up of tracks, wetlands, yards and a fenced off duck pond â&#x20AC;&#x153;used during duck shooting seasonâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We were originally going to build a 50-aside herringbone dairy but the advice was to go bigger and build a 60-bail rotary â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and we havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t regretted it. There wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a lot of difference in price either,â&#x20AC;? says Michael.

Easily washable Andrew Kerr, from Breen Construction at Alexandra, was the project manager for the dairy shed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We can come up with any dairy shed design that the farmer requires. With our in-house design capability we have that ďŹ&#x201A;exibility to design to the clients

requirements,â&#x20AC;? says Andrew. The dairy shed is clad with coloursteel refrigeration panels, which are easily washable. The roof is also coloursteel with extra clearlite panels for additional light. There is a kitchen-ofďŹ ce, raised vet area; and the dairy faces east away from the prevailing wind. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We subcontracted Cen Eng owner Steve Hore, who designed the backing gates and overhead curtain, supplied the steel portals and ďŹ tted the pipework for the yards,â&#x20AC;? says Andrew. Cen Eng is in Omakau and has a lot of experience in designing yards. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We work in with the farmer and make sure the yards have good cow ďŹ&#x201A;ow and are easy to operate,â&#x20AC;? says Steve. Incorporated into the yard system is a Wrangler, manufactured in Whakatane, which keeps the cow comfortably restrained while the farmer can attend to any lameness problems.

Breen Construction project manager Andrew Kerr with farm owner Michael White.

It is both safe for the operator and the cow and allows quick and easy assessment of any health problems. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Other dairy farmers in the area had installed a GEA milking plant and found them very satisfactory so I decided to go that way too,â&#x20AC;? says Michael. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Also, we are a small isolated pocket of about 10 dairy farmers so we need a reliable maintenance service.â&#x20AC;?

Full service Nind Dairy Services is the GEA service partner for Southland and provide a full service for any type of dairy shed. Nind Dairy Services managing director Nigel McClymont says this is a high spec dairy shed and can be operated by one person once the spring ďŹ&#x201A;ush is over.

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Never going back to sheep The dairy shed from the yard.

Nind Dairy Services’ managing director Nigel McClymont and electrician Tristan Whitaker, GEA area sales manager Simon Knight, FIL area manager Peter McCartney, farmer’s son Jake White, farm staff member Abbi Ayre, farm manager Frikkie Terblanche, contractors Andrew May, contractor Roger Wilson, Breen Construction project manager Andrew Kerr, farm owner Michael White, and contractor Tim Duncan. “It has top-of-the-line ICR – Intelligent Cluster Removal – system cup removers and iNTEL automatic plant wash with a preprogrammed chemical dosing into the wash water,” says Nigel. “There are automatic cow restraints which stay down if the cow kicks the cups off or hasn’t finished milking and the cow will go around again.” Michael has not installed milk meters but has the option of installing them at a later date. There is an iCONVERTER snap chiller and heat recovery system. This snap chills the milk to the required temperature before it goes in the milk silo and the warmed water is used for plant wash, thus saving on electricity costs. Nind Dairy Services also designed and installed the effluent system to the specifications required by the regional council. The pre-set programme wash chemicals are supplied by FIL and take the guesswork out of mixing chemicals and ensures the correct level

Steve Hore owner of Cen Eng.

GEA systems in the pit.

of chemicals at each wash. FIL area manager Peter McCartney creates an individual programme for each dairy shed which eliminates Somatic Cell Counts. “I visit the farmer every ﬁve weeks to check there are no problems and make any adjustments,” says Peter.

Refencing Converting from sheep and beef to dairying meant paddocks had to be refenced, laneways put in and new pasture sown. Omakau contractor Andrew May drove in all the fence posts, put in culvert pipes over laneways and did the mole ploughing for the alkathene pipe to go underground to the new water troughs. “We also stockpiled gravel for ‘rut busting’, which is used for ﬁlling in any ruts so the pivot wheels on the irrigators don’t get stuck,” says Andrew. Another contractor who helped with the conversion is Tim Duncan, who sprayed the pasture with weed killer then ploughed and

The GEA clusters ready for use.

disced the ground and broadcast the new pasture. “I also applied a post-emerge spray after the grass came up to kill off any weeds, such as thistles and mellow. “I also did some ‘rut busting’. The ruts the pivot wheels make can get very deep and take a lot of ﬁlling with shingle,” says Tim. Roger Wilson Contracting prepared the site for the new dairy shed. Roger made sure the site was level by building it up with gravel and then contouring it. “We contoured all the laneways so the water would run off and keep them in good condition. “The gravel we obtained from high spots in the paddocks. We just took off the top soil, scooped out the gravel and replaced the top soil. We also dug out the efﬂuent pond,” says Roger.

Correct ﬂow rates Carrﬁelds Irrigation from Alexandra designed the irrigation system that provides Tiger

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Hill with the allocated amount of water for irrigating the farm in summer. Carrfields Irrigation design engineer Tony Stiles says they go around the farm with a GPS and calculate the elevations “and with our software we can design an irrigation system that ensures the correct flow rates regardless of the terrain”. “Spray irrigation is a lot more efficient than flood irrigation and the last few years farmers are moving away from flood irrigation,” says Tony. Riverview Contracting maintains the irrigation lines on the farm. The new dairy shed is proving to be very efficient with just two hours spent milking the 600 cows. This has been a positive move for Michael and Nikki – and they both enjoy milking when their manager and partner have a weekend off. Murray also reckons: “I really enjoy working with the cows and would never go back to sheep”.

RURAL CONTRACTORS NEW ZEALAND

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CRAIGMORE FARMS

Coast & Country

for winter

Francois Tillard is a busy young man. He’s a pod manager and equity partner in four dairy farms for Craigmore Farms at Enfield near Oamaru in the South Island. He even has a special pocket in his overalls that exactly fits a thermos coffee mug so he can get his caffeine fix on the go.

Originally from France, Francois came to New Zealand 17 years ago to work on dairy farms, married a Kiwi girl and stayed. The two newest dairy sheds at Craigmore Farms are a 40-aside herringbone on 133 hectares, milking 500 cows; and a 50-bail rotary on 151 hectares milking 600 cows. Glencarn Farm has the herringbone dairy shed. “We built a herringbone here as there was not enough space for a rotary and the size of the farm did not warrant it,” says Francois. “It’s also good for young staff to get used to the easier system. It’s a simple dairy shed to operate and once staff are conﬁdent here they can be advanced to a farm with a rotary dairy shed. “We had built up a good relationship with Barfoote Construction, which had built another dairy shed for Craigmore Farms that we were happy with so we contracted them to do both of these dairies,” says Francois. Arafa Maklad, who is originally from

G.J. Gardner Homes Oamaru owners Chris and Karen Harper, Craigmore Farms pod manager Francois Tillard, Barfoote Construction site manager Arafar Maklad, Calect Electrical owner Calum Reid and his apprentice Taylor Banks and foreman Andrew Gardner, with Waikato Milking Systems central and upper South Island sales manager Chris Barclay at Glencarn’s new dairy.

Egypt, also married a Kiwi girl and has made New Zealand his home – and he’s the site manager for Barfoote Construction and based at nearby Kurow. “The herringbone dairy shed is one of our basic designs and has the distinctive curved roof which makes it a bit more aesthetically pleasing,” says Arafa.

Withstands weather “The solid precast concrete construction and steel roof mean it will withstand all types of weather and environmental issues over time. It has good cow flow and in summer there is plenty of air flow. We also incorporated a feed pad into the complex and the weeping wall for effluent separation,” says Arafa. The 50-bail rotary at Pine Hill has been built with concrete precast walls and a coloursteel roof with plastic panels to let the light in, and includes an office and storage room. The platform is set in a pit about 1.6 metres wide, which makes it easier to wash down and keeps the shed cleaner.

The Glencarn herringbone dairy ﬁts into the landscape.

The Pine Hill rotary dairy shed.

Specialist Refrigeration Equipment

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Glencarn and Pine Hill get new parlours

Pine Hill manager Craig Fellowes.

Craigmore Farms

Craigmore Farms pod manager Francois Tillard in front of the loaďŹ ng pad at Glencarn farm.

This clever little detail creates a viewing platform around the entire shed and makes it easy to vet cows from the upper level and get a good look at each cowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s condition as she rotates on-platform. It has large sliding doors at the back for airďŹ&#x201A;ow in summer and can be closed to keep out bad weather. Although the dairy shed is enclosed, it is light and airy. Right at the beginning both dairy sheds were designed in consultation with the farmer and their requirements. They were planned to ďŹ t into the landscape and be functional. Barfoote Construction has been building dairy sheds for 27 years, both in New Zealand and overseas. They have a reputation for consulting with the farmer for any speciďŹ c requirements, presenting a plan the client is happy with, then building a functional and easy-to-care-for dairy shed. Craigmore Farms has installed Waikato Milking Systems milking machines in their other dairy sheds and decided to keep with what they knew worked for them and their situation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My philosophy is: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mend it if it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t brokenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; so thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why we chose Waikato Milking Systems again,â&#x20AC;? says Francois.

Ease of use

Barfoote Construction site manager Arafar Maklad at Pine Hill rotary dairy shed.

Waikato Milking Systemsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; central and upper South Island sales manager Chris Barclay says the herringbone has a basic 40 loop line machine with a swingdown jetter system and swing arms for ease of use. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The milk droppers swing from side-toside during milking, leaving more room in the pit for the milkers and ensure optimum alignment of the cluster. Washing the plant is made easier by jetters,

which are out of the way during milking and simply swing down when required,â&#x20AC;? says Chris. â&#x20AC;&#x153;While the dairy currently does not have SmartECRs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; automatic cup removers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Chris says â&#x20AC;&#x153;the integrated design of our systems ensures they are futureproofed with easy installation of the latest technologyâ&#x20AC;?. The 50-bail rotary dairy shed at Pine Hill has also been ďŹ tted with a Waikato Milking Systems plant. This one is a fully automated system including SmartECRs that are activated by simply lifting the cluster and a SmartSPRAY automatic teat spray system, which allows a measured amount of teat spray to be administered directly under the cow, completely covering the udder at the time of cluster removal. Chris says the SmartWASH system has been programmed to do three different wash cycles per week to clean the milking plant and milk silos. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Having a library of wash programmes gives reassurance that the right chemicals are being used. There is an alert system that will sound when the chemicals are getting low or the water temperature is incorrect and the system will shut itself down,â&#x20AC;? says Chris. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Tried and trueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is the motto which Morrison Agri apply to the installation of milking machines. They are the authorised Waikato Milking Systems dealer for the North Otago region.

Taking pride Morrison Agri owner Paul Morrison has a fully qualiďŹ ed installation and maintenance team, which Chris says take pride in their work â&#x20AC;&#x153;and it showsâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And they are always available for any maintenance requirements.â&#x20AC;?

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CRAIGMORE FARMS

Coast & Country

Francois knows how to attract good staff Kurow-based Calect Electrical’s owner Calum Reid says he’s had a good relationship with Craigmore Farms since 2014, doing the electrical work for their other dairy sheds. “For these two dairies the challenge was working out where everything should go and working in with the builder, plumber, the farmer – and keeping to a tight timeframe,” says Calum. And Calect pulled it off – completing all the wiring for the milking plant, washdown pumps, vacuum pump, backing gate and refrigeration. Refrigeration for both the dairy sheds was supplied by Brosnan Refrigeration of Oamaru. “We were pleased with their standard of work in other dairy sheds so we were happy to use them again,” says Francois. Brosnan Refrigeration provide a 24-hour seven-day back-up service. And before any of these projects were started Landplan Ltd, a rural development company from Oamaru, was approached to provide a complete farm survey.

Farm layout Landplan Ltd manager Jared White says they looked at the layout of the land and liaised with Francois to work out the positioning of the dairy sheds, houses and laneways. “With a project of this size it is important that the farm layout works well for cows, staff and machines,” says Jared. A new farming enterprise of this size requires staff to run it – and, traditionally in New Zealand, a position on a farm comes with accommodation. “We wanted to attract the best staff we could so we decided to build seven new houses of various sizes,” says Francois.

“We had 38 staff working on the farms and no suitable housing for them. This was quite a task and G.J. Gardner Homes of Oamaru was just brilliant.” G.J. Gardner Homes Oamaru sales manager Karen Harper, who runs the business with husband Chris, says this is the biggest project they have undertaken – “and we are keen to do more”. “We had two four-bedroomed managers’ houses, two three-bedroomed assistant managers’ houses and three smaller ones for single staff,” says Karen. “Each house is slightly different and all are built for farming folk.”

G.J. Gardner Homes Oamaru owners Chris and Karen Harper with the four-bedroomed manager’s house.

Seven houses The houses have been positioned so they get the sun and have stunning views over the countryside. Each house is separated from one another so staff have some privacy, but are close enough so it’s just a few minutes to work. “We worked with Francois’ wife, Shelley, who from her farm experience had deﬁnite ideas about what a farm house should have,” says Karen. One four-bedroomed manager’s house has a covered area at the back door for farm bikes or, wet weather gear and gumboots. All have standardised appliances and wet areas, such as the bathroom and laundry, have drain holes in case someone forgets to turn a tap off. The houses are built of bricks and colour schemes inside are tasteful in a natural colour, to ﬁt in with any furnishings. “We have our standard designs but are always happy to work in with the client as each situation is different,” says G.J. Gardner Homes Oamaru managing director Chris Harper.

Looking into the milking pit at Glencarn Farm’s new herringbone. Other staff houses on the farms were built by David Reid Homes of Oamaru. “Good housing attracts families who send their children to the local school and get involved with local activities, which all adds to the area,” says Francois. Both dairy sheds have lived up to all expectations. They are both used for winter milking as Fonterra pays a premium for winter milk. Built on a hill, the rotary

Waikato Milking Systems central and upper South Island sales manager Chris Barclay demonstrates the swingdown jetters.

Calect Electrical owner Calum Reid, Waikato Milking Systems central and upper South Island sales manager Chris Barclay and Pine Hill manager Craig Fellowes.

at Pine Hill has the best views over the countryside. “It’s the ﬁrst season in the rotary and it’s mechanically and structurally sound and a joy to work in,” says Pine Hill manager Craig Fellowes. “The vet race is under cover and the sliding doors at the back can be opened for a breeze or closed if the weather packs in. It’s a joy to work in,” says Craig. Helen Wilson

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CRAIGMORE FARMS

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WILDON DAIRY

Page 28

Coast & Country

Living up to all expectations The lovely new dairy shed.

Wildon Dairy shed with the mountains as a backdrop.

The team: Nind Dairy Services’ electrician Tristan Whitaker, Nind Dairy Services’ managing director Nigel McClymont, farm owner Craig Webster, FIL area manager Peter McCartney, GEA area sales manager Simon Knight and Contrax Central Ltd’s managing director John Marnane.

Craig Webster bought Wildon dairy farm at Omakau in Central Otago in 2014. It was a sheep and beef farm and he converted it into a dairy farm. “We completely changed the layout of the farm by building a dairy shed, putting in new laneways, re-grassing and new fencing,” says Craig. The farm is 245 hectares of irrigated ﬂat land and 810 cows on his runoff block. There are three permanent staff, including the manager and two casuals for calf-rearing. Craig started out as a sharemilker in the Waikato and owned a farm on the West Coast then had a

break before coming to Central Otago. “I decided by going sharemilking to start with, it was the best path towards farm ownership,” says Craig. This philosophy has proved itself as Craig also has a dairy farm close by, which was converted around the same time. Satinburn has a slightly larger herd of 840 cows and a new 64-bail rotary dairy shed. The same contractors built that dairy shed as Craig was pleased with the workmanship at Wildon. Craig assessed three different milking plants and found it was hard to compare “apples with apples”. Nind Dairy Services from Invercargill came up with a competitive price and could do everything from plant installation, designing and installing the efﬂuent, electrical work, refrigeration – and they

installed the grain feeders on the platform. “The milking system is uncomplicated and easy-to-use, so even new staff can operate it,” says Craig.

No-wear platform Nind Dairy Services is the GEA service partner for Southland and provide a full service for any type of dairy shed. Nind Dairy Services managing director Nigel McClymont says at Wildon they installed a 54-bail milking machine with dropdown cups which go under the bridge when the platform turns. “It has iCORE with cup removers and iNTELLAB meters which record milk yield, fat protein and lactose from each cow.

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WILDON DAIRY

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Page 29

Wonderful workmanship at Wildon The grain silo installed by PPP Industries Ltd.

Cen Eng owner Steve Hore on the yard, where his company worked on the pipework.

Contrax Central Ltd’s managing director John Marnane and the irrigation pond he built at Satinburn.

“The cup removers can detect if the cups have been kicked off and low milk ﬂow. The restraints stay down and the cow will go around again. There is a milk sweep purge which makes sure there is no milk left in the pipe line,” says Nigel. The GEA iFLOW platform is a double beam platform with nylon rollers, which are spaced 600mm apart for even weight distribution and lower per point loading. This platform has a low maintenance cost as there are no bearings or bushes to replace and no wear strip to replace or repair. The platform is run by a hydraulic drive so the platform stops almost immediately when the button is pressed and does not interfere with any electronics. Due to the rotary’s seven-port gland, the plant can be washing while the platform is still spinning. This gland also allows other services to be utilised, such as water for a ‘skirt’ brush which automatically washes the ‘skirt’ around the platform while it turns. The iNTELVAC variable speed vacuum pump allows

the vacuum to be ramped up or down as demanded by the plant, a power saving in the long run. The iCONVERTER aquaCHILL refrigeration unit snap chills the milk through a double-bank plate cooler before it enters the vat. The aquaCHILL also provides heated water back to the hot water cylinders for further power savings.

Taking out guesswork FIL area manager Peter McCartney sets up an individual wash programme for each farmer. “I work in closely with GEA and call on the farmer every four to ﬁve weeks to check the plant and milk silo wash programmes are adequate and there are no problems,” says Peter. The pre-set programmes takes the guesswork out of chemical mixing and ensures the correct wash cycle. Based at Cromwell, Contrax Central Ltd’s managing director John Marnane ﬁrst met Craig in early-2014 on an irrigation job at Tarras. “That encounter led to Contrax Central

Ltd doing all the earthworks for both dairy conversions at Omakau. We worked together with his plans and Craig was always open to suggestions and ideas. The good communication meant a good outcome,” says John. A new conversion means a lot of earthworks and Contrax Central Ltd did the excavation for the house sites, dairy sheds, driveways, stock underpass, laneways, ﬁeld drainage, two large irrigation dams and mole ploughing in of all the stock water reticulation lines, connected all water troughs and contoured land for the irrigation pivots. “All materials were sourced on-site for the dairy shed foundations, tanker roads, dairy lanes, feed storage areas and the rock for armouring the irrigation dam walls,” says John.

Bread and butter Cen Eng of Omakau was contracted to put in all the pipework for the yards. “Craig designed the yards as he wanted them, for

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Wildon Dairy

optimum cow ﬂow and we installed them and the backing gates for both dairy sheds,” says Cen Eng owner Steve Hore. He is set up for bigger jobs but considers rural maintenance work his “bread and butter”. The in-shed feed system supplied by PPP Industries Ltd has stainless steel high back feed trays and bail dividers and an auger six-line with a 1.5W unit. There is a Germanmanufactured disc mill for milling the grain and a large holding silo for raw grain. The press screw separator for removing the solids from the dairy efﬂuent was also supplied by PPP Industries Ltd. “By having a professional and dedicated team of contractors, both Wildon and Satinburn dairy sheds have lived up to all expectations; and having easy to operate dairy sheds means we attract good staff,” says Craig.

Helen Wilson

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COW PLEASANT

Coast & Country

A ﬁrst in the USA

The first 84-bail composite rotary platform to be built in the United States was purchased, sight unseen. The decision was based on the fact it was a first for the New Zealand manufacturers, who were determined to get it right and would customise the system to suit their needs. They also had confidence in their local dealers. And that trust has been justified with the Waikato Milking Systems’ Centrus Composite Rotary platform passing every test. Tom and Katrien De Vos today milk 3450 cows on their farm at Mount Pleasant, Michigan, USA, but their passion for dairying began in Belgium where Tom grew up on his parents’ 60-cow farm. “I always had a passion for dairying and when I met Katrien we began exploring ways to develop a future in the industry, accepting that the potential to do this on the family farm were limited,” says Tom. “In 2007 we moved to the US to take up a herdsman position on a large farm. We were there for a year before returning to Belgium to

see if there was any way we could take over the family farm. “When that didn’t eventuate we spent a few months looking at other opportunities around Europe before getting in contact with our previous employer in the US. The timing couldn’t have been better. He wanted to develop another farm and was looking for a partner. “So we sold our car and the house we had owned and extensively remodelled in Belgium and invested the proﬁt into a 50/50 partnership in a farm located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.”

Blank canvas The US farm was empty when the partnership purchased it in 2009. “We bought it from two brothers, none of their children were interested in farming and they were retiring,” says Katrien. Five years earlier it had been a dairy farm but it was now empty and used for crop farming. “The farm, at that time, was 800 acres. We purchased 40 acres and had an agreement with the owners to harvest silage and haylage from

Cow Pleasant

the balance,” says Katrien. “It was very basic with a 99-year-old house in need of attention and a double-8 herringbone parlour and 160 free-stall barn with outside feedlot.” Not afraid of a challenge the couple, and their children, moved into the garage “along with the crickets” and began the mammoth job of remodelling the house, parlour and farm. The house was rewired, repainted and had insulation and dry wall installed and the parlour was transformed from an eight into a double 15 parabone – which is midway between a parallel and a herringbone where the cows stand at 75 degrees versus 45 degrees in a standard herringbone. The existing barn and haybarns were initially remodelled to provide free stalls for the cows but a new barn was later built, providing free stalls for 800 cows. Part of the farm’s renovation included changing the milk cooling system. The couple opted for a direct load system where milk is cooled from 95 to 36 degrees Celsius going straight into a trailer parked outside the parlour,

bypassing the need for a bulk milk tank. When the trailer is full, it is picked up by a truck for transportation to the processor, leaving an empty trailer in its place. Tom says it’s a very efﬁcient system “minimising risk of bacteria, preserving the quality of our milk and, along the way, eliminating a lot of water”.

Perfect timing During the next four years the herd grew from 700 cows to 1300, milked three times a day, and the size of the farm increased to 250 acres with a further 1600 acres leased. In 2014 Tom and Katrien bought their partner out, to “make the big step to double the size of the herd and build a new rotary”. Tom says the timing was perfect for growth. “The 2014 season was a very good milk year so it was the right time to build a new parlour because the old one simply wasn’t keeping up. “We were loading 17 cows at a time and there was a lot of stress, getting them in and out, at a time when cows should be relaxed.”

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Page 31

A passion for dairying at Mount Pleasant Open day at the shed proved popular.

The couple wanted to create the optimum environment for the cows and the people working in the parlour “and, for us, there was only one option – a rotary”. “Rotary parlours are very easy on the cows. They move very calmly on and off the platform and the overall milking environment is very peaceful. “We chose a Centrus Composite Rotary platform from Waikato Milking Systems because the company understood that we wanted various aspects of the parlour customised to our needs and they were willing to work with us to make that happen. “We liked the concept of a composite platform, which is extraordinarily strong yet light and easy to keep clean but there were none in the United States [at that time] and we didn’t have a chance to go to New Zealand to learn about the technology ﬁrst-hand. “It was a big step for us buying sight unseen, but it was also a big step for Waikato Milking Systems,” says Tom. “This was the ﬁrst 84-bail

Centrus Composite Rotary platform they had built in the United States and, like us, they wanted to get it right. “We also had conﬁdence in the dealership, who, along with Waikato, worked with us from start to ﬁnish to make sure our needs were met.”

New parlour The new Centrus Composite Rotary was highly optioned with SmartECRs, SmartPULS, SmartLINK, SmartWASH, Electronic Milk Meters, herd management system and autosorting. The new parlour was built in 2015 and Tom and Katrien admit there were a lot of learnings in the first couple of months. “But any issues were dealt with very professionally and positively by Waikato Milking Systems. “We are very satisfied with the support we received from start to finish. “The platform arrived in a series of containers

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from New Zealand accompanied by a team who assembled and oversaw the entire construction and commissioning of the parlour. Looking back, Tom and Katrien admit they underestimated the retraining required for cows moving from the old to the new parlour. “Cows are creatures of habit,” says Tom. “They were used to accessing the parlour from the north end of the barn, and were now being asked to come out of the south end and onto a completely different platform. “That really threw them out and it took some time for the new procedure to become their normal routine. Thankfully, that’s all behind us now and milkings are smooth and comfortable.” Nine months on from those ﬁrst milkings Tom and Katrien say the new parlour is as good as they hoped it would be. “We are very happy, it’s a show place and something we are very proud of.” Five staff work in the parlour at any one time, milking about 3200 cows at a rate of 500 cows per hour 20 hours per day 365 days a year. The

Holstein herd calves year-round, and is fed a diet made up of 48 per cent to 52 per cent roughage with a balance of protein, grains and minerals.

A happy achievement Katrien has her office on the second floor of the parlour and Tom is “everywhere on the farm – in the shed, in the feed barns, out in the field, wherever’s required”. Expansion, for this family, hasn’t been limited to the farm. They now have a family of five, ranging in age from two to 14 years, three born in Belgium and two in the US. Proudly, they all became United States citizens in 2016. For now, the family is taking a breather. In Michigan there is a stock limit of 3499 for dairy farms and Tom and Katrien have reached that limit, admitting they are happy with what they have achieved and, for the moment, are enjoying family and farming life. Clare Bayley

HITCHCOCK

Page 32

Hitchcock

Coast & Country

Speeding things up Grant Hitchcock started his farming career when he moved with his family from Inglewood to Monavale, Cambridge, in 1977. His wife Gaylene has lived in the area all her life, having been raised on her parents Roto-o-Rangi farm.

Grant and Gaylene Hitchcock are all smiles now they have a wonderful new shed.

Side view of the shed and vehicle access. Looking toward the shed the rubber-lined pond has a huge capacity.

The couple married in 1982 and sharemilked for Grant’s parents for five years. In 1987 they purchased their current farm, which at the time consisted of 67 hectares. Three years later a neighbouring 126ha was bought; and in 2000, a further 26ha was purchased. Recently the Hitchcock family purchased a neighbouring 23ha – giving them a total of 242ha. This is the first time the Hitchcock’s have ever built a brand new shed, and they says it was an exciting experience. “We wanted to build a shed which was more central to the farm layout and had good cow flow,” says Gaylene. The farm’s contour is mainly rolling and there was no obvious place to site the new building. Those who know Grant are aware he likes to shift dirt – so it was an enormous project for him to shape the land and make it suitable for both the shed and the new effluent pond. “We went from a 30-bail ‘no frills’ rotary with

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automatic cup removers, to a 54-bail rotary with an in-shed feed system, automatic yard wash, automatic plant and vat wash, Detect mastitis detection, Smart Cup Removers, Wrangler, ofﬁce, fan misting system, automatic on platform teat sprayer and platform wash,” says Gaylene. “We had additional concrete yards and races constructed, which work well with the farm races coming from three directions. The dropdown vet platform is very functional. Vets use this during milking and it also makes the Artiﬁcial Breeding technicians’ job much simpler with everything close at hand. The outside undercover vet bay and pens are real assets.”

Milking sped up Milking times have greatly sped up, being at least an hour faster compared to in the old shed. One person milks, with an assistant getting the cows in and helping to ﬁnish.

HITCHCOCK

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Page 33

‘The final result looks amazing’

The winning team: Qubik’s Te Awamutu branch manager Jason Hare, WMS domestic sales manager Paul McGill, Gibson Construction’s Brent Bird with Marty Hitchcock and his parents Gaylene and Grant Hitchcock.

“Although, this could easily all be done by one person. However, we are being rather fastidious in keeping the shed looking pristine,” says Gaylene. “With the shed more central to the farm, and the enticement for the cows of getting meal feeds, we are saving between 15 and 30 minutes of times in getting the cows to the shed.” About 450 Friesian cows will be milked next season. The shed’s design is fairly standard with a 54m by 14m rectangular yard – and quite a few optional extras. Gibson Construction was contracted to do the shed build – and building a massive new shed with an underpass was an opportunity not to be overlooked. The 54-bail build has an underpass installed to make it easy for people to get to the centre of the platform. The shed is constructed from 1200mm high concrete tilt slab panels throughout, all topped with 6x2 framing and clad with Trimclad to the fully bird-proofed roof. Both the interior and exterior of the shed was painted with an Acraﬂex ﬁnish supplied by Specialised Coatings from Tuakau.

Gibson Construction’s Brent Bird and Qubik’s Kyle Osborne stand on the working double weeping wall and stone trap.

A grand entrance to the milking area, with toilets and wash basin located in a convenient place.

The undercover vet bay and pens are valued by all.

Noise batts The Hitchcock’s shed has the usual array of interior rooms such as ofﬁce-kitchenette area, toilet, two lockable drugs cabinets, and a fully lockable store room with roller door. The plant area is open and spacious, with the pump room being closed in and lined with noise batts for obvious reasons. Brent Bird from Gibson Construction says the vat area is covered in, which is not standard these days, due to cost-cutting. The vet area consists of a huge covered in area, and it is in this area the Race Wrangler is located. The Race Wrangler installed gives ease of access to handling lame cows, and ensures hassle-free hoof care. Wranglers are becoming increasing popular and a ‘must have’ on most new dairy shed builds now. They are strong and durable and require minimal maintenance. Sub contracted by Gibson Construction was Tirau Welders, which erected the pipework for the 500-cow rectangle yard, as well as erecting the

portals in the shed. Phase Electrical from Te Awamutu completed the electrical work for both the shed and efﬂuent system.

Long-life liner The effluent system has an effluent stone trap and bunker, fabricated entirely from concrete tilt panels by Gibson Construction. “The bonus with this system is that all the solids have plenty of time to dry prior to pasture application,” says Brent. The team from Gibson Construction lined the effluent pond with an EPDM – short for Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer – Firestone liner from Cosio Industries. The Firestone EPDM GeoGard liners are engineered to provide dependable performance in a variety of containment applications. Based on EPDM synthetic rubber, GeoGard is a highly flexible and stable waterproofing membrane designed for long life and high performance. Qubik Te Awamutu installed the on-farm effluent system, which has a Mono pump and two submersible mixers. The Mono pump has a high operating pressure to achieve low application depths. It pumps the same volume of liquid no matter where it goes to on the farm. With low power requirements, it eliminates the need to upgrade the power supply. The Hitchcock’s wanted an effluent treatment system that was both simple to operate and would also get large volumes of effluent onto paddocks without the risks of run-off or ponding. Each farm is different but this system is a one-off design, but it is still a fairly standard system, says Qubik’s director and branch manager Kyle Osborne. “The double weeping wall stone traps are relatively new and we are getting good results from them with the amount of solids they retain and the resulting liquid going into the pond,” says Kyle. The positive displacement mono pump is used on most jobs for their power efficiency, constant flow and pressure to the irrigator which ensures a consistent depth of application.

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Page 34

HITCHCOCK

Coast & Country

From ‘no-frills’ to newest technology Submersible pond mixers were installed using a large boom. The mixer is kept just off the pond ﬂoor and stirs all of the solids, keeping them in suspension. Ensuring the correct application rate and depth was important because some paddocks get very wet and have low inﬁltration rates.

Latest technology

Marty Hitchcock with the electrical gland in the centre of the rotary. The gland supplies power to equipment under the platform.

Kyle says the system is working well, and they achieved what they set out to do. “This is one of the larger projects we have done because the job entailed pump and pond stirrer installation, as well as the PVC irrigation pipelines.” The farm’s consent to discharge effluent to water via a four-pond system was due to expire and was unlikely to be renewed. It was vital to invest in a complete new effluent system. Other regulations, such as water cooling, had to be addressed as well. Qubik Te Awamutu also installed a 54-bail orbit rotary with some of Waikato Milking System’s latest technology. Designed specifically for rotaries, a SmartWASH system was installed. This system automatically sprays the udder while the teat hole is still open. The automatic cup remover signals the sprayers once the cluster is away – instantly spraying the udder area. With the installation of the SmartD-TECT,

there’s less chance of milk grades at collection, and the beneﬁt of more healthy udders. The milk is tested within 60 seconds of milking. Qubik also installed the on-farm pre-cooling and vat refrigeration system. The 30kw Glacier Plus water chiller cools a 25,000L Manican tank of water to ﬁve degrees Celsius outside of milking time. It then circulates cooled water during milking through the second stage of the plate cooler – reducing milk temperature to seven-10 degrees Celsius before the milk enters the vat. With the installation of the water chiller, a heat recovery unit was used. Hot water enters the hot water cylinders at a rate of 2-3L per minute, at a range of 50-60 degrees Celsius – dependant on the incoming water temperature.

Modern feeding Grant and Gaylene Hitchcock chose a 54-bail Orbit platform for their new shed. Installation of the platform took about three weeks. The Orbit platform features a 100mm thick 40mpa concrete top, galvanised steel substructure and bails. Concrete helps reduce the noise created with the removal of the cups and also provides a consistent surface, a similar material to the yard, creating better cow ﬂow. The Hitchcock’s feed system is a standard

Corohawk design with a 42 tonne Choretime feed silo. The silos are imported from America and owner Chris Hawkings says the silo has a fluidiser mushroom inside, which vibrates to keep the palm kernel moving through it. The feed system controls the amount of feed the cows receive, and also has capabilities for feeding liquid molasses. Delivery of feed to animals whilst they are being milked, is the most cost effective feeding method in modern dairying. Gaylene and Grant’s son, Marty Hitchcock, says the transition from the old shed to the new was much easier than expected. “Training the cows to use the platform was much easier than in the previous shed. The cow flow is fantastic, but it is hard to say why. The meal feeding is certainly a large contributor though. “We’re really enjoying the automation, such as getting alerted when a cow may have mastitis and the automated drafting,” says Marty. The Hitchcock family is justly proud of the shed. “The final result looks amazing and visitors comment favourably. All of the contractors were a pleasure to deal with,” says Gaylene.

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Page 36

BRIALAINE

Pleasant

The latest extension to the Brialaine dairy is the ﬁnal piece of a puzzle, which owners Brian and Sheryl Suisted have been working on for more than three decades.

The couple bought the original farm near Waitoa, where the dairy stands, 37 years ago and during time they’ve increased the property’s size from 37 hectares to 140ha. “Initially, the shed was a 10-aside herringbone,” says Brian. “We extended it to 16-aside, The yard at Brian and Sheryl then later to 24-aside and now to Suisted’s revamped dairy. 44-aside. “I’m pleased with how it turned out. It’s a good set-up which works well.” Contract milkers Steven and Kim Taylor and their second in charge Jarden Gorringe, both in their third season at Brialaine, agree. “If you didn’t like working in this shed you’d be hard to please,” says Steven. “It’s now double the size and we can milk 500 cows in two hours, which means more time to spend on giving attention to the cows and the pasture. And we’ve already seen the results of that in improved cow performance.”

and practical

Always innovating

Happy with the upgraded dairy – 2IC Jarden Gorringe, contract milker Steven Taylor and Brialaine farm owners Sheryl and Brian Suisted.

Graham Silvester of Silvester Electrical ﬁnally found the “right place” for the dairy radio.

Always the innovator, Brian made changes to the plans as the project progressed, taking the opportunity to make the revamped dairy the best it could be for staff, cows and milk quality. “Originally, we were going to use the existing equipment room but decided it would be better to build a new, sound-proofed one.” Today the old equipment room is an attractive, suitably furnished family and staff room where

Coast & Country Steven and Kim’s children can spend time while their parents are milking. Shanan White of Don Chapman Waikato Ltd carried out the extension to the existing dairy and is impressed at Brian’s determination not to cut corners but to do the job well. “Originally, he had intended to extend to a 40-aside herringbone but decided to go to a 44-aside, which was a good move.” The existing roof was extended, and new flashing and guttering installed, giving it a seamless, fresh new look. “Brian also took this opportunity to divert stormwater into a soakage drain, so it no longer mixes with the dairy shed effluent and ends up in the effluent pond.” Brian particularly wanted a quiet environment in the dairy so insisted the equipment room be soundproofed.

Yards extended too It was Don Chapman, of Chapman Dairy, who instigated the revamp of the yards. “We were going to keep the existing yards, which were a little off-set from the dairy. But when Don came to look at the site he suggested building a whole new, much bigger yard; and he was right, this works much better,” says Brian. Leask Engineering installed all the new pipework including for a new vet area, which the company’s design and construction manager Rom Stellingwerf says works well. “It has rails which can drop down to give easy and safe access to the cows needing attention and lights have been installed so cows can be cared for at any time.”

Herd gate a bonus Brian and Sheryl have installed a HERDFLOW Crowd Gate, which was custom-built by Reporoa Engineering to ﬁt their yard requirements and the purchase price included installation, along with the ‘I’ Beam and the electrical components and motors. The gate is designed to move the herd smoothly from yard to shed, saving time and labour. Standard features on the HERDFLOW Crowd Gate include breech sensing, so if the gate contacts cows while pushing forward it will back off about one metre and wait until another command is made.

BRIALAINE

PH 07 578 0030

Final puzzle piece

Also, an audible alarm is located in the control box to sound when the gate is moving, providing a prompt for the cows and advising the operator on which mode the gate is operating in. The drive and idlers clamp onto the ‘I’ beam to prevent the gate de-railing. The optional extras include the yardwash with auto blade saver, which uses minimal water and takes about eight to 10 minutes to wash the 60-metre yard.

LED lights

Brialaine

The Herdﬂow Crowd Gate is among Steven Taylor’s favourite new additions to the dairy.

GEA area sales manager Paul Convery says the new GEA milking plant has futureproofed the Brialaine dairy.

Graham Silvester of Silvester Electrical has serviced Brian and Sheryl’s dairy for many years and was involved early in the planning stages for the latest extension, laying cables to provide power for the new milking plant, equipment room, backing gate and lighting. “Brian wanted sensors throughout the dairy, which turn lights on and off automatically, which helps save power. We also installed LED lights, which are initially more expensive, but have power savings too.” Brian used the opportunity to replace the tired old milking system with a new GEA milking plant, which GEA area sales manager Paul Convery says has future-proofed the dairy because it has provision for further upgrades, including automatic cup removers, if required.

PPP Industries’ Claudia Hicks with the continuous stainless steel feed trays have high backs that prevent feed from falling over the back of the trays, Swing arms reducing “This is a tried and true system, which is wastage. efficient and easy to operate, with swing arms which keep the pit uncluttered. Milking is now much quicker and quieter,” says Paul. “One of Brian’s main concerns was not to have a noisy vacuum pump, but he has no worries with ours because GEA vacuum pumps are super quiet, Shanan milking cows at 46 KPA.” White Paul says McLaren’s Rural Services, which of Don installed the plant, understand GEA’s technology Chapman and equipment and ensure it is installed and upWaikato and-running to the company’s high specifications. Ltd and Don The original 24-aside plant was past its use-by date, Chapman, of says Tony McLaren of McLaren’s Rural Services. Chapman Dairy. “The new system provides speed and efficiency,

Page 37 and is relatively simple to use so staff can quickly learn how to operate it correctly. The swing arms allow for far better cup alignment and provide more room in the pit.” Tony recommends milk contact componentry in the plant be replaced annually to ensure milk quality and the efﬁciency of plant operation.

Reducing feed waste A new PPP Industries in-shed feed system was installed and the company’s national dairy sales manager Claudia Hicks says the continuous stainless steel feed trays have high backs that prevent feed from falling over the back of the trays, reducing wastage. “Our feed dispensers have a clear base so you can see the feed in the dispenser from the pit and have a minimum drop of 500g.” The feed is stored in two large silos, also installed by PPP Industries. Bruce Cameron of Specialised Coatings put the finishing touches to the dairy extension, including the family room and equipment area as well as the milking parlour, giving it a fresh, new, and unified look. “First, we removed all the old paint and applied an epoxy sealer to ensure good adhesion of the Acraflex acrylic-based system we applied, which has a solvent-based glaze to give a hardwearing, easy-to-clean finish,” says Bruce. “This is resistant to alkaline and acid, which is important in the dairy environment.” Waitoa Haulage Mark Clement owner says Brian needed large qualities of fill to raise the new yard up to the required levels; and Waitoa Haulage carted in the product for him. “We’ve been carting a variety of materials from number of suppliers for Brian for at least 25 years and he’s an excellent client, who believes in doing a job properly. He sets high standards and knows exactly what he wants.” Brian and Sheryl now have an extremely well designed dairy that operates efficiently and quietly, provides a pleasant and practical environment for both staff and cows, protects the quality of the milk produced and futureproofs the whole unit. Elaine Fisher

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ORAKA FARMS

Page 38

Coast & Country

Innovative management

at Ian’s new dairy Farmer and veterinarian Ian Scott’s consideration for the welfare and comfort of his cows is evident in all his planning – both inside the new Oraka Farms’ dairy and adjoining herd barns, and also on raceways and yards serving the entire complex.

Farmer and veterinarian Ian Scott implements a number of innovative farming systems at Oraka Farms near Tirau.

Futureprooﬁng the dairy against changes in milk quality supply requirements has been achieved by the installation of the Tru Test Vat Manager.

The ability to farm in an environmentally and financially sustainable way, well into the future, is also important – and to this end Ian’s farming practices on the property near Tirau differ from the norm. “What we are aiming to achieve on this property is a sustainable farming system which reduces leaching while we maintain high stocking rates, and incorporate two types of livestock, deer and cows, which complement each other in their grazing so improving pasture management and weed control.” Last year Oraka Farms’ old 18-aside dairy was demolished and the site prepared for a new 40-aside herringbone, constructed by W.D. Davenport & Co Limited. “I didn’t want a box and rectangle shape,” says Ian, who chose a curved roof over the staffroom, equipment room and chilled water tank, with an adjoining wide rectangular roof above the milking area. It was Warren Davenport who suggested the curved roof and his daughter Michelle Corlett of Footprint Draughting drew up the concept plans. Jay Hawkins of W.D. Davenport says the roof is among the larger curved ones the company has constructed. “The curved window in the staff room and office, which matches the roof line, is a first for us but looks great,” says Jay.

was another requirement by Ian, which included the staffroom, a wider-than-normal pit and a wide roof to protect workers from weather.

Cow ﬂow, comfort

Uncluttered pit

Warren is also pleased with the appearance and practicality of the building, and in particular the attention to cow ﬂow and comfort. “The yard design and placing the centres at 760cm rather than 720cm, gives more room for the cows and means they enter and leave easily,” says Warren, whose company offers a design-and-build service. Making conditions easier and more pleasant for staff to work in

That wider pit and the GEA milking plant installed by Shaun Jellie of Milk n Water Services also facilitates easier and more efﬁcient operations. “This dairy has good cow alignment and with the wider pit and swing arms, means the pit is uncluttered so staff can easily move along it, working at a level in easy reach of the cows’ udders, even if the staff are not very tall,” says GEA aftermarket

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Andrew Taylor of Taylor Bros Transport Ltd, which provide wood bedding for the farm’s two herd barns.

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and service manager Grant Coburn. The plant has GEA Intelligent Cup Removers with a threelight system to inform milkers what is happening at all times. “The green light flashing slowly with the blue light constantly on means normal milking, a red light flashing steadily means cups have been manual milking and the blue light flashing quickly with a red light also lit shows the cups are in wash mode,” says Grant. “Kick-off shows green on, blue on and red flashing very fast. As the milker swings the cups down, ready to put on the cows, he or she activates a large button switch, putting the iCR system in action.”

PH 07 578 0030

ORAKA FARMS

Page 39

New dairy for alternative pastoral farming which holds water at seven degrees Celsius and pumps it through the second-stage plate cooler.

Wood bedding

Warren Davenport and Jay Hawkins of W.D. Davenport with Ian Scott of Oraka in the yards of the farm’s new dairy.

The new Oraka dairy is adjacent to two large herd barns, making it a short walk to be milked for the cows.

GEA aftermarket and service manager Grant Coburn with Ian Scott and Milk n Water Services’ Shaun Jellie in the wider than normal pit.

Thanks to the two large barns and supplementary feeds, Oraka Farms is able to achieve a stocking rate of 5.3 cows to the hectare, producing 28,000kg of milk solids per hectare, while leaching only 35 units of nitrogen. The 1000 cubic metres of untreated, dry wood chip bedding supplied by Taylor Bros Transport Ltd for the barns plays a signiﬁcant role in making that happen. “We only use untreated, dry chip which comes from sawmills or from recycled pallets,” says Andrew Taylor. “Many of our clients scrape off the top layer of bedding once it becomes soiled. The layer underneath is fresh and clean and will continue to provide warm bedding until the barn is cleaned out completely and new bedding installed,” says Andrew. On Ian’s farm it is Bluegrass Contracting which carts the used bedding to his 50ha property two kilometres down the road and spreads it in preparation for the planting of new maize crops. Ian says as daylight hours decrease, and temperatures become cooler, cows spend more time in the barns, where their urine and dung is concentrated in the woodchip bedding, rather than on the pasture. Spreading the soiled, partly-composted woodchips onto maize paddocks, enables the fast-growing, deep-rooted maize to use the nutrients the chips contain.

Supplementary feeds

Lower vacuum Shaun, who has worked for Ian for several years, including on his previous shed, says the new plant operates at a lower than normal 44 psi vacuum which is more comfortable for cows. “Ian has futureproofed this dairy by installing automation which means up to 330 cows can be milked in little more than an hour,” says Shaun, who also completed the farm’s water systems, both in the dairy and the paddocks. Futureprooﬁng the dairy against changes in milk quality

supply requirements has been achieved by the installation of the Tru Test Vat Manager, says Luke Walker of Tru Test Dairy Technology Services. “Tru Test carried out a pilot trial of Vat Manager on Ian’s farm and now the system has been released to the market. It is a vat manager and controller in one, and a safe system which ensures there are no issues with milk quality. “Once the milk in the vat reaches a pre-set percentage, the system will activate refrigeration automatically. It will also send a message if the power goes off.” The system logs date, time and temperature at which milk enters the vat; and if it is outside the ideal parameters, an email or text is sent to the farm manager to advise there is an issue. Tru Test also installed the system for the 2500L water chiller

Year-round the cows are provided with supplements, including maize silage grown on Oraka’s runoff, or palm kernel, canola and tapioca provided by James and Son Feed Supplies. The company also delivers maize grain and Avon Pellets for Ian’s deer. Stock feed manager for James and Son in the upper North Island, Shawn Watson, says the company has a wide range of options for dairy farmers. It also has a mixing service which allows farmers to select ingredients to produce a blend that suits their seasonal and budget requirements. Ian’s innovative management systems, grazing deer and dairy cows on the same property, use of technology and attention to animal, staff and environmental welfare presents an alternative and intriguing view of New Zealand’s future pastoral farming system. Elaine Fisher

We have got you covered

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Once milking is complete, the cups are attached to the wash system, and pushed up, with the assistance of large springs, out of the way.

Page 40

JOHMAR FAMILY TRUST

Coast & Country

Bigger farm + bigger herd = bigger shed John and Maria van Heuven bought 56 hectares at Matamata in 1986 to milk 180 Friesian cows. Fastforward 30 years and son Glenn is contract milking 500 cows for them in a new 54-bail rotary built on 164ha just down the road from their original farm. The new shed came about after a few land purchases. In 2002 they purchased 89ha, leasing 60ha to a cropping company. In 2007 they bought 75ha next door and sold their original 56ha. By March 2014 they’d ended the cropping lease and increased to 310 cows, milking in “a little 24-aside herringbone”. But by 360 cows, it was time to upgrade. “The total farm area is 164ha and we knew it was capable of 500 cows. At the time the payout was looking promising,” says John. By late-January 2015 earthworks began. Broomﬁeld Construction built a 20.4m by 20.4m dairy with a 6m by 20.4m lean-to. The quality-design has a high ceiling, air ducts and open sides for air ﬂow while water tanks keep wet weather out, with a wide pit area for the milker. The pit was dug, then the roof went up, and the rotary platform placed. “We had no project manager for this build, Rob organised all contractors – and we got on very well,” says John.

Impeccable ﬁnish

Contract milker Glenn van Heuven and his parents, farm owners John and Maria van Heuven, haven’t looked back since building their new 54-bail rotary.

Farm owner John van Heuven with Morley Engineering owner Bruce Morley in front of the new 54-bail rotary’s platform.

Glenn says it’s cooler under the dairy then outside in summer “and flies are minimal due to airflow”. The building is one of Rob’s standard designs but with a few tweaks from John. “Every farmer is individual in how they want the layout. We’re more than happy to work with them,” says Rob, who is based in Morrinsville but can travel nearly anywhere. “We want an impeccable finish – because you are only as good as your last job.” The pit walls blockwork has a Specialised Coatings’ unique protective Acraflex coating thanks to Bruce Cameron. Acraflex looks smart, hides dirt, is easy to clean and seals surfaces against bacteria build-up.

Broomﬁeld Construction built a 20.4m by 20.4m dairy with a 6m by 20.4m lean-to.

Lot Job or 25 s f Deal more or

Freephone:

0800 562 382 www.jobevalves.com

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Page 41

When contractors work together… Johmar Family Trust

Reid & Harrison owner Seaton Daley and Presco Group’s FDE specialist Oliver Prestidge with the efﬂuent system in the background. King Electrical has been the van Heuven’s farm electrician “for pretty much forever” – so co-owner Adrian Baker was naturally the sparky for the build. Adrian says John’s family looked at all options and “understood what they wanted and what they were going to get”. “With their mindset ‘get it right the ﬁrst time and don’t worry about it later’ they were a joy to work with, as were the other sub-trades.”

Latest equipment Morley Engineering installed the Waikato plant and the water system. “This shed has the latest equipment Waikato Milking Systems has to offer,” says Bruce. “John chose everything – every top end option Waikato Milking Systems manufactures itself, he took it.” The 54-bail rotary has an Orbit platform, and John chose Electronic Milk Meters, SmartPULS, SmartDTECT mastitis alert system, SmartECRS (Electronic Cup Removers), SmartSPRAY, BailGates, a SmartDRIVE milk pump controller designed to make milk pumping and cooling more efﬁcient, and an automated SmartWASH system.

Left, Leask Engineering’s design and production engineer Edwin Meeke show how his company’s new AI/ vet platform works. “All these tools make the shed a one-man unit – the system will automatically send a cow around again if there’s a problem, you can draft cows or hold them on the platform. “But most of all this full package provides ease of information – it gives the data you need to make decisions, which is the allimportant key to successful dairying today. “If you can interpret data and see what’s going on, you can get some really good benefits out of it.” Plus with John going all Waikato Milking Systems equipment, everything integrates seamlessly. John’s happy with the Waikato gear and Glenn says it’s “easy to use”. “The beauty of this shed is only one person needs to milk – even during mating,” says John. Morley Engineering did the underfloor work, including plumbing, and the water system before fitting the plant.

Leask Engineering’s Rom Stellingwerf, Morley Engineering owner Bruce Morley, contract milker Glenn van Heuven, farm owners John and Maria van Heuven, Presco Group’s FDE specialist Oliver Prestidge, Reid & Harrison owner Seaton Daley, Leask’s design and production engineer Edwin Meeke and GEA Farm Technologies’ FIL Morrinsville/Te Aroha area manager Greg Duncan.

“We installed the washdown pump with a variable speed drive, a standard plate cooler pump for primary water, and a few little pumps for the cooling system.”

No-worry washing “We supplied the air compressor for the automated plantwash and drafting gates.” Bruce says John and Maria gave him “a pretty free licence to do what I felt was right”. “They put a lot of trust in me – and the gear I’ve put in is at the quality end of the scale. They will get reliability and longevity from it – it might cost a little more but it deﬁnitely pays off.” The old shed’s wash system was manual, so Glenn loves this automatic system, which uses FIL products calibrated at the season’s start, so he doesn’t worry about plant hygiene. “You hook the hose to the platform,

PROUD TO SUPPORT JOHN VAN HEUVEN 1 million Litre Prosump installed If you would like to discuss getting Presco involved in your effluent storage project please contact Oliver on 0800 773 726 or email oliver@presco.co.nz and arrange a free on-site consultation.

turn off the vat hose and push start.” GEA Farm Technologies’ FIL Morrinsville/ Te Aroha area manager Greg Duncan’s job is to set the wash system. “Early on I get the dilution rates right and ensure the system is washing correctly.” The dairy uses FIL’s new product Quantum One. Leask Engineering fabricated and installed the livestock handling equipment including a 14m circular yard with water boom and backing gates, bridge railing, Artiﬁcial Insemination /vet platform, exit races, holding pens, loading ramp and AI and vet races with a Leask Camlock Headbail. Design and production engineer Edwin Meeke says the AI/vet platform is latched in a compact vertical storage position, and can belowered into working position to give direct access to cows on-platform, at their level.

JOHMAR FAMILY TRUST

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Coast & Country

Tried and true perform at Matamata

Broomfield Construction’s Waikato Milking Reid & Harrison supplied and installed The AgriMat inter-locking Kura quality design has a high Systems’ cups with the pump, stirrer, pontoon and control matting to stop cows slipping over ceiling, with air ducts, making the SmartSPRAY arm for the Prosump. entry and exit areas. it cooler under the dairy. automatic teat spray. The design can be installed at different width pits. “Two adjustable springs enable one person to lower or Oliver Prestidge. “The biggest advantage of to 400 labour hours per year, says Technipthan 60 years ago. All you have in liquid is lift the fully galvanised platform with ease. The fixed this system, the way it’s been designed and harm’s Harmen Heesen. It saves Glenn 30 the housing and propeller.” But its biggest structure is quick to use and can be safely utilised by installed – the Prosump being in-ground – is minutes every milking. feature is automation. “Glenn and John one person. ” it allows gravity feeding which kills the need The effluent flows through two sand traps, can regulate the flow going onto pasture. AgriMat inter-locking Kura matting, manufactured for double-pumping the effluent from the which trap the solids, and liquids flow to a 1 They can set the pump to put 5L to 20L by Numat Industries, at the platfrom’s entry/exit stops million litre concrete Prosump, supplied and shed-to-pond and pond-to-paddock.” per second. So if pasture is wet you set a low the cows slipping. Prosump is maintenance-free, comes with installed by Presco Environmental Infrastrucapplication; when it’s dry they can up the The matting tiles – each 24mm thick, 1190mm long ture. Presco also supplied the 2.5m deep sand a minimum build-life guarantee of 50 years application.” Glenn irrigates 56ha and large and 850mm wide – are interlocked for a snug fit and and a 100-year life expectancy. traps and a drying pad. effluent storage capacity offers flexibility. secured with stainless steel 80mm anchor bolts. “It helps The Prosump’s 3m high vertical walls, John also moved a PPP Industries silo with the cows because when they back out and turn they have circular shape and unique sloping floor, The same pump a 75ml line over from the old shed to join a to screw around – we have no injuries,” says John. decrease the catchment area of the pond Reid & Harrison supplied and installed the new 95ml line silo for a comprehensive feed and make for much more efficient effluent system. pump, stirrer, pontoon and control arm for Reducing resource use storage. On July 18, 2015, the cups went on and the Prosump. Owner Seaton Daley says the The sand traps keep most sand and grit the van Heuvens haven’t looked back. John One backing gate has a Technipharm Dungbuster stirrer mixes everything to the same consistfrom the pond, increasing the life of the 2000 automatic yard washdown system, which saves ency to go on pasture. “The same consistency says the dairy came together like clockwork pump, keeping the pond cleaner and reducthanks to the contractors. It took hours to water, time and money each milking. It uses hundreds stops irrigator lines getting blocked.” The ing wear and tear on irrigation equipment. milk 372 cows in the 24-aside herringbone. of angled water jets and twin scraper blades to clean Reid & Harrison 10hp Yardmaster pump is “A good stormwater diversion system stops the yard twice. basic but all bearings are out of liquid. “That Now staff member Zoe Reichardt milks rainwater flowing to sand traps and fillonce-daily and so does Glenn. “This dairy Water and power use is reduced by 40 per cent and pump is, even though we’ve done some ing ponds,” says Presco’s FDE specialist frees up a lot of time.” the yard is washed in less than five minutes, saving up development, the same we produced more Merle Foster FIL Morrinsville/Te Aroha area manager Greg Duncan.

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JOHMAR FAMILY TRUST

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METCALFE

Page 44

Attractive showpiece Metcalfe

Photos by Denise Landow.

The shed from the driveway sits in a picturesque surrounding. One happy cow.

The shed built by Gibson Construction.

Ant Metcalf with the three-legged labrador called Spencer.

Coast & Country Bush-clad Kakepuku Mountain creates a stunning backdrop for the attractive new dairy on the Metcalfe Farm near Te Awamutu. It was built because Ant Metcalfe, who has farmed there for 30 years, found the existing dairy too small when the farming operation expanded. “It was too good to pull down so we split the farm in two and built the new herringbone so cows from either herd can be milked in either dairy.” Brent Gibson of Gibson Construction is so pleased with the design and appearance of Ant’s dairy, he uses it to showcase his work. “The combined office and tearoom has gib walls and a suspended ceiling, giving it an attractive commercial look. There’s an equipment room too. “The milking area has a flat roof with clear panels, providing plenty of natural light, and the cow flow through the area is excellent. “The site needed some building up and although it cost more, Ant took my advice to put mesh reinforcing into the feed pad concrete to provide extra strength.” The dairy has timber framing and is finished in Trim Clad cladding, making it virtually maintenance-free and long-lasting. Its Mist Green and Karaka colour scheme helps it blend into the landscape. Ant, together with the team at Qubik of Te Awamutu, came up with an innovative floodwash system. “I would have had to build tanks to store the green water but then I said: ‘Why can’t I use the one-million-and-a-half litres stored in the effluent pond?’” That’s exactly what Ant did. The feed pad is “green-washed” with water delivered by a 400mm PVC pipe from the base of the effluent pond by a system remotely activated to start and stop. “We installed a 400mm valve so the water from the pond can be shut off if there’s a failure in the pipe. We gravity-feed water from the pond to the yards, which can be washed down for as long as necessary,” says Ant.

One-person operation Qubik carried out the installation of Waikato Milking Systems plant which includes automatic cup removers for the 36-bail herringbone dairy and a SmartDRIVE variable speed vacuum pump, says Jason Hare of Qubik. Designed for the easy addition of upgrades if required, the dairy can be operated by one person. “The automatic plant wash can be carried out by the push of the button. “The system has an automatic vat wash, activated by the tanker driver after he has picks up the milk, which means the vat is clean and ready for the next milking.” A Halo system installed on the vat automatically sends text and email if there is a problem that might affect milk quality, says Kyle Osbourne of Qubik.

METCALFE

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Page 45

Splitting the farm and building a new dairy Qubik’s Kyle Osborne and Brent Bird stand by the screw press separator used for separating the efﬂuent solids from the liquid.

Milk quality is further enhanced by the Danfoss 8hp refrigeration unit and the Glacier Plus 30kw chiller, which cools water through the 25,000 litre Manican system. This ensures milk passing through the plate chiller drops to eight degrees Celsius by the time it enters the vat. A heat recovery system delivers water at 60 degrees Celsius at a rate of four litres per minute to the two 450 litre hot water cylinders. Kyle says the clay soils of the Metcalfe farm means conventional irrigators for spreading efﬂuent were not an option.

Integrated effluent The integrated system sees effluent from the dairy and feed pad flow into a large drive-in stone trap and over a weir into a mixing tank. A Reid and Harrison screw press separator takes out the solids, which are deposited into a bunker to be spread on pasture or maize paddocks. Liquids are pumped to a 150,000 litre concrete tank, where a 15kw centrifugal pump sends them to the irrigation system for spreading by a travelling irrigation canon or to a lined effluent pond if conditions don’t permit irrigation. In line with nearly 30 per cent of all New Zealand dairy farmers, Ant installed an auto-

Ricky Withers of Withers Electrical.

matic yard washing system from TechniPharm. TechniPharm Group CEO Harmen Heesen says the system leaves the yard nice and clean, at the same time saving on labour as well as reducing the use of water by up to 40 per cent if not more. “A big factor is also in effluent volume. Less water used in the yard cleaning means less effluent created and thus reduced cost in storage and distribution. “On top of that the Dungbuster achieves electricity savings and time savings. The average yard takes a full 120 hours per year to be manually washed and 120 hours equated to three weeks’ labour a year at $8 a day,” says Harmen. Andrew Forbes of EnvirolineNZ, which lined the effluent pond, says; “Ant was rather savvy with an excavator so took care of the earthworks and the excellent team from Qubik laid the pump suction-delivery and flood wash pipes”. “The pond is square at 25m by 25m by 4m deep, giving an approximately volume of 1500m3, including a holding tank at end of the feed pad. The farm has exceeded its holding requirements with this system.” The installation time for EnvirolineNZ to

Innovative Design Improves Efficiency

Qubik’s Jason Hare, Gibson Construction’s Brent Gibson and Ant Metcalfe. install the HDPE liner was two days. “It was 85 per cent completed through the night – so as to have minimal interference to the daily running of the farm.”

Gates and races Chris Pickin and Jim Harris of Waikato Dairy Builders supplied the Ezi-ﬂo Pitgates. “The gates, one each side of the pit, are the lightest and quietest to use and are easy to operate. “The milker can shut the gate from the other end,” says Chris. “We reﬁned the design of the gates in 2000 so they don’t catch the hips of cows and cows can’t force them open. These gates are the strongest in the market. “They have fewer moving parts and are fully galvanised.” A Race Wrangler, installed as part of the dairy’s new yard, is ideally placed for ease of operation, says Waverley Klein Ovink of The Wrangler. The Wrangler is safer and more comfortable for cows, and also for those attending to their feet. “Health and safety of staff is vital. Gone are the days when it was acceptable for farmers to have hoof knife scars on their hands, or

injuries caused when treating hooves.” Tirau Welders installed the pipework for the extensive yards, which service the dairy and the feed pad. “It was quite a big job, but reasonably straightforward as the owners and the builders are good to work with,” says Russell Tye. “There were a few minor changes but we worked to a set plan and had up to ﬁve staff on-site to get it all done. The yards work well with good cow ﬂow.”

Tailoring Zelio Withers Electrical wired in the Waikato Milking Systems plant. One of the more technical aspects was tailoring the Zelio programme to suit the dairy, says Ricky Withers of Withers Electrical. “We work to make sure every possible function that the dairy requires is catered for. Ant has a great control board on-site. This makes it easy for staff to start and stop and control each function of the shed. “We put in a variable speed drive to run the sludge pump and other functions. Which can increase and adjust its pressure as required, meaning the gear isn’t working as hard.”

Qubik are proud to be the milking system, efﬂuent, water, refrigeration and pre-cooling suppliers for Metcalfe Holdings Ltd

Ezi-flo pit gates completely clear exit ways and cannot be touched by cows leaving the milking area.

The fully galvanised gates are available in kitset for speedy installation

0800 226974 2 C OW S H E D Ph Jim 07-850 5971 Mob. 0274 936 693 Ph Chris 07-849 3630 Mob. 0274 936 692 P.O. Box 10 188, Te Rapa, Hamilton www.dairybuilders.co.nz

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TE AWAMUTU 07 871 6781 OTOROHANGA 07 873 8500 PUTARURU 07 883 3423

STEINER

Page 46

Research pays off

Coast & Country

Steiner

For Carl and Ally Steiner the decision to ‘go rotary’ came after four decades of milking in a herringbone. Carl bought the family farm about 40 years ago. Back then his 120 cows were milked in a 10-aside herringbone. He’s seen many changes during the years. When his parents John and Pauline Steiner bought the land it was covered in rushes and “was quite wet” but drainage, clearing rushes and buying neighbouring land has changed the landscape considerably. Carl then bought neighbouring properties, making the Steiner farm now 160 hectares, plus Carl leases 40ha next door. The herringbone was extended four times but at 46-aside and 900 cows, it was ready for an update. The couple took 12 months to research what they wanted. Ally reckons they looked at more than 15 modern dairies and visited some sheds more than once. “It was a matter of us knowing what we didn’t want and ﬁguring out how to get the best out of what we saw. It took time,” says Carl.

he project-managed the dairy complex, working with the subcontractors and ensuring things flowed with good communication. Rob says he took Carl and Ally to have a look at rotary sheds he had built and they worked out what they needed. “It had to work on the site, which was near the old herringbone, to ensure services were together and the flow from the farm was not interrupted too much,” says Rob. “I think our attention to finish is one of our strong points. They [farmers] are spending a lot of money so it has to be finished to a high standard. The build has to last, it’s a big investment. King Electrical project manager Jason Doherty says their company takes the puzzle pieces and puts it all together. “What Carl wants and what Peter McGregor [the pump-fitter] needed. “We’ve done dozens of these sheds during the 50-plus years this company has been around and many with the contractors used on this job. This definitely helps with the continuity of the contract, from start to finish. What you get at the end, is a reflection of that.”

Go bigger

Farm owners Ally and Carl Steiner on the large yard of their new 70-bail dairy. The large circular yard can hold two herds.

Fine workmanship “Then we had to decide who would build it. An easy decision, we had seen a number of sheds built by Rob Broomﬁeld and we liked the style of his sheds and were impressed with his ﬁnish and workmanship.” In the end Rob not only built the shed –

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The 70-bail rotary platform is a great asset on the Steiner farm.

Carl says one sticking point in the decisionmaking was how big to go. Most sheds they viewed were 54-bail and some farmers were saying they wished they’d made them bigger. This shed is a 70-bail external rotary with good cow ﬂow – a 1.5 cow adjustable entry –automatic drafting, auto teatspray and the ability at each bail to draft cows out or preload drafting via computer before milking starts. “We looked at how our herd performed in the ﬂush and we used this as our guide. I wanted to achieve milking 900 cows in about two hours, so we needed a shed which would cope with the capacity and a shed we could add further technology to in the future,” says Carl. He’s always used DeLaval through McGregors Farm Services, and found their products and service excellent. “We really liked a number of features they have available and cost-wise they were very competitive.”

STEINER

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New dairy at Ngarua for 900 cows Longveld director Les Roa with the gas hot water unit.

Leask Engineering design and construction manager Rom Stellingwerf Rom Stellingwerf shows how the fold-down AI platform works. McGregor Farm Services installed the DeLaval PR 1500 parallel rotary and water reticulation system. “Carl has gone for integrated herd management,” says Peter McGregor. “This means he can now know exactly what his herd is producing, he can put cows into different groups, feed accordingly and the automatic drafting means he can keep them in the groups. “Each cow’s production is individually recorded. The multi-function platform control is easy to use.”

Unique gas water Carl says the automatic teat sprayer has proved to be very beneﬁcial. The four opposing nozzles means there is optimum coverage and uses less spray. The automatic clean operation in the DeLaval system means staff are freed up to do other tasks. A unique feature in this dairy build is the

DeLaval

Farm worker Efren Jr Ranit enjoys the technology in the new dairy. gas heated water from Longveld. “I was sick of big power bills, copper cylinders weren’t lasting – the area has high iron content in the groundwater – and often the electric heating was running all day and still the water wasn’t hot enough,” says Carl. The gas heated hot water componentry is all-in-one. It’s stainless steel so should not rust. And cleaning chemicals are added automatically before entering the plant. Longveld also installed an iron filter, which gives the farm hassle-free, iron-free water – and is fully automatic. Another bonus Carl has noticed the cows now appear to drink much more water. “I thought there was a leak on the farm when we first got the filter up and running but it was just the cows seem to have discovered how nice the water is without the iron.” Longveld director Les Roa says the Longveld

Farm worker Wenggie Basas loves the new dairy.

Farm manager Neri ‘Matty’ Agduma has worked for Carl Steiner for eight years.

Stack is a hot water system which combines hot water cylinder and dump tank in one compact unit. The gas-heated hot water ensures instant hot water for all daily cleaning operations. Longveld Iron Out ﬁlters are made in NZ and speciﬁcally designed to cope with high concentrations of iron on Kiwi dairy farms.

Torpedo gun Les says it will process water 24 hours a day 365 days a year. It backwashes automatically, there’s no chemical dosing, and it does away with replacing and washing filters. For effluent, Carl and Ally did not want “a whole lot of pumps”. The site for the new dairy was built up, going from the lowest point on the farm to the highest using 5500 tonne of fill putting the dairy on a slight rise. Reid & Harrison worked with Carl installing a multi-stage pump and stirrer with variable

The iron ﬁlter does a great job taking the iron content out of the water.

speed to ensure they get the same pressure 2km-3km away when effluent is pumped from ponds to the paddocks. A torpedo gun at the end of the pipework ensures the effluent is sprayed evenly onto all areas. Tatuanui company Leask Engineering made the pipework – the circular holding yard, race to a holding yard, with extra high rails leads to the Artificial Breeding race with a fold-down portion for ease of operation. Then there’s the Wrangler Race Cattle Crush. Design and construction manager Rom Stellingwerf says they built and installed the fold-down Artificial Insemination work platform, which is spring-loaded and easy for staff to use and folds back up out of the way. “The main yard is large enough for two herds and has two water outlets with two glands, which are completely serviceable by Fritha Tagg Leask Engineering.”

AVONDALE

Page 48

A winner near Winton

Coast & Country

Avondale Progressive Engineering designer and area salesperson Gareth Cowan, sharemilker Tony Miles, Southland Farm Services capital sales manager Jeremy Dawson and manager Murray Devery.

The new rotary dairy shed.

Tony and Vicki Miles have been sharemilking at Avondale Dairies Ltd near Winton in Southland for six years. Tony says Avondale Dairies is owned by Gary Watkins and John and Diane Smith. “It was originally owned and converted by Tasman Agriculture to a dairy farm from sheep and grain. “Avondale Dairies bought it in 2000 and has re-developed the property over time. The farm is 327 effective hectares,” says Tony. Both Tony and Vicki are from farming families. And when Tony left school he did his agricultural training at Taratahi Training Centre in Masterton. When Tony and Vicki came to Avondale Dairies Ltd in 2010 it already had a 50-bail rotary but milking 1000 cows it was too small

and slow and they were wasting a lot of time and money maintaining the dairy. The rotary platform was very poorly designed and “well past its use-by date”. New technology was now available that would make the shed and milking management more efﬁcient. So the decision was made to invest in a new dairy. Tony spent considerable time looking at other rotary sheds in Southland. And after considering all options, and discussions with the farm owners, he decided Winton builder Paul Warren Builders’ designs would suit Avondale Dairies best.

More room Paul Warren says in consultation with the farm owners the dairy plan Tony decided on was one of his standard designs for a 64-bail rotary.

“But Tony has put in a 60-bail rotary platform as he wanted more room around the platform. They modified the plan slightly with extra windows and a few more doors,” says Paul. The shed is constructed of concrete block walls, coloursteel roof and refrigeration panel interior walls for ease of cleaning. The extra windows allow more light in and increase the airflow, and the platform sits further in the building for protection against the prevailing southwesterly weather. An office, storage room and bathroom complete the new complex. The dairy has a DeLaval milking plant. Farm owner Gary Watkins says he’s been with DeLaval in Northland for 35 years and had good service from them. “We had a DeLaval plant in the old dairy

Farm staffer Moetu Howden cleaning up. shed and the service we have received from Southland Farm Services from Invercargill has been excellent so we decided to go with them for the new 60-bail rotary.” Southland Farm Services capital sales manager Jeremy Dawson says he was able to use some of the components from the old dairy, “such as the hot water cylinder, plate heat exchanger and the pumps that service the farm water and wash system”.

AVONDALE

PH 07 578 0030 The cows enter here.

Page 49

Progressive Engineering designer and area salesperson Gareth Cowan and sharemilker Tony Miles in front of the efﬂuent pond.

Easy to operate The DeLaval milking machine has MPC 150B automatic cup removers which have a standard independent retention feature, so if the cups come off and the cow is not milked out the bail restraint will come down and the cow will not be able to exit the platform.

Keep it simple She goes around a second time so the cups can be put on again. There is a pneumaticpowered automatic Teat Wand teat sprayer, which will move in to spray the cow’s udder once the cow has ﬁnished milking. Teat spraying helps to eliminate mastitis problems. The shed has also been futureproofed for installing a snap chiller at a later date, or any other new technology as it comes along. The site for the new dairy was excavated by Nigel Colbin, who owns Central Southland Excavating at Winton. “We prepared the site by levelling it, carting in gravel and compacting it

down for a firm base and dug out the pit area,” says Nigel. “We also excavated the drains around the dairy and dug out the effluent pond.” Progressive Engineering at Invercargill designed and installed the effluent system. “The brief from Tony and Gary was to keep it as simple as possible which we did,” says Progressive Engineering’s designer and area salesperson Gareth Cowan. The effluent from the dairy shed is pumped into a seven million litres capacity effluent pond, which has two stirrers powered by a 15hp motor. Gareth says this keeps the solids in suspension and stops crusting. “It’s then pumped out to a Cobra low-application rain gun on to the paddocks. The effluent pond has to store all the effluent created from May to December as this is when paddocks are too wet for effluent to be spread on pastures,” says Gareth. Progressive Engineering also wired up the

effluent pumps. “It’s a simple but efficient system so there is less to go wrong,” says Gareth. The two Nevada EL 915 shore-mounted stirrers in the effluent pond were supplied by Midwest Machinery at Hawera.

Proven quality Midwest Machinery’s South Island sales manager Lloyd Thomas says these are “tried and proven German quality and can pivot 180 degrees for the best stirring position so there are no ‘dead spots’ in the entire pond”. The heavy duty pond protection kits prevent damage to the synthetic pond liner and are safe, reliable and economical to run. The galvanised pump shed provides all-round protection for the pump from even the harshest conditions. Smart Farm Systems has been described as the farmer’s ‘guardian angel’ alerting the farmer when there is a problem with the application rate of efﬂuent, via the main hub, app or desktop, with historical reports and live updates,

Avondale Dairies Ltd’s new dairy shed at Winton, from the yard.

wherever the farmer maybe in the world. Smart Farm Systems sales manager Paul Chalmers says Avondale Dairies Ltd utilises the SFS effluent fail safe system on their Cobra rain gun. “This monitors and controls the effluent pump and agitator. It cuts the effluent pump off if there is a leak, blockage or chance of ponding in the paddock. “And with the ever-increasing pressure on environmental wellbeing and risk, the SFS is the best way to help farmers mitigate risks from accidental and/or illegal non-compliant activities caused by equipment failure and/or human error,” says Paul. Tony and Vicki work together with the farm owners as a team and have lifted production on the farm from 320,000 kilograms of milk solids to 525,000 ms/kg. “The new dairy has certainly made a difference, it has cut down on milking time, it’s easy to operate and the staff love it,” Helen Wilson says Tony.

Nevada... the obvious choice.

The Nevada 12,800 litre Slurry Tanker working.

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Page 50

TERRACE VIEW

A JOY

Coast & Country

to work in

Terrace View

Brydone near Gore in the South Island has been home to Murray and Andrea Duncan for 16 years. Both grew up on sheep and beef farms and after getting married they went sharemilking in Taranaki to eventually buy a sheep and beef farm – “but lost our way”.

Southland Farm Services Electrical manager Murray Devery with Terrace View farm owners Murray and Andrea Duncan. The compact open and airy dairy shed from the tanker track.

The new 40-bail internal herringbone rotary.

Looking at the new dairy shed from the yard.

Now they’ve been dairy farming for 35 years and have 145 surveyed hectares and milk 400 cows. They are both hands-on dairy farmers and do not employ any permanent staff. “We had a 21-bail turn-style dairy shed and when we bought some more land and increased our herd it became too small, so it was time to upgrade and build a bigger more efﬁcient dairy shed, “ says Murray. They’d previously milked in an internal rotary and liked

the way they worked, so decided to go with that concept for their new dairy shed and built a 40-bail internal herringbone rotary. The ‘herringbone rotary’ is an internal milking rotary parlour with a herringbone-type design.

Step back “Murray and I work alongside each other and it is much more social. The cups-on and cups-off areas are in the same place so it means there is someone to chat to when milking;

and if we are training staff you can keep an eye on them and answer any questions they may have,” says Andrea. The cows come in from the yard onto the platform and take a side step and then back in, so they are facing the outside instead of facing into the centre. It took a while to train them but now they all stand there quietly while being milked. Because the ‘business’ end of the cow faces inwards it is easy to see if any cups have been kicked off and it is not as far to walk to ﬁx it.

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R ZƵƌĂů R ZĞĨƌŝŐĞƌĂƚŝŽŶ R ^ƉĞĐŝĂůŝƐƚƐ ŝŶ ĂŝƌǇ ϴϱ ŝůů ZŝĐŚĂƌĚƐŽŶ ƌŝǀĞ WŽ Žǆ ϭϮϱϲ /ŶǀĞƌĐĂƌŐŝůů

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PH 07 578 0030

TERRACE VIEW

Page 51

Duncans ‘lost their way’ into dairying

The compact DeLaval internal herringbone rotary. The cups-on and cups-off area.

The new dairy shed has been built on the old site and is compact and efﬁcient. Murray and Andrea went to look at a dairy shed at Fortrose in Southland, liked what they saw and decided to replicate the design. Although solidly built, the new dairy shed is light and airy and open where the cows come in. The clearlite sheets on the roof helps let the light in. It faces north-east and is protected from cold southerly weather. As yet, the ofﬁce/kitchen area is not complete. “That will have to wait,” says Andrea. “We demolished the old dairy shed on May 8 last year. The old dairy shed was cleared away and the site levelled off with provision for the internal pit; and we started building eight days later,” says Murray. “We started milking in it on August 15 last year. A few cows calved before the dairy was completed so we had to milk them on a single milker,” says Murray. “We decided on a DeLaval milking plant, this time,”

Terrace View farm owner Andrea Duncan hosing the yard. says Andrea. Terrace View farm had a 40-bail internal DeLaval lowline herringbone rotary milking plant installed. Because the cows are on an angle in the bails, it is called a ‘herringbone rotary’ The DeLaval internal milking plant was not a standard “off the shelf ” plant in New Zealand and differs in that it is around the other way to an external rotary. The plumbing had to be accommodated with wash points in different places. The electrical work was completed by Southland Farm Services Electrical.

Point of difference One point of difference was ceiling lights had to be put in different places to ensure they provided good lighting for the operators on the inside of the pit. Although there are no automatic cup removers there is provision to install them at a later date. Also Murray and Andrea were able to use the

clusters from the old dairy shed, which integrated well with the rest of the DeLaval plant. The refrigeration is a DeLaval snap chill refrigeration unit that instantly chills the milk from 33 degrees Celsius straight from the cow to five degrees Celsius, ready to be stored in the milk silo. The warmed water from this process is recovered and used for hot wash water for the plant, thus a powersaving to the farmer. Building the new dairy shed on the old site meant Murray and Andrea could save costs by using the same effluent system and tanker track. They could also utilise part of the old yard with some new pipework and extra new yards. This creates good flow. Terrace View now has an efficient new dairy shed that suits Murray and Andrea and has almost halved the milking time. “This new dairy shed will suit us for many years to come; Helen Wilson and is a joy to work in,” says Murray.

WILLOW CREEK

Page 52

Coast & Country

Willow Creek The landscaped grounds around the dairy shed.

The sign at the gate of Willow Creek farm in Southland.

Willow Creek dairy shed from the tanker track.

Extremely pleased Twenty-two years ago Eoin and Jayne McKenzie converted the original dairy farm at Woodlands near Invercargill from sheep to dairy. It was 162 hectares and since then Waihopai Farms Ltd has grown to 285ha. “Since then we’ve had the opportunity to buy 330ha nearby, which we called Willow Creek Farm. “We have consent from Environment Southland to milk up to 785 cows; and at the moment we are milking 500 but intend to increase that next season,” says Eoin. At the moment they are wintering all their replacement stock on-farm. This is the second farm the McKenzie’s own; the ﬁrst farm has an equity partner, David Sutherland, who also contract milks on the farm. After ﬁnishing an engineering apprenticeship, their son Matthew came home on the farm three-and-a-half years ago. “He decided that dairying was the best way for him to progress. He’s currently the herd manager at Willow Creek and looking to go contract milking in the near future,” says Eoin.

The dream team: Southland Farm Services Murray Devery and Jeremy Dawson, Willow Creek farm owner Eoin McKenzie, G T Chamberlain Builders owner Grant Chamberlain and foreman Fraser Dawson with Doug’s Engineering owner Doug McDonald.

Eoin and Mathew run the dairy farm with the help of an ex-sheep-farmer, Jock Kennan, who “will help with any job on the farm except anything to do with cows”. A real sheep farmer forever. They also employ extra staff during the calving period.

Centrally situated Increasing the farm size meant a new efficient dairy shed had to be built. A GPS system was used to help choose the best site for the new dairy shed and adjoining raceways. The location chosen is centrally situated so the cows have the least distance to walk to milking from any paddock on the farm. “We looked at other dairy sheds, spoke to other farmers and decided to build a 54-bail rotary and contract local builders G T Chamberlain Builders from Woodlands,” says Eoin. “And we were extremely pleased with Grant Chamberlain’s helpfulness and standard of workmanship. The dairy shed also has excellent cow flow,” says Eoin. Grant along with his foreman, Fraser ‘Spud’ Dawson, “who runs the show”, sat down with the McKenzies and discussed what they wanted in a dairy shed. Using Grant’s 23 years’ building experience – he’s constructed more than 35 dairy sheds – made helpful suggestions to increase the dairy shed’s efficiency.

“With our team of five builders, apprentices and labourers, we started building in February last year, and built the shed during a five-week period,” says Grant. “Then we came back at the end of May to finish off. Building slowed in June as it rained the whole month, and we still had Eoin’s 140m by 15m feed pad and bins to get done before calving. We finished on July 24 when the first two cows were in,” says Grant.

No pugging Eoin says the feed pad is used when it is wet. “It’s a good pasture management tool as it stops the cows pugging the paddocks and helps keep the nitrate leaching figure down.” The dairy shed faces north-east for weather protection and is made from concrete, coloursteel freezer panel walls with a coloursteel roof and clearlite panels to let more light through. There is an office-tearoom, which is gumboot-free, and a storeroom for chemicals and animal health products. Eoin also decided on a raised area at the cups-off side with a dropdown vet platform. The shed has two round 3.9m vat stands, a large concrete tanker pad and footpaths around the shed for a nice crisp and clean finish.

WILLOW CREEK

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Page 53

A stress-free build by good, local contractors With the help of a computer programme, CAD, Woodlandsbased Doug’s Engineering’s owner Doug McDonald was able to create a drawing on paper of the yards for the new dairy shed. “Working in with Eoin and Mathew and Grant, we could work out the layout of the yards and where the gates should go to ensure good cow ﬂow,” says Doug. Once the yard plans were ﬁnalised Doug’s Engineering placed all the pipework for the circular yard and other smaller holding pens.

Easy to use “Every dairy shed is different and each farmer’s requirements are different and how they use the yards, so we work in with they want as they are the ones using them,” says Doug. Eoin says it was an easy task to choose what brand of milking plant to install “because I have had a DeLaval plant before and found them efﬁcient and easy to use”. The DeLaval plant was installed by Southland Farm Services from Invercargill, which are the DeLaval dealers for Southland.

Southland Farm Services capital sales manager Jeremy Dawson says the 54 bail PR1500 parallel rotary has a concrete deck for toughness and durability. “There are MPC 150B ACRs – short for Automatic Cup Removers – with a C200 automatic wash system, which means the wash cycle is started by the push of a button so the plant can be washed while the yard is being hosed down, an essential time-saving device. “The wash system chemical rates are also pre-set to ensure the correct quantity of chemicals are used in the plant cleaning process, eliminating any guesswork.” says Jeremy. To complete the milking system there is an automatic teat spray unit and a DeLaval snap chill refrigeration unit, which immediately chills the milk to the required temperature before it goes into the milk silo.

Snap chills milk “The MD1022 snap chill unit chills the milk to under six degrees Celsius, then uses a built-in heat recovery system to pre-warm water used for hot washing of the plant via a DeLaval

pressure vessel, saving the farmer on electricity costs,” says Jeremy. “We worked closely with Grant Chamberlain and his building team during the installation, and everything fell into place really well,” says Jeremy. Father-and-son team, Cameron Contractors from Woodlands, used their diggers, trucks and graders to level the site for the dairy shed, formed the laneways and dug out the efﬂuent pond. Jack Cameron and son Daryll can do just about anything that involves moving dirt or digging out drains. “We put in eight kilometres of laneways on this project, shaped them, carted the metal and made sure they were exactly where Eoin wanted them,” says Daryll. Now Willow Creek Farm has an efﬁcient new 54-bail rotary dairy that’s a pleasure to work in. The area around the dairy shed has all been landscaped which creates a visual treat when driving up the tanker track. “The good thing about the team that worked on our dairy shed was they were all good people, based locally and all worked in well together, which meant the building process was stressfree and we have the dairy shed we envisaged,” says Eoin. Helen Wilson

Laneways and lush green pastures of Willow Creek farm.

G T Chamberlain Builders foreman Fraser Dawson, farm owner Eoin McKenzie and G T Chamberlain Builders owner Grant Chamberlain.

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The DeLaval platform and milking plant.

Feed pad built by GT Chamberlain Builders.

Page 54

TUKITUKI DAIRY GOATS

Going

Coast & Country

The complex is still in the development stage.

GOAT milking For Lydia and Sean Baty the decision to move to Hawke’s Bay to milk goats was inﬂuenced by the fact they both wanted to eventually own their own farm. They’d been contract milking on a goat farm in Matamata, but Lydia’s family owned property in Tukituki so with their blessing and encouragement the young couple and their young son moved to the family farm where they set about re-conﬁguring the family sheep and beef property and developing a dairy goat set-up. Eight months on they’ve milked one season in the new dairy complex and already have thoughts to expand after the coming season of new kids. It is a ‘cut and carry’ system. The feed is all grown on the 240 hectare property – with grass, balage and maize – giving the goat herd a variety of feed provided in their 4000m2 open-

Perfect ﬁt.

ended ‘loaﬁng barn’ or goat house. Sean says the answer to good milk production is ensuring the goats have plenty of good feed. “Good feed equals good production.” They milk the 650 mainly Saanen-Nubiancross dairy goats twice-a-day, which takes about 45 minutes for each milking. The milk is collected three times a week and taken to Innovation Park in Hamilton where it is dried ready for export.

Rotary internal The build of the goat dairy parlour went smoothly, according to Sean, who worked with GEA Farm Technologies’ installer Wayne Cooper, Built Wright Construction, Tumu ITM and ARC Engineering. The milking platform is a GEA 80-bail Rotary Internal, which means operators milk from the inside of the platform. Perfect for a goat operation. “We went around a heap of Waikato goat

Inset: Sean Baty inside his 80-bail internal rotary goat milking complex.

farms,” says Sean. “We had a go at herringbone and external rotary. I reckon with the internal rotary you get to see everything. But it’s personal preference at the end of the day.” Built Wright Construction owner Ben Wright says they used about 100m3 of concrete throughout the build, including the foundations for the GEA platform to sit upon. His company has worked with GEA on a large number of new dairy parlour builds, but this was the first goat parlour they’ve been involved in. “It’s really just about scale – everything is smaller. [The] Ideas are the same as cows but just smaller for the goats.” “It was a matter of understanding how the goat works compared to cows, they like to climb so a raised platform suits them well.” Built Wright Construction did all the concrete work, to allow GEA to fit the platform, raceways ,yards, vat stands, and fitted the access channels and underpasses for the electrical, water and milk lines to run to their

Exiting the milking platform.

required area without having trip hazards. They also built the adjacent staffroom, pump room, store and ofﬁce to suit the owners’ requirements using Long Panel insulation which is easy-toclean and low maintenance. The Long Panel is manufactured by Manawatu company Insulation Panel & Doors, which supplies Ben with all his Long Panel insulated panels. ARC Engineering director Matt Nash worked alongside Built Wright Construction and was responsible for building the main holding yards and gates which lead onto the platform. Matt says in the planning stages they were asked to look at a goat milking complex in the Waikato and they mirrored this in the Tukituki Dairy Goat build.

Special ramps GEA installer Wayne Cooper says the goat parlour build was particularly enjoyable. “The whole goat dairy thing is growing and although it is just a matter of scale there are other differences as well.

TUKITUKI DAIRY GOATS

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Page 55

Getting the perfect set-up for goats GEA installer Wayne Cooper gets up close and personal.

Tukituki Dairy Goats

Built Wright Construction owner Ben Wright.

The goats come into the shed via a ramp and corner to slow them down.

Goats stream up from the ‘loaﬁng barn’ to be milked at the new 80-bail parlour. “We built special stairs/ramps which allow the goats to walk up and onto the rotary but we had to put a gate in to slow them down; they were far too keen to get onto the milking platform.” The feed offered at the start of milking might be some incentive. Wayne says they called upon GEA’s worldwide research to ensure the proper ﬁt for the dairy goats. The platform, being steel-built, means it is extremely strong, and running on nylon rollers with GEA’s patented cushioning system ensures maximum life durability. The nylon rollers also ensure a quiet run and no oily mess with no need for lubricating. “We built this platform with plenty of input from Lydia and Sean. They knew what they wanted and had done their homework,” says Wayne. “We have built the platform to be able to incorporate any new technology such as milk

The cooling system, which ensures integrity of the milk product is maintained.

The barn has wide corridors for ease of feeding and cleaning out the sawdust.

meters and cup removers at a later date. It’s a good idea for the future. It’s always cheaper to do it at the start – get the groundwork covered and then when or if you want to add the technology it’s easier to add.

Delicate milk On this build Wayne used a rotary-lobe milk pump with stainless gears in the milk pump, connected to an electric motor with a variable speed drive unit. As the milk comes into the receiving can it pumps the milk gently away. “Goats’ milk is delicate and using this gentle process and then maximum cooling means the integrity of the milk product is maintained.” Some of the other features of the goat parlour include an automatic wash system, which ensures the wash process is safe for staff, avoids any likely chemical pollution and is operated at the touch of a button. The GEA iCONVERTER Milk Chiller

instantly pre chills the milk to below six degrees Celsius using food grade glycol through the second pass of the plate heat exchanger before it is stored in the milk vat. Rainwater is collected from the parlour roof and half is put through a UV process to ensure it’s safe to wash the plant. The other half is stored untreated in tanks to use to wash down the shed and yards.

Loafing barn Tumu ITM was responsible for the build of the 4000m2 goat ‘loafing barn’. They did plenty of research about what Sean and Lydia wanted and came to them with a proposed layout for their loafing barn. This is stage one with another barn identical in size likely as goat numbers increase. “Our brief was to provide an overall costeffective building solution that was fit for purpose including efficient layout, competitive

to construct and last the distance, says Tumu ITM’s rural and industrial building specialist Adam Hay.

A pleasure “Using Laminated Veneer Lumber we were able to achieve this. LVL is light but strong, doesn’t twist warp or bow, absorbs sound, doesn’t corrode and is grown and produced sustainably in New Zealand,” says Adam. The build of both the loaﬁng barn and the dairy goat parlour was enjoyed by the contractors involved. Both Ben Wright and Wayne Cooper say it was a pleasure to work with Lydia and Sean Baty. While the parlour was under construction the contractors both stayed with Lydia’s grandmother, Rosalind Phillips, at the family homestead. “We were looked after so well, it was a lovely time.” Fritha Tagg

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Page 56

NEW FARM DAIRIES

Coast & Country

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NEW FARM DAIRIES

Page 57

TERRACE

Page 58

Coast & Country

Wishlist comes true

The old herringbone shed partially dismantled.

The shed was built in record time by Tony Boyce Builders.

The ground was built up to allow for gravity fed drainage.

Sharemilker Mick O’Connor and workers Colm Bell, Alex Diaz and Reinier Undan.

A change in irrigation methods meant more grass, more cows and a new dairy shed for Mick O’Connor, who is a sharemilker for Dairy Holdings Ltd. ‘Terrace’ is a 278 hectare property near Rakaia, which has been a dairy farm for 25 years, but when the roto-rainers were replaced with a centre pivot, the increase in herd size meant the former 48-aside herringbone was no longer adequate to milk in as it was taking too long. Mick, who also oversees 11 other Dairy Holdings Ltd farms, says the rotary shed was on the wishlist and part of the ﬁve-year plan. “Dairy Holdings own 55 farms and every year the farms are reviewed. “Each farm has to be considered when changes are made.

“The shareholders want to make money so building a new shed on Terrace had to be of beneﬁt to the farm and shareholders,” says Mick. Once the decision had been made to build the new rotary, tenders for building the shed were put out and Tony Boyce Builders from Timaru won the contract.

council and organised the code of compliance. After talking to Mick about what he wanted to achieve with the new rotary shed, a comprehensive time line was drawn up. “We had a spreadsheet of times each part of the process were to be completed by. It was a straightforward build, actually a lovely job,” says Tony. “There was a bit of pressure to get it ﬁnished but the weather was good, cold but dry, so it all worked well.” One unusual part of the build was camping on-site. Containers were shipped to the Terrace, and Tony lived there during the build. It made more sense to do that than daily travel from Timaru. Mick and Tony had a good working relationship, communication was the key to a

Camping on-site The large construction company employs 35 full-time staff, which can expand to 50 in the busy season. Tony Boyce established the company in 1979 and it now builds anything from dairy sheds to stables, houses or civil works. Bev Castle works alongside Tony and the other staff. She has 40 years of design draughting and project engineering experience and looked after the plans, worked with the local

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successful build and Tony says Dairy Holdings was great to work with. Tony took care of the concrete pour as well as the building and used sub-contractors for other areas. At one time there was 50 people working on-site, so communication and coordination between everyone was vital.

Worker ease Nairn Electrical was responsible for the electronics in the shed. Mick says the build was awesome, just with the sheer speed the shed got built – six weeks. The new shed was sited not far from the old one, but built two metres higher as Mick wanted the efﬂuent ponds to be gravity fed, with no need for pumps. A round yard was designed for good cow ﬂow.

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TERRACE

PH 07 578 0030

Page 59

New irrigation meant a new dairy

Clean and efﬁcientcows are teat sprayed at the end of milking.

Nice and bright, the ofﬁce looks into the shed and out to paddocks.

The latest model platform from GEA with adjustable neck and breast rails.

Lee Gilbert, Dairy Cool checks out the cooling system. Nairn Electrical wired up the shed.

Project manager Bev Castle and builder Tony Boyce. The 54-bail shed has the latest model rotary platform from GEA, called the iFlow, and is designed for two people to milk in. From the deck to the ground it’s the same as a normal rotary shed. From the deck up, the design has changed and been built for cow comfort and worker ease. The bails are sized for a standard NZ Kiwicross type of animal, but neck rails and breast rails are fully adjustable so can be adapted for smaller or larger breeds. The platform is extremely durable, running on nylon rollers and hydraulically driven so requiring little maintenance and no issues if there are problems with power or rotation speed. The milking plant is a GEA plant. GEA has a number of systems that can be adapted to each individual parlour. They have different types

1 No.

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of clusters, which will suit different breed types and udder shapes. Their aim is to create a modern system, which results in high yields combined with careful treatment of cows.

Creatures of habit The jetters have been positioned on the outside rail to make it easier to put the cups on for the wash. The build has been set up so additions like automatic teat sprayers or automatic cup removers can be made easily in future. Dairycool supplied the cooling system. Dairycool sales manager Lee Gilbert says a conventional direct expansion on the milk silos was used, which is still the most popular method of cooling milk.

A smattering of snow on the nearby Southern Alps. The primary cooling was good so direct expansion was a suitable option. The capacity allowed for was sized to meet current and future cooling regulations. “We have an excellent relationship with Mick and Dairy Holdings and have carried out all their cooling requirements on their Canterbury farms,” says Lee. With the new rotary shed completed, cows started going through on October 20, 2015. Having been used to the herringbone, and being creatures of habit, the cows weren’t too keen at the start. The ﬁrst milking took 10 hours, cups went on at 1pm and milking ﬁnished 11.30pm. The next round was better at six hours, the third milking took four hours; and within a week the cows had adjusted and milking

was hasslefree. The cows were ﬁne on the platform, the movement didn’t worry them; it was getting on and off that took the time. Milking 900 cows split into three herds based on size, age and condition, the rotary has proved its worth. Mick says it’s much more efﬁcient and jobs like tail painting, condition scoring and drafting are far easier on people and cows. Parts of the old herringbone have been recycled to a new shed further up the road, so nothing has been wasted. For Dairy Holdings Ltd, building the new shed has proven to be the right decision and the increase in herd size, better utilisation of grass and more of it with the new irrigation, means shareholders, sharemilker, workers and cows are all happy. Amanda Bowes

TURNEY

Page 60

Coast & Country

Technology and automation Farm owner Rob Turney is mostly hands-off but is still passionate about his animals.

Permbrand installed and supplied the two 30 tonne silos.

When Rob and Kim Turney decided to convert most of their existing cropping farm near Methven to dairy, they had one goal – to sell two products. They also carried out a large amount of the work themselves. Prior to conversion, 148 hectares of the 158ha property was used for growing grain to supply their outdoor sow breeding and pig ﬁnishing unit. Rob had thought about conversion to dairy for two or three years and in 2014 began the process of developing the cropping area into pasture for cows, with the aim of running a dairy farm and keeping the pig farm. “I wanted to sell two products – pork and milk. The ﬁrst thing was getting consent for a

change in land use,” says Rob. Once consents were through, work began on laneways and effluent ponds. With good heavy soils, gravel wasn’t readily available, but he managed to scrape enough shingle to build up the area for the cow shed and tracks. As the farm wasn’t fenced apart from the outdoor sow unit, fencing began at the same time. Irrigation was already in place, with three pivots covering 130ha. A DIY sort of bloke and mindful of spending, Rob decided to build the shed with help from his brothers David and Simon. Having built pig sheds in the past, he was confident it would be financially sound to manage the building project himself. The gamble paid off and the result is a roomy 54-bail rotary shed that accommodates both

Permbrand operations manager Phill Shaw.

Turney

cows and workers with good natural light and plenty of room to move in.

Electronic milk meters The ﬁrst part of the shed to be tackled was the water pipes, which were dragged into the ground and underground power cables. Pipework was made early by a local engineering company. Then the centre and ﬂoor were poured, which included a concrete underpass to each side of the platform and an alleyway into the centre. Plumbing was all in place prior to the pour. Next was the platform. The concrete was laid for the main yard, requiring two pours and 125 cubic metres of concrete. Rob says the biggest challenge was the plumbing and electrics. Because he wanted electronic milk meters installed this required more work

than a standard shed. Waikato Milking Systems supplied a system that was as automated as possible and Morrison Agri – which was re-branded from Ashburton Milking Systems – installed the equipment. “Rob wanted technology and automation,” says Waikato Milking Systems Central and Upper South Island area sales manager Chris Barclay. To enable the 565 cows to be milked by one person, a rotary loop line with a slug cleaning system was installed. Auto cleaning using the SmartWASH system – a programmable automated wash system – and SmartECR electronic cup removers, Bail Gate Straps, SmartSPRAY automatic teat spraying and Electronic Milk Meters all contributed to making a low labour input shed.

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TURNEY

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Page 61

Milk joins pork at Methven farm Looking at the new Turney dairy shed from the yard.

The milk vats at the Turney dairy. Electronic Milk Meters were installed because Rob likes ﬁgures to work from. He wants to know the value of each animal in the herd based on its production. In the future, Rob hopes to use an app on his smartphone to look at the number of any animal and see how her production is during any given time period.

Cool balance Dairycool, based in Ashburton, supplied the refrigeration equipment for the dairy. “A system was designed to ﬁnd a balance between current and future cooling compliances, high level efﬁciency, energy savings and capital cost,” says Dairycool sales manager Lee Gilbert. A dynamic water chiller was installed alongside a conventional direct expansion refrigeration unit, coupled with a Mahana Blue heat recovery system. Because the Mahana Blue runs with the direct expansion refrigeration unit, and removes the wasted heat, 85 degrees Celsius water is produced at about 210 litres per hour which means a

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The farm workers accommodation supplied by Genius Homes in Timaru.

substantial energy saving. In keeping with automation, cows can be fed in the shed with a system designed to deliver palm kernel extract or grain. Permbrand installed and supplied two 30 tonne silos, tubing for the meal feeders and coreless augers. Permbrand operations manager Phill Shaw says they discussed Rob and Kim’s requirements. As Rob already had his own grain crusher, Permbrand supplied items that would work with Rob’s existing machinery. Phill says Permbrand is a company that’s small enough to be able to do the job when needed, which was the case with the Turneys. “We work with the client – what they want, when they need it,” says Phill. Covering an area from Oamaru to Culverden and with experienced staff and a fully equipped workshop makes the difference. Equipment is either sourced from Belgium or from local suppliers. To futureproof Rob’s new dairy against power failure Dixon Machinery supplied a 100kw

The dairy farm’s 2IC, Rhomil, who is from the Philippines, in the new dairy.

generator that looks after the needs of the shed, from milking to silo if the power goes off. With high winds, snow and earthquakes quite possible causes of power loss, the generator was mandatory. With the cows taken care of, staff needed to be accommodated. Genius Homes built the new staff quarters, which was delivered on-site in early-2015. The three-bedroom home has a full length deck on the front, providing shelter and shade.

Factory homes Genius Homes marketing manager Aimee Johnston says a strong demand for the company’s pre-built houses is a sign more people are realising the advantages and cost savings of having a factory-produced house. The Genius factory has the capacity to build up to 10 buildings at a time. And a typical factory build is 18 to 20 weeks for a three-bedroom home. Rob and Kim Turney have employed a manager for the dairy farm. Although Mitchell Johnstone is young, his knowledge and back-

Waikato Milking Systems Central and Upper South Island area sales manager Chris Barclay shows some of the WMS gear.

ground won him the job; as did his afﬁnity for livestock. Mitchell says the herd that was bought had been milked in an anti-clockwise rotary. “Teaching the cows to go in on the opposite side and the new smells of the shed, which the cows didn’t like, were the main challenges with the stock,” says Mitchell. Another challenge was the technology. “We were basically guinea pigs for the new technology and software. It all seems to be working out now though.” Mitchell has help from a 2IC, Rhomil, who is from the Philippines and during calving an extra hand is employed. While Rob prefers to be hands off, he’s passionate about his animals and says he likes to see cows going calmly into the shed without overuse of the backing gate. “I know milking is going well when the backing gate is not hard up against the herd, it means all is well.”

Amanda Bowes

FOX PEAK STATION

Page 62

Coast & Country

Stunner ﬁts Fox Peak I was pleased with the quality of work, ﬁnishing on time.

The newest rotary dairy shed at Fox Peak Station near Fairlie in South Canterbury sits comfortably under Sherwood Range, offering stunning views over surrounding countryside. When New Farm Dairies visited, in bright autumn sunshine the countryside had taken on a purple hue. Winter time its covered in snow. Laurie and Teresa Williams own Fox Peak Station. Laurie came to the South Island as a young man, gaining employment as a shepherd, then a shearer. He started investing in land and now owns more than 9000 hectares, ranging from ﬂat lush dairy pasture to steep mountain terrain. This allows Laurie to diversify into several types of farming. He has two dairy farms, a deer farm, a sheep and beef farm; and high on the mountain there is tahr hunting, mainly for tourists. In November 2014 Laurie took over his second dairy farm of 580ha. Although not adjoining his

other dairy farm it’s very close by. Included in the farm package were 700 dairy cows already on the farm. He subsequently increased this to 1050 dairy cows with room to increase numbers. There was an existing 40-aside herringbone dairy on the farm. It was only eight or nine years old, and was put to good use in the ﬁrst season of Laurie’s ownership.

Natural choice “[But] The existing herringbone was open to the prevailing weather so it wasn’t pleasant milking in the winter. We decided to build a

new rotary dairy shed that would ﬁt in with the requirements of the farm. “It was a natural choice to have Tony Boyce Builders design and build the new dairy shed,” says Laurie. Located at Washdyke, Tony Boyce had been involved with previous work at Fox Peak Station, building a deer shed, wool shed, hay barn and two rotary dairy sheds. “I was pleased with the quality of work, ﬁnishing on time; and Tony was happy to incorporate parts of the herringbone dairy into the design,” says Laurie.

The new rotary dairy shed with the Sherwood Range in the background.

Fox Peak owner Laurie Williams.

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FOX PEAK STATION

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Fitting the requirements of Fox Peak Read Industrial Ltd’s southern sales manager Stuart Pegg demonstrates the new improved ﬁlter.

Tony Boyce Builders owner Tony Boyce and his project manager Bev Castle.

Dairycool sales manager Lee Gilbert beside the refrigeration unit.

Fox Peak Station

Tony and his project manager and draughtsperson, Bev Castle, thrive on challenges. “We are happy to work in with the farmer when designing a new dairy shed. We have come up with designs for dairy sheds that need to ﬁt into a designated area,” says Bev. “For Laurie’s dairy shed, we incorporated the old rectangle yard from the herringbone into the yard system of the new rotary,” says Bev. Laurie was wanting a 70-bail rotary dairy shed but after consultation with Tony it was decided a 64-bail would be the best option. “It [the 70-bail] meant we would have had to add an extra portal, which would have increased the cost. The smaller platform ﬁts into the space better,” says Bev.

The walls are made from insulated panel for cleanliness and ease of construction. The roof is Duragalv steel and is built to withstand a dump of snow. The new dairy is covered in to keep out the cold weather in winter, making it more comfortable for the milker.

Minus nine Because the dairy shed was built during winter to be ready for spring there were a few weather challenges. A big snow dump during construction caused major headaches for the team, which was working in down to minus nine degrees Celsius conditions. Tony has more than 40 years’ experience in the building business. As well as dairy sheds

Looking out over Fox Peak Station farm from the dairy shed.

his company design and build houses and commercial buildings. “We pride ourselves on working with the client, listening to their requirements, then designing a dairy shed or house that ﬁts in with their lifestyle,” says Tony. Gibson Bros Engineering manufactured the steel trusses and reinforcing cages for Fox Peak Station’s dairy. All steel-work was done at their premises in Fairlie, transported to Timaru, sandblasted, and painted, then transported back to the farm and erected onsite by Gibson Bros staff. “Once the trusses had been erected and purlins and girts ﬁtted, we proceeded to supply and install all the steel-work for the yards including all the backing gates etc.

The shed itself, went very well, thanks to all the foundation work done by Tony Boyce Builders, which was to a high standard,” says Gibson Bros Engineering’s owner Grant Gibson. It was a pleasure working for Fox Peak and we certainly thank Laurie for the opportunity given to us and appreciate his continued support,” says Grant.

No need to change The dairy shed has been ﬁtted with a Read Industrial Ltd milking plant. “My dad had a Read milking machine in his shed, where I milked as a young lad and I’ve used them in my other dairy sheds,” says Laurie.

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FOX PEAK STATION

Coast & Country

Laurie diversifies with second dairy Fox Peak Station owner Laurie Williams says he “can’t run a farm without my dogs”.

Looking up from the central pit. “They are a tried and trusted brand of milking machine and I saw no need to change. They are simple to use, easy to maintain and there are no electronics to worry about. Good pulsation means less retained milk and less mastitis,” says Laurie. The Read plants also cost very little to maintain, which is very important in these tight times. A new concept of the Read Industrial milking system is the large 700 milk filter, which was developed seven years ago. “The older filters had a nut on a thread on them, which were often dropped when changing the filter sock with the odd broken toe,” says Read Industrial Ltd’s southern sales manager Stuart Pegg.

ST CHOICE

“The new ones have a large crank handle and disk which is much safer and easier to use,” says Stuart. Dairycool from Ashburton service the greater Canterbury area, specialising in dairy farm refrigeration. Dairycool sales manager Lee Gilbert met with Laurie and explained what options were available for optimum refrigeration for his new dairy shed. “We took into account the number of cows, volumes, size of dairy shed, budget and then tailor-made a plan for him, considering also that existing equipment will be utilised in the future if and when need be,” says Lee. Along with numerous refrigeration systems, Dairycool also offer a data logging service

Read Industrial clusters.

recording information around primary cooling. These temperatures are collected, analysed and a report with ﬁndings and recommendations is presented to the farmer – a key tool when establishing where the farm sits around current and future cooling regulations.

New rules By 2018 new Ministry for Primary Industries’ regulations will mean all milk will have to be chilled much quicker and farmers will need to be compliant with this. Dairycool offer a 24-hour seven-day back-up and maintenance service and have a technician based in Northern Canterbury to

A permanent concrete vet stand. service the region. Young Electrical from Ashburton installed all the electrical wiring, making sure all of the machinery worked correctly and they provide a full maintenance service. The new rotary dairy shed at Fox Peak Station is 580 metres above sea level, so as well as stunning views there is usually a few snowfalls during winter. There is no wintering barn, the cows are kept well fed on kale and other crops during winter. Laurie and Teresa have four adult daughters, who are all involved in farming. Laurie and daughter Sally operate this dairy farm with three other staff. And who is the boss? “That depends,” says Laurie. Helen Wilson

FOX PEAK STATION

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HOMESTEAD FARM

Page 66

Coast & Country

Linda’s

legacy Homestead Farm

Linda Farm owner Homestead fsteede. Ho

When Linda Hofsteede’s partner died unexpectedly, leaving her with 230 hectares of land at Alford Forest in South Canterbury, she had to make some decisions on the best way she could utilise the land and provide a legacy for her two adult children. “We had used the farm for rearing bulls and grazing dairy heifers. I decided I could make better use of the land and increase my income; and after doing a lot of research, I concluded dairying was the best option,” says Linda. Having been brought up on a dairy farm in Otago, she knew the basics but had decided on a hairdressing career and had a successful salon in Ashburton before going back to her farming roots. Linda set about gathering information about dairy farming from reliable sources; from that

Rural Building Solutions owner Nigel Hodges, with Homestead Farm owner Linda Hofsteede. began a journey that’s been fulfilling and interesting, and Homestead Farm was established. “My first major project was building a new dairy shed. I did my research and looked at 20 different dairy sheds in the north and south islands. I finally chose a Chapman Dairy design, as I liked all aspects of the dairy parlour design and knew that with more than 30 years of experience in building dairy parlours, a Chapman Dairy would stand the test of time,” says Linda.

Trusted design “The dairy sheds are a proven, well-trusted design with good cow ﬂow, high vented roof for air movement and an overhang to protect staff from the wind and rain in winter and the hot sun in summer,” says Linda. Darﬁeld building company Rural Building Solutions Ltd has the South Island licence to build Chapman Design dairy sheds. Rural Building Solutions owner Nigel Hodges

says Linda approached him to build her a 60-bail rotary dairy shed to milk 860 cows. “At that stage I was fully booked up for the year. However, with a bit of tweaking I managed to ﬁt her in as the last build of the season. I knew the communication and clear decision making with her team would make this a successful build – even under time pressure – and it was,” says Nigel. The building was started in mid-April 2015 and was ready to milk in in mid-July 2015. “It was Nigel’s attention to detail that set him apart from other builders and I still have the list of requirements I wanted in a dairy shed – and yes, I have everything I wanted,” says Linda. So pleasing was the resulting build, Nigel submitted it as an entry in the 2016 Masterbuild Commercial Project Awards, the ﬁrst dairy shed entered. At the gala event in Auckland, RBS was very proud to win a silver award. “It has always been my aim to provide commercial-

Sustainab le Wa front of th ter’s Chris Gibbs in e efﬂuent pond. level building quality to the rural sector and this was conﬁrmation that we really are delivering that,” says Nigel. To add to the easy-care walls, they have been painted with a protective hygienic covering by Bruce Cameron of Specialised Coatings. This helps keep the walls clean, is easily washable and aesthetically pleasing as well.

Mechanical slide Along with the proven ability of the dairy shed, Linda opted for the same reliability in a milking system. She decided on a Read Industrial Ltd plant and a Donald Engineering platform. Based at Rangiora, Read Industrial Ltd is a family-owned business which spans four generations. They’ve developed a simple effective mechanical slide system for New Zealand dairy farmers, which does not rely on electronics but produces the greatest vacuum volume of any milking machine.

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HOMESTEAD FARM

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Homestead Farm is in good hands

Rainier to carry Irrigation install clean wa e ter to th d this pipe e dairy s hed. “The effectiveness of vacuum volume stability means the cups deliver a gentle pulsation which is easier on the cow’s teats, a lower cell count and a lower instance of mastitis,” says Read Industrial Ltd’s southern sales manager Stuart Pegg, who also works for Donald Engineering. The reliable pulsation means that milk solids can increase by up to two per cent per milking, thus producing more income. The plant has automatic cup removers and automatic ﬂoodwash system. In the latest Synlait newsletter, the ﬁve top supply farms all used Read Industrial systems, says Stuart. “Read Industrial Ltd systems are simple reliable and effective and have been part of the dairy farming scene for generations. We can install machines in new rotary and herringbone dairy sheds or we can upgrade a plant in an existing dairy shed. “We are happy to work in with the farmer to get the best result,” says Stuart. Linda chose a Donald Engineering platform to complement the Read milking plant. They

the nd happily on The cows sta platform. Donald have a long standing reputation for quality, innovation and back-up. The bails are simple and open, easy to ﬁt and maintain milking equipment, comfortable for the cow to enter and exit, and easy to wash and keep clean. “Donald Engineering use the traditional concrete deck, as it is quiet, very stable and familiar for the cow to walk on; and deck for deck it is as strong as the plastic ones but without the movement and noise,” says Stuart, on behalf of Donald Engineering. “They use the nylon roller system with double eye beam. This system is proving to be the most reliable in the market, no wear strips to break, no bearings to fail. The roller system uses two rollers per bail, more than any other platform; and its new rollers are designed to take a load of 15 tonne per roller,” says Stuart. Linda’s platform is driven by four drive wheels, each with a 0.5 kilowatt motor. The electric drives are very reliable and easy to maintain. Overall, the Donald platform is a functional, low maintenance New Zealand-designed and

Farm owner Linda Hofsteede, Rural Building Solutions owner Nigel Hodges and his construction manager Homestead Farm’s dairy shed, Alan Deane, receive their silver award at 2016’s Masterbuild Commercial Project Awards. built unit, owned and operated by the Donald family at Edendale.

Hydraulically designed Rainer Irrigation from Ashburton installed four Zimmatic centre pivot irrigators including three wipers and one full circle, the largest about 800 metres long. Rainer’s experienced mainline crew also put in the underground pipework to feed water to the pivots with the water supplied from the BCI irrigation scheme. The pipework installed is hydraulically designed to accommodate future development. Effluent dispersal is made easy as all pivots are set up to apply effluent, either a water-effluent mix or exclusively effluent via a Rainer-installed pumping station at the effluent pond. A large structure was custom-designed, built and installed by the Rainer Irrigation engineers to span the 18 metre Rangitata Diversion Race that dissects Homestead Farm. This bridge supplies clean water to the dairy shed and supplies effluent and stock water to the other side of the farm in separate pipes.

Homestead Farm cows waiting their turn. Sustainable Water of Ashburton designed the effluent system and provided the pond liner for Homestead Farm. “We have to design and build an effluent system that works within the specifications of the farm’s resource consent to contain and spread the effluent on the land when soil moisture and temperatures are optimum to minimise the risk of effluent nutrients being lost through the soil profile. We work with the farmer to design the best solution for effluent solids separation, containment and discharge for any sized dairy herd,” says Chris Gibbs from Sustainable Water. Chris worked with the project manager to ensure the two-pond effluent system was constructed to the correct requirements to hold dairy shed effluent from more than 800 cows. The storage pond was then lined with 1.5mm thick High-Density Polyethylene – known as HDPE – which seals the pond to contain the greenwater from the dairy shed and yard. When conditions are optimal it’s pumped out through a centre-pivot irrigator on to pasture, providing extra nutrients for pasture production.

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HOMESTEAD FARM

Coast & Country

Hang hairdressing! Linda returns to her roots

Read Industrial Ltd and Donald Engineeringâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Stuart Pegg, Rural Building Solutions owner Nigel Hodges, Cherie Holdom from Ravensdown and farm owner Linda Hofsteede. Think Water Leeston was engaged by Linda to undertake the water reticulation of her new 60-bail rotary shed. This included cooler, washdown and stock water pump systems. The work was staged with builder Nigel as all underground pipe had to be laid before the concrete foundations where poured. Once the main structure was built the pumps and all above ground connections could be installed.

Potable water One of the main challenges on this job â&#x20AC;&#x201C; aside from the occasional snow fall â&#x20AC;&#x201C; was accessing potable water for the dairy shed. A large media and UV ďŹ ltration system was installed to process the BCI water into a potable state. Young Electrical from Ashburton installed all the electrical wiring, making sure all the electronics worked correctly and they provide a full maintenance service. Ravensdownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mid-Canterbury agri manager

ury agri mid-Canterb s after s nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ow sd en av R ok rie Holdom lo manager Che fertility. soil

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ed.

Cherie Holdom worked out a fertiliser plan for the farm. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We take a soil sample once a year from each paddock and analyse it for fertility levels. From this we can work out what type of fertiliser is required at the correct dose. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This means only the fertiliser required is used, so there is no wastage. We can put a different dose on each paddock, depending on fertility levels. Here, it is mainly potassium and phosphate thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s required with a dosing of liquid nitrogen which promotes stem elongation of the pasture even in minus ďŹ ve degrees Celsius conditions,â&#x20AC;? says Cherie. Ravensdown also do herbage testing to check for any trace elements that could be lacking. These can then be introduced by fertiliser spreading through a mineral dispenser into troughs. Once the required fertility levels have been attained, the farm will be put on a maintenance fertiliser plan. Permbrand, based at Rolleston in Christchurch, has gained a reputation as one of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading suppliers and installers of

automated feeding systems for both rotary and herringbone sheds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We were able to be ďŹ&#x201A;exible when installing a feed system that suited Lindaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s requirements,â&#x20AC;? says Permbrand operations manager Phill Shaw. There are many options available; an example is a choice of silos for grain storage beside the dairy and stainless steel continuous feed trays can be ďŹ tted into most dairy sheds.

Good condition â&#x20AC;&#x153;Linda can see the beneďŹ ts of supplementary feed, as her cows all look in good condition. Now the feeding system has been installed I will be in regular contact with Linda to ensure the feed system is working well,â&#x20AC;? says Phill. Three new houses on the farm were built by Snowfed Builders from Methven. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Linda needed good quality houses for her staff so we discussed plans and decided on a threebedroomed house and two two-bedroomed houses,â&#x20AC;? says Snowfed Buildersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; managing director Dave McLeod.

Read Industrial Ltdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s southern sales manager Stuart Pegg, who also works for Donald Engineering. Daveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been in the building business for more than 30 years, mainly in the rural sector. Snowfed Builders cover the Canterbury region and have their own range of designs, which can be modiďŹ ed to ďŹ t in with clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; requirements. And Linda was â&#x20AC;&#x153;more than happyâ&#x20AC;? with the calf shed and garage built by Keats Creations from Rangiora. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Both are well constructed and ďŹ t in with the rest of the dairy shed.â&#x20AC;? Quigley Contracting has done all cultivation and re-grassing for the new dairy farm â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and when thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s excess grass they harvest it for silage for supplementary winter feed. Homestead Farm is in good hands with the commitment and hard work Linda has put into this project. Rather than have a sharemilker for the 2016/2017 season sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll employ a manager and three staff. This means sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be making more of the day-to-day decisions as well as managing a run-off for her young stock. Instead of hair creations, Lindaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creating a secure future for herself and her family. Helen Wilson

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TUMUNUI TRUST

Coast & Country

Mainland Engineering owner Daniel Gorton, GEA Farm Technologies’ Matthew Rice, John Perrin from Herdﬂow Gates, Ben Wright from Builtwright Construction, Joel Hensman from Agﬁrst Engineering, and Adam Franklin from GEA.

Built

to create efficiency Looking at the new dairy shed encompassing the calf shed. GEA Farm Technologies’ national sales manager Adam Franklin.

The Tumunui Trust administers 3887 hectares of land situated in the central North Island. The trust is a thriving Maori integration, farming not only dairy cows but beef and deer. Craig Kusabs has been the chairman of the trust for the last year, taking this position over from his father Andrew. Andrew is an accountant as well as a dairy farmer. This part of Tumunui was originally one 2000ha farm consisting of one dairy farm and a drystock unit. The dairy unit operated from just the one shed, giving the cows quite a lengthy walk to the shed. It was nine kilometres from the front to the back of the farm back then, and it was just not sustainable to walk cows 4.5km to the shed. The trust was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to purchase more land across the road on State Highway 5, which enabled them to divide the dairy unit into two units and build a new dairy shed on the second farm.

The new 60-bail rotary shed was built to create efﬁciency with the dairy farm operation.

Two teams Matt Pepper is the sharemilker for both dairy units and employs a manager to oversee this unit. He has split his original team into two lots, so now has a team for both farms. Joel Hensman from Agﬁrst Consultants in Rotorua project-managed the entire shed build.

“We didn’t want to go the traditional way with this shed,” says Joel. “The farm is in the public eye so it needed to be at the top of its game. This is a long-term investment for the trust, so they wanted to have lifetime cost of ownership at the most economic cost they could have.” The earthworks were done by local contractor Jim Marshall Earthmovers. “All the races and laneways were contoured by Jim and he has done a fantastic job,” says Craig. There

is a huge concern for animal welfare as well as health and safety at Tumunui. “We want all staff to be safe so ensure all policies are up-todate,” says Craig. “If anything goes wrong, it’s the trustees who are in the proverbial.”

Platform technology GEA Farm Technologies’ national sales manager Adam Franklin explains the advantages of the iFLOW rotary platform, which has 60 bails.

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A shed at the top of its game The fabulous efﬂuent system, weeping wall.

Tumunui Trust

The GEA milking equipment and concrete platform.

“With rotary platforms the technology starts with the platform, and a key point of the iFLOW platform is the double beam carriage system, which doesn’t have any bearings at all. It is fitted with a nylon roller assembly with a roller every 600mm.” Adam says this means it has the lowest point loading on the rollers of any platform in the market, “so strength and durability is proven with this system”. The hydraulic drive unit with the double beam roller assembly has been designed to give years of problem-free operation, says Adam. “The iFLOW double beam platform is built Looking down through the onto a raised plinth which means the milking extensive yarding that was Tumunui Trust chairman Craig machine is mounted under the platform.” created by ARC EngineerKusabs with Builtwright Adam says these platforms have been around ing from Taupo. Construction owner Ben Wright. for about 10 years and have definitely stood the test of time. “The key to these platforms is the iPUD leg spreaders on the platform, so from a pumped through the gland to the iPUD teat lifetime cost of maintenance around ownerfutureproofing point of view this is a truly ‘plug sprayers, eliminating the need to fill a vessel ship.” that rotates with the platform. and play’ upgradeable option. Should Tumunui Trust decide to go to any Automation solution Milk quality other technology such as milk metering, the hardware can literally be plugged into the The iCORE bail controllers have been Another big focus at Tumunui is milk installed on the platform, which is essentially a software and it will all work. quality and futureproofing around milk step-by-step automation solution that allows the From a labour-saving point of view the platcooling standards. Taupo Refrigeration and farmer to add single automation features as and form also has a 3C plus gland in place which Air Conditioning installed a GEA Milfos allows the platform to be washed from any when they are needed. AquaCHILL unit which snap chills milk down And iCORE is a great way to futureproof your point and doesn’t require having to return to to four degrees Celsius directly into the vat investment with easy upgrades. The iCORE the platform to the park position. as it milks. Plus, a DX chiller is installed for bail controller runs the cup removers, pulsation when the milk is in the vat, so if for whatever Another feature of the 3C plus gland is it’s and teat spray. The in-bail teat spray system has contained off the platform, and teat spray is reason the milk does heat up, it will retain the

temperature. The glycol energy storage device will only operate when the plant is milking. The AquaCHILL is a direct-on-line snap chilling system, which means the power available for cooling at the Plate Heat Exchanger is only what is produced by the chiller. A selection of quality FIL dairy detergents keep the dairy clean and hygienic and assist with quality milk production. Mainland Engineering from Taupo started out by erecting the structural steel. They installed the feed system, which consisted of two 16 tonne feed silos, and a feed head with a Mainland control system.

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TUMUNUI TRUST

Page 72

Coast & Country

Caring for staff and animals at Tumunui John Perrin showing the HERDFLOW gate design.

The GEA Floodwash being demonstrated.

Looking at the new shed encompassing Mainland Engineering’s feed silos. They installed the greenwater and water system, which included Lowara pumps throughout, a skirt spray for the platform and a face spray – with both automated. “The air face squirter is very effective,” says Mainland Engineering owner Daniel Gorton. The full plant install was done by Mainland, including the teat spray system, as Mainland has partnered with GEA for many years now.

Greenwater utilisation The yard has been outfitted with a powerful GEA floodwash system, which uses recycled greenwater to clean the sizeable yard. With part of the brief being water efficiency and labour efficiency, GEA’s effluent solutions manager Matthew Rice set about organising the floodwash and arranging for Daniel Gorton from Mainland Engineering

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to install it. The ﬂoodwash has 300mm Houle airoperated valves which work in a series across the yard. The greenwater is the screened separated liquid remaining after the weeping wall system has done its job. The greenwater is also used for irrigating, but while the irrigation pumps are ﬁlling the tanks, irrigation ceases then reverts back to the irrigating once the tanks are full.

Solids management The effluent system including weeping walls, pond, pump station and irrigation was designed by Geoff Neilson of Agfirst Engineering Ltd, and project-managed by Geoff and Scott McKenzie, both based in Te Puke. The system was designed to meet the following objectives. Provide filtered green

water for recycling through the floodwash, adequate storage for now and future increased herd size, sufficient pump capacity to run a travelling gun on the flats and K-Line pods on the hills plus scope to increase the irrigation area in future. Other important design features include ease of operation and fail safe technology.

Gate makeover The old Reporoa HERDFLOW High Lift Gate has been around for 25 years, and in recent times been given a substantial makeover. One of the added features is the drive system has been upgraded to an ‘I’ beam top rail, meaning the gate cannot derail. The breech sensor being another upgraded feature ensures the cows are not bulldozed onto the platform. The sensor detects when

there is too much pushing of the backing gate and will stop and reverse a little and then wait for another command from the operator. An audible alarm, which is located in a control box on top of the gate, sounds when the gate is moving. The High Lift Gate will move forward to a predetermined distance and will then stop until commanded again with its pulse-forward auto stop. The gate lowering will pause at cow height to allow cows to move forward before lowering right to the ground.

Build it wright Ben Wright from Built Wright Construction was contracted to do the build of the Chapman-designed dairy parlour. The Chapman Dairies are designed to optimise cow ﬂow and efﬁciency.

TUMUNUI TRUST

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Page 73

No more long walks around here The Laser Electrical Taupo proface. A number of things are taken into effect when designing a shed, such as distance cows have to walk to get to the shed, farm layout, topography, cow ﬂow, but to name a few. The Tumunui shed is the standard Chapman design, with the usual array of added rooms – ofﬁce, toilet, pump room, storage room, plus a vet area in one corner of the shed. The Chapman sheds are well noted for their good lighting, easy-to-clean poly panel walls, good aeration throughout. The shed is very roomy and well ventilated throughout. The shed looks spectacular from the road, with lots of open space around it. The yard, holding yard and drafting area were all designed by the sharemilker, and constructed by Matt Nash from ARC Engineering in Taupo.

Looking through a bail into the centre of the platform. The Race Wrangler.

Mainland Engineering owner Daniel Gorton checking the GEA equipment.

Sharemilker design Sharemilker Matt Pepper has been involved in many shed builds during the last 10 years and had some speciﬁc design ideas he wanted incorporated into this shed. Ben says he worked in with Matt Pepper to ensure all his boxes were ticked and tried hard to meet all his requirements. “The trust knew what they wanted, so it was reasonably easy; it was just a matter of putting it all together.” The poly panels, which are constructed by Insulation Panel & Doors in Palmerston North, have an outside colour of grey and the inside is white. “The walls of the shed are made from an easy-to-clean poly panel. Long Panel is a versatile, insulated building panel made from Expanded Polystyrene Sheet with a tongue and groove

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The farm manager’s house that GJ Gardener Rotorua built. jointing system, roll formed along the edge. The insulated panel comprises of outer skins of pre-painted colorsteel with a core of CFC-free expanded polystyrene foam. These long panels help with keeping the shed cool in summer and warmer in colder months.” Reliable milk storage and cooling is critical to the success of a dairy farm and with this in mind Tumunui had Tru Test’s Dairy Technology Services milk vats installed to cope with the demand of their milk supply. Meanwhile, Laser Electrical from Putaruru did all the wiring for the shed and efﬂuent area. And Roger Farley from Modern Coatings

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in Waiuku did a fantastic job coating the blockwork with an acraﬂex coating. The acraﬂex is a decorative easy-to-clean and durable coating. It’s renowned for its durability in the harsh environment of dairy sheds.

Good employer And with a new house already built on the other block, there was only need for a new manager’s house on this farm. A four-bedroom brick home was constructed by GJ Gardener homes from Rotorua. The house is in close proximity to the dairy parlour for security reasons. Good housing is utmost

to the trust and ensures the staff is happy. “You have got to be a good employer,” says Craig. “For if you aren’t it doesn’t matter how good the housing is, you just won’t retain good staff.” It is also paramount to the trust that everything is kept in clean and tidy order. The farm must look good, weeds kept under control, and stock in good order. A lot of planning went into the water supply as the old supply was past its use by date. A new bore was put down and troughs have been installed all the way down the races so the cows can drink on the way to the shed. Lois Natta

FLETCHER TRUST FARM

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Re-inventing their farming systems

Coast & Country

sharemilkers to oversee the farm and employ staff. The farm consists of an effective 200ha, and is milking 480 Friesian and Friesian-cross cows this year. The farm normally milks 535 cows but as a dry summer was expected with the low payout, they have decided to keep milking numbers a bit lower and minimise inputs.

Record keeping

GEA tanker entrance sign. A beautiful vista of the farm in all it’s greenery.

When the Fletcher family ﬁrst moved to this farm in 1968, it was a small-scale dairy farm. Charles Fletcher was a teenager and working for his parents. The dairy shed was near the front of the farm. And in 1969, the Government of the day declared the district uneconomic for dairy farming, due to ragwort, grass grub hormones, pesticide DDT and drought. The Mangakino district was resettled for sheep and beef farming with all dairy farms – except for the Fletcher’s – being purchased by Lands and Survey and balloted. Charles’ father looked after three of those Lands and Survey farms pending

Charles was looking for a high level of automation in the shed, a more accurate way of record keeping and a system that would weigh the cows, do automatic sorting and heat detection. His decision to do such an extensive dairy upgrade was due to the old plant becoming obsolete when the manufacturer was brought out some years ago. His wishlist was relatively extensive and well met by GEA and their local dealer FNI Rural Services from Tokoroa. “I’m not a fan of infrared cameras,” says Charles. “I don’t think they are going to be

the ballots. He impressed the hierarchy at Fletcher Trust Farm Wellington Lands and Survey so much that he was formally recognised as being capable of farming sheep and beef that he received a ‘sheep rating’ which made him eligible for a second Rural Bank (State Advances) loan to buy the two neighbouring farms, which, when combined, made a 214 hectare farm. In 1997 he was convinced to put the farm back into dairy. A conversion was then done and a new cowshed built in the centre of the farm. It was this shed that has, during the last two years, received an extensive upgrade. The Fire N Ice Rural Services team: owner Lance Charles is managing director of the Felton, Gregg Pearce, Bruce Ward, Christe Leaf and Fletcher Farm Trust, which employs Alan Oliver. Larry and Maria Perrott as lower-order

reliable technology. “Going forward, GEA have collars that are a lot better than what anyone else has at the moment,” says Charles. “I have to say though; I would be an extremely happy man if GEA would develop a phone APP for their drafting system.” Charles is a big fan of the collars, which have the cow ID and activity measurement capabilities. As the cows come into the milking parlour their ID and activity measurements are read and the cow number appears at the bail in their 40-aside herringbone. The cow’s milk volume is recorded in the DairyPlan C21 Herd Management software. The software determines if any actions need to be taken due to milking or activity measurements. As the cows leave the milking parlour they walk over a weigh scale with an antenna that identiﬁes the cow again, weighs them then either drafts them or sends them on their way back to the paddock. “The GEA electronic drafting system is brilliant.” says Charles.

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FLETCHER TRUST FARM

Page 75

From dairy to dry stock and back again

A cow modelli ng a Wes rescounter ID tfailiaSurge collar. Fire N Ice Rural Services owner Lance Felton, GEA area sales manager Paul Convery and GEA milking technician Ian Sweeney in the pit.

Charles considers technology to be the next big step up in dairy farming, as does Larry. “But it has to be easy for the staff to use and understand too,” says Charles. “You have to have a system which the dumbest person on your farm can use, which is why I have tried to automate as much as I can, to eliminate input errors and problems.”

New stuff Charles took me for a tour around the shed and pointed out all the new stuff. The pit was extended by four metres as it was originally built for small cows with 660mm centres. This has been changed to 740mm centres to

accommodate the larger cows. FNI Rural Services from Tokoroa executed the build upgrade in addition to the machinery install and engineering upgrades. A Wrangler stock handler was installed in the new vet race, which the vet is absolutely thrilled with. He reckons you can even do surgery in the Wrangler. An Artiﬁcial Insemination race, with drop down railing has also been installed, making things easier for the AI technician.

thing up-to-date. The decision was made to go for a 40-bail high line herringbone upgrade. The install included automatic cup removers, milk meters; basically a full herd management system. The drafting gate links into the one big system that allows the owner/staff to monitor and manage the cows through yield, weight and for general health purposes. The cows have all been ﬁtted with WestfaliaSurge Rescounter ID collars, which are worn around each cow’s neck. The rescounters are easily removable if a cow dies and the collar needs to be transferred to a new cow. The rescounter works directly with the C21 DairyPlan, recording things like the cows activity, if she is on heat, as well as non-cycling cows. A g-sensor is located inside the collar. The device stores up to 24

hours of data, which is downloaded into the DairyPlan program. When a cow walks over the weigh platform upon exiting the shed, the antenna surrounding the weigh scales takes the ID and activity of the cow from the collar to the computer. The Gallagher weigh scale indicator has software that Gallagher developed for GEA to interface with the DairyPlan software. “The milk metering provides conductivity readings allowing the owner/staff to see whether the cow is trending up or down,” says Ian. “It’s a good mastitis detection tool.” Conductivity changes can indicate there are health issues with a particular cow, enabling early intervention. The system tracks conductivity over time and builds up a history of where each cow’s conductivity sits. It looks for changes and when the threshold has passed will issue an alert in the pit at the bail where the cow is milking. This technology alert allows the milker to mark and treat the quarter of the animal on the spot.

All linked together Ian Sweeney from GEA says their brief from Charles was he wanted a new milking plant to bring every-

Standing in the weigh race.

The PPP Feed silos and looking down into the shed.

GEA Herringbone Parlours GEA provides high quality herringbone milking parlours giving a quick, stress free milking routine for both the cows and milkers. To speak with your local milking equipment specialist call 0800 GEA FARM (0800 432 327)

engineering for a better world

FLETCHER TRUST FARM

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Coast & Country

Charles takes on newest technology GEA is called in to provide a staff training day. The weigh Scale indicator used in the system is a specially modiﬁed Gallagher model that allows direct interfacing of the data with DairyPlan C21. This unit has proprietary software installed purely for this purpose.

Shed to be showcased Looking back towards the shed and yards.

igh agher we The Gall dicator. scale in

The electronic

Fletcher

weighing plat fo

rm as cows ex

it the shed.

Ian says: “The technology in this shed is as good at is gets at the moment. The C21 herd management system is second to none”. Anyone wanting to produce milk successfully and professionally today must be aware of all the decisive factors and have them under control. When planning, operating and monitoring milk production and the reproduction, feeding and health of cows, it is necessary to have detailed information from reliable sources. Afterwards, the farmer can analyse the data and optimally integrate them into

the system. This enables the farmer to make the correct decisions at the right moment.

Herd management guru GEA writes programmes as required by the farmer. GEA Herd Management ‘guru’ Jan Winke has a library of programmes and the chances are she will have in her library exactly what the farmer wants to generate reports out of DairyPlan. Jan will come onto the farm and train the farmer once the technology is all up and running. Any follow-up staff training is either done by the farmer each year or

GEA area sales manager Paul Convery, Smart Farm Systems’ Paul Chalmers, farm owner Charles Fletcher, lower-order sharemilker Larry Perrott, Fire N Ice Rural Services’ Gregg Pearce, Fire N Ice Rural Services owner Lance Felton and GEA milking technician Ian Sweeney.

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Fire N Ice Rural Services owner Lance Felton says Charles wanted a showpiece, so that anyone could be brought in to inspect and understand the beneﬁts of this level of dairy automation so as to improve day-today farm and stock management. The build and install were all done to a very high standard of workmanship. “There is no reason why we cannot bring people here,” says Lance. “We thoroughly enjoyed working with Trust Farm Charles and Larry;

they knew exactly what they wanted. “We don’t feel like anything in this shed looks like an add-on,” says Lance. When Lance and his team began there was a wasteland area between the shed and the central race. FNI Rural Services performed the electrical work for the shed as well as installing a huge amount of LED lighting in the yard. This combined with the new electronics and technology have actually reduced Larry’s power bill each month. The PPP feed silos, which have been in use with an in-shed feed system for a number of years, and the feedlines were all upgraded to the new spacings for each 40-aside row. “It was a hell of a lot bigger job than we ﬁrst thought,” says Lance. A nice touch to this shed is the elevated ‘chair’ made especially for Larry to do his drafting from; this has a can holder underneath, not for beer, but for cans of spray paint.

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FLETCHER TRUST FARM

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Farming efficiencies for the future

The Race Wrangler. FNI Rural Services spent six weeks during winter up to their knees in mud doing the outside part of the job as stage one last season, and a further four to six weeks doing the plant upgrade, as stage two this season. The plant is kept in pristine condition with a selection of FIL dairy hygiene detergents.

Specialised floodwash GEA has supplied a specialised floodwash system for all of the new concrete with five control valves which can let go 60,000L of water in one go to clean the yards and central 10 metre-wide race. This is all computer controlled from the dairy shed. “It is an amazing system and makes cleaning up so efficient and quick,” says Larry. In the centre of the yard is the effluent solids trap. In its previous life

monitors and one control unit on his farm. The Effluent Fail Safe System monitors and controls the effluent pump and agitator, plus a traveller and cannon delivery system. It cuts the effluent pump off if there is a leak, blockage or chance of ponding in the paddock. There’s water monitor which collects water use data from three water meters: total farm, shed and farm usage. And a soil monitor, which collects Looking down into the AI ra data for soil moisture and temperature ce and vet race . situated is in a paddock about 500 metres away. The paddock is flat and typical of the farm soil type. The soil moisture and temperature monitor location can be as near or far as required on the farm in a location this was the farm effluent pumping which provides early warning of moisture deficit pond. Being situated right where the ahead of pasture wilt. new yard was going meant it was reinvented as the effluent solids trap. GEA supplied a door and winch which opens in sections to allow the water to fall through, leaving behind the sediment and sludge. Larry empties the sludge every four weeks with the frontend loader. The dried sludge is then deposited on the farm crop paddocks or where they want to plant trees around the farm. Liquid effluent from the dairy shed passes through the solids trap to the four million litre effluent pond.

The SFS technology has a distance of up to 10km, utilising Low Frequency Radio, not line of sight. That is, it goes over hills, through trees and around buildings. All the information is collected by a Central HUB in the shed, then transmitted into the cloud for monitoring.

Innovation The Smart Farms System performs monitoring as well as control and data logging services to farmers including water, soil, effluent, tanks and much more. The data is sent to a secure cloud server and can be made available to data vendors or to their new smartphone app which provides alerts, reports and all the data on your phone. They help farmers mitigate risks from accidental and/or illegal noncompliant activities caused by equipment failure and/or human error. Innovation is a recurring theme for the Fletcher Farm Trust which has re-invented its farming systems from dairy to dry stock and back again, its infrastructure, the dairy and effluent systems, pasture renewal and other innovations to create new farming efficiencies for the future. Lois Natta

Mitigating risk Paul Chalmers from Smart Farm Systems met with me at Charles’ shed and explained the technology installed on this farm. Charles has three

t can holder.

Larry’s chair that he uses for drafting cows.

The nifty pain

LANDCORP ENDURANCE

Page 78

Coast & Country

A beauty

Landcorp Endurance

off the beaten track The Landcorp Endurance farm is what I would say is well off the beaten track. The tanker track is a trek just in itself, and just when I thought maybe all the signs were wrong – I arrived. Nestled amongst a labyrinth of Ngatamariki geothermal power pipelines, the Endurance farm is located down the end of a very long tanker track. The farm is a mixture of ﬂat to rolling countryside with some steep sidlings, and a largely pumice soil.

The GEA Milfos clusters and GEA platform.

Landcorp Endurance manager Aaron Morrissey says the farm is heading towards once-a-day milking. “Endurance is milking 800 heifers once-a-day. This means a lighter feed input and less maintenance going forward,” says Aaron. “The main idea is to get more production out of fewer animals.” The Endurance farm remains 2.6-2.7 cows to the hectare. There is talk of breeding a more efﬁcient animal within the Landcorp group itself, and the replacements for this project will be coming from the Endurance farm.

Landcorp Endurance’s farm manager Aaron Morrissey, the Wrangler creator Wilco Klein Ovink, Gibson Construction’s Scott Hare and GEA Farm Technologies’ Paul Convery.

“Once-a-day is obviously much better on staff,” says Aaron, who currently employs three staff on the farm as well as himself.

Easy calf handling As with all the Landcorp farms I’ve visited, everything is neat and tidy. The calf barn built by Gibson Construction in Taupo is situated neatly to the left of the tanker roundabout, just a short stroll from the vats and dairy shed. The short distance to the calf shed is an advantage when feeding masses of hungry calves.

Paul Convery from GEA Farm Technologies.

GEA Goat & Sheep Milking Solutions GEA offers specially designed milking equipment for sheep and goats to suit your farming requirements. To speak with your local milking equipment specialist call 0800 GEA FARM (0800 432 327)

engineering for a better world

LANDCORP ENDURANCE

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Page 79

Designed to endure at Landcorp The nine-bay calf shed has been constructed with a 1.5 metre central path down the length of the shed, and rails to every second bay so trough water feeders can be mounted on adjoining rails between two pens. This shed has 16 separate calf pens and a fully utilised workshop at the end that has entry through to the calf area.

Key design works well Agricultural engineering consultant Davieth Verheij from Agfirst Engineering in Te Awamutu was contacted by Landcorp to do pretty much everything from where the effluent leaves the stone trap. Davieth works in with and alongside Scotty Hare from Gibson Construction on the design of the stone trap system. “The key design is on how we capture and direct effluent into the stone trap,” says Davieth. The pipe to the effluent pond comes in from an angle to

maximise the amount of area the sand can drop out at. The aim is to design the lot to be stirred up, including ﬁbre, which is then easily spread on paddocks. The key factor is there should be as little sand in the lined pond as possible, so a back-stop to the sand trap is built up about half a metre higher than the norm to avoid a build-up over the back of the bunker when scooping the solids out. “Compared to the other Landcorp farms, the Endurance is the hilliest, so it gave us more challenges to design the correct system to work with the sloping country,” says Davieth.

Sprinkler system A sprinkler system has been installed due to the large amount of pumice in the soil. Having a pumice soil does not mix well with dragging hoses and irrigators, making the

sprinkler system much more viable. The five-row sprinkler system can irrigate to a 50 metre diameter, so application is over a very sizeable area. An 11kW progressive capacity mono pump handles the total effluent and irrigator system, with a key to self-priming. There is no pontoon and no bridges, so therefore there is no need for anyone to go into the pond at all. This is a key focus from a health and safety point of view. The benefits of a mono pump is that whether it has to go uphill or down in a gully the pump can distribute the same volume at similar pressures, so the application area will be receiving the same amount of effluent over the entire farm, whereas a centrifugal type system can be restricted by head quite easily. From a nutri-management point of view it is very easy to calculate and understand how much effluent is going to specified places without hard-to-manage or expensive technology.

Mainland Engineering Taupo owner Daniel Gorton.

Qubik TMC’s refrigeration supervisor Andrew McAllister.

The new dairy shed constructed by Gibson Construction.

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LANDCORP ENDURANCE

Page 80

Coast & Country

Once-a-day will be the way There is the all-important leak detection system in place at the end of the efﬂuent pond. This has a drainage network under the pond itself in case of leakage. Davieth says Agﬁrst is in the process of setting up a service check system which will include checking for leaks.

Agﬁrst Engineering is very focused on getting good infrastructure so they can achieve compliance.

Working as a team

Gibson Construction’s Scott Hare fabricated the stone trap and effluent bunker segment of the effluent system and has been working together with Davieth right from the start of the Landcorp developments. Both he and Davieth feel it is a bonus having worked as a team for so long as it can be very difficult having to commence and work in together with new people all the time. Gibson Construction put together a purpose built 54-bail rotary shed for Landcorp. The design was a Landcorp Aaron catches up on some computer work design, initiated from the very in the office staffroom area. first shed they’d built but with modifications and improve-

ments put in place. The original sheds used to have a viewing platform which Landcorp decided wasn’t necessary, and was really only for looks. Another improvement was joining the office and staffroom together and utilising the one bigger space for both, which Aaron finds works very well. The shed also has the usual array of rooms such as the pump room, storage room, chemical room and toilet. The plant cleaning area is located in the back corner of the shed with a wall for division. The walls are constructed from reinforced concrete tilt panel followed by timber framing lined with slimclad cladding to wet areas. Gib board lines the dry rooms such as the staffroom and toilet. The walls to the “noisy room containing pumps” are insulated with noise reduction batts and pink batts to the staff/office and toilet areas. Having conventional timber frame allows services to be run within the walls, hidden from sight and leaving a clean finish. This also allows for more services to be run overhead with easy access to these services

by just unscrewing the cladding sheets for maintenance or to retroﬁt other services. This also allows for less of these services to be run underground and beneath the concrete.

Total water install Greenline Trenching from Mangakino was contracted do a total water system install. This included laying all the water pipes, installing water troughs, effluent hydrants, plus installation of some water tanks. On the tanker pad is a raised vat stand that houses the three separate vat plinths and this also accommodates the refrigeration units. Agri Mat, which is manufactured by Numat, has been installed in the exit bails. This aids with safe exiting so cows don’t slip. Dairy Wall Coatings’ Greg Fulton has done an excellent job with the painting of the blockwork. The acraflex coating Greg uses has a reputation for being top quality and longlasting as well as super easy to keep clean. The acraflex is a durable coating, especially suited to the harsh working environment found in dairy sheds. A purpose-designed animal health area was constructed by ARC Engineering of Taupo.

The new calf sheds built by Gibson Construction.

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Agﬁrst Engineering Waikato’s agricultural engineering consultant Davieth Verheij with Gibson Construction’s Scott Hare.

Looking into the dairy shed.

Page 81

Wilco Klein Ovink from the Wrangler leans through the Race Wrangler while Aaron Morrissey raves about the virtues of having one on-farm.

A parlour to love at Landcorp ARC owner Matt Nash designed the purpose built on-site system to suit the farm. The animal health area has a drop-down vet platform, lockable drugs cabinet and workbench. All yarding and back gates were also constructed by ARC Engineering. Matt also attached a custom-made yard scraper to the backing gate which keeps the yard nice and clean.

Chilling the milk Qubik TMC installed the on-farm precooling and vat refrigeration. Two 10hp direct expansion chiller units ensure the milk in both vats is chilled down to ﬁve degrees Celsius before tanker pick-up. Direct expansion cooling takes place in the vat. The refrigerant from the chiller unit ﬂows through the vat cooling pads to cool the milk. Therefore, the vat cools the milk from milk entry temperature to the desired storage temperature of less than six degrees Celsius. This is required to maintain your vat milk temperature after pre-cooling. The Blue Star chiller unit comprises of the world famous Maneurop Hermetic compressor unit that is very robust and ensures excellent

overall performance within the milk cooling industry. These units are built to all New Zealand dairy speciﬁcations. The Qubik 50w water chiller chills a 25,000L Manicon tank of water to seven degrees Celsius outside of milking time. It then circulates the water during milking through the second stage of the plate cooler, reducing milk temperature to 10 degrees Celsius or below before entering the milk vat. With the installation of the water chiller a heat recovery unit was installed, so hot water enters the water cylinders at a rate of four-ﬁve litres per minute at a temperature of 50-60 degrees Celsius dependant on incoming water temperature.

Profitable milking GEA Milfos has worked closely with Landcorp Taupo along with Mainland Dairy and Engineering, Taupo’s GEA service partner for milking and dairy equipment, to provide a rotary milking system that will deliver efficient and profitable milking over the lifetime ownership of the farms. Key to this is the Milfos iFLOW double beam rotary platform. The

platform is a double beam with nylon roller system that has no need for bearings or wear strips as the point loading per roller when the platform is loaded with cows is the lowest of any platform on the market. What this means is a very low maintenance requirement and no need to do repairs on the beam structure at all – ever. The plant has all the necessary functionality, such as variable speed vacuum pump drive, milk purge and VSD milk pumps to enhance efﬁcient cooling and of course all the platforms manufactured by GEA are futureproofed should more automation be required in future. Laser Electrical from Taupo did all of the electrical work for the shed as well as the efﬂuent system. This was a standard install as far as electrical systems go, there were no bells and whistles at all, just a fully functional electrical system. Laser Electrical also do ongoing work when required at Landcorp’s Endurance farm.

Wrangler for everything Aaron could not speak highly enough of his beloved Race Wrangler. “I use it for everything,” he says. “The animal is restrained

in the Wrangler so it cannot kick out or misbehave, making treatment time very quick and easy.” Aaron had a lot of heifers come in with sore feet and within the space of a couple of weeks he treated 20 animals with ease. Aaron has had breeding bulls in the Race Wrangler, half of them pulled up lame early on, so he was able to efﬁciently put blocks in their feet using the safety of the Wrangler. “It’s very safe to use, and animals don’t go down, so that worry is eliminated.” In the Wrangler an animal is held securely in the belly belt. It’s easy to get them in and just as easy to clean up afterwards. Health and safety to self and also wellbeing of the animal is paramount. “The Wrangler is brilliant and I would recommend it to anyone,” says Aaron. It is very clear that Landcorp takes pride in animal wellbeing and health and safety issues, as well as ensuring their farm managers and workers alike have top quality accommodation. The workers take pride in their farm and surroundings as everything is neat, tidy and well maintained. Lois Natta

PARKER LAND CO

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Coast & Country

Heavy duty milking shed Parker Land Co

Farmer Andrew Parker and father Neville Parker in front of their new dairy at Atiamuri.

Environmental concerns and growth of hectares and cow numbers were the driving forces behind a new dairy shed at the Parker family farm in Atiamuri. Neville Parker started his farming life straight from school. Farming ﬁrstly in South Auckland before moving to South Waikato and the family farm at Atiamuri, south of Tokoroa in 1973. This farm was 250 acres with a 12-aside herringbone shed which during time was increased to 18-aside and then 34-aside. Time, hard work and development of the dairy industry has seen the farm increase in size when Neville’s son Andrew purchased adjoining forestry and the farm next door,

along with its 24-aside herringbone. Andrew is now driving the large development, which is converting pine forest to dairy land. They were milking their 800-plus herd in the two herringbones but the environmental issues with old outdated efﬂuent disposal, plus the fact the concrete in the sheds was literally breaking down, meant it was time for a change.

Centre of farm This father-son combination sees experience coupled with younger more technology-savvy dairy farming. They sat down and planned where the new shed would be, what it needed to have, how it could operate, what milking equipment it would house; and when they were ready to start, who would build it. The new 74-bail rotary dairy complex sits

The Parker family’s impressive new dairy at their Atiamuri farm. almost in the centre of the 500ha farm. The Parker men have also brought the workings of the farm to the same location with a large silage pit, large concrete bunkers for supplementary feed and Palm Kernel Extract bunkers, complete with specially designed roller roofs, all within view from the dairy shed’s ofﬁce. Neville says he and Andrew looked at “hundreds of sheds” and were determined to sort out what they wanted – and, more importantly, what they didn’t want. Rotorua-based construction company Tenmax Construction built the shed. Owneroperator Adam Stevens says he was part of the development from the beginning and took on the design and build. Adam particularly enjoyed having some scope and freedom in the design.

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“Neville and Andrew stipulated what was needed and their preferences relating to the working of the entire development, then let me work out how to get it done. I wanted it to look traditional, to look like the old milking sheds we grew up with.” Adam says the elevated ofﬁce is one particular part of the design that works well. “From the ofﬁce, you can look out over the dairy platform, see how it’s working; and you can see out over the larger worksite to the feed pad, feed bunkers and calf pens.”

Without compromise Tenmax Construction also built the concrete supplement and silage bunkers. Because milking was still being done in the two herringbones, the build was carried out without compromise.

PARKER LAND CO

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The vet platform raised.

The WestfaliaSurge equipment.

The new shed has LED lighting. CD Contracting owner Craig Drower on the purpose-built vet platform.

GEA FT area sales manager Paul Convery and Beta Milking owneroperator Ziggy Burch.

Nylon rollers support the platform in the Parker’s new dairy.

‘The first time we have been grade-free’ Tenmax Construction was also involved in effluent control, and Adam shared in the design and constructed the effluent solution for this large unit. Large concrete effluent solids tanks with weeping walls catch solids, about 6mm in size, and allow liquid to run away to a 60m by 60m six-metre deep holding pond, which was dug by Neville. Effluent can be held for up to six months; and green water is used for irrigating during dry summer months. They also use the green water to floodwash the yard and feed pads, which saves water use and makes good use of recycled water. Fresh water is used only to wash the plant. Specialised Coatings applied Acraflex to the new dairy build. Bruce Cameron says Acraflex is hardwearing, easy to clean – cow effluent

just washes off – is hygienic, and acid and alkali resistant. It’s been used in hundreds of dairy applications for more than 25 years. The decision about what milking equipment to use – and what platform – was, in the end, a good outcome. The Parkers wanted German technology. “We have German tractors on the farm and they perform well,” says Neville.

Great combination Beta Milking installed the GEA Farm Technologies 74-bail rotary milking system, amalgamating the iFLOW platform and WestfaliaSurge milking plant. GEA FT’s after market and service solutions manager Grant Coburn says they pulled the best from both brands and put them together for the ﬁrst time in this shed. “It is very

high-spec – not normally seen on other dairy farms.” Beta Milking owner-operator Ziggy Burch has been working at the Parker Farm for more than eight years, servicing and maintaining the two herringbones. He was heavily involved in the decision-making process and is a service partner for GEA FT. Ziggy says there was a lot of behind-thescenes work, research with Beta Milking and GEA, working with the Parkers to deliver exactly what they wanted. “It is a robust, heavy duty milking shed. They put through big numbers of cows, twice-a-day, so it needs to be robust. By New Zealand standards this is a big shed, built to last, with low maintenance.” Grant says the Double ‘I’ beam has nylon

rollers so there is no wear strips, no steel on steel, no bearings so this reduces the risk of breakdown. Ziggy says the secret is preventative maintenance. “If you stay on top of maintenance your breakdowns are less. Every moving part has a service life. So working out a maintenance plan is the best option; spread the costs, spread the work throughout the year.

Service plan “I would rather work out a service plan with customers than have to spend huge dollars when there is a major breakdown. And you can bet the breakdown always happens at milking time,” says Ziggy.

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PARKER LAND CO

Coast & Country

Built to last, with low maintenance Beta Milking owner-operator Ziggy Burch with hot water system – CD Contracting purpose-built stainless steel framework.

The yards were built by Tokoroa company CD Contracting. The 74-bail DT70 has full milk metering, full animal ID, and runs full herd management. Everything can be done at the bail but just as easily the programme can be managed remotely by computer link or a smartphone. It has auto plant and yard wash, auto drafting, and can set individual feed. Variable speed pumps on both wash down and farm supply offers best use of electricity. Beta Milking installed the shed’s water services and link to the nearby calf shed, meaning milk is pumped straight from shed to pens. “It’s using technology to improve your life,” says Ziggy. The engineering and pipework was designed and built by Tokoroa company CD Contracting. Owner Craig Drower says they were able to prefabricate the pipework in their workshop, which allowed for the stronger welds needed for this particular build and made the actual ﬁt-out more efﬁcient. “All yard gates and fences are higher and stronger [than normal] and we have gone

for roller sweeps to improve cow flow. We built the vet platform to fit the curve of the platform and we designed and built a stainless steel frame for the hot water cylinders with water flowing inside the stainless steel framework. “We also built the roll-off/roll-on sliding rooves over the palm kernel bins.”

Chill compliant To ensure this dairy was completely compliant with milk cooling regulations Taupo Refrigeration & Air Conditioning supplied and installed a primary chilled water refrigeration system with electronic expansion valves for more precise cooling requirements with a secondary cooling to reduce the milk entering the vat down to eight degrees Celsius. Reporoa Engineering custom-ﬁt a HERDFLOW Crowd Gate to the new dairy. HERDFLOW gates are designed to move large herds from yard to shed, saving time and labour, says Reporoa Engineering director John Perrin.

Tenmax Construction builder Adam Stevens. “The gate stops ‘bulldozing’ and damaging of cows via the breech sensor. If the gate bumps a cow, the sensor signals it to back off and wait for the next command. “The Parker’s gate is ﬁtted with optional extras including cow detection so the gate will not keep lowering if a cow does not move. It has dual controls with the additional controls at the cups-off position,” says John. It has the four-wheel-drive option, which gives additional traction via the two extra drive units – useful in icy conditions or with wider-styled gates, like the Parker’s gate. The new shed has a Buster Cover Ltd mealgrain feed system which enables Andrew to control the amount of feed each cow receives, minimising wastage.

Food incentive The system is a one-dispenser-per-cow system, able to feed as low as 500gm and as high as 5kg of grain per cow. The 16 ton BCL grain silo, which includes a BCL Fluidizer system, has an auger feed line into the

shed. Each cow gets half a kilogram of feed per milking with the majority of feed being distributed on the feed pad. Andrew says they chose to put the feed system in as an incentive to get the cows into the shed. “It certainly speeds up milking.” AT Cook Contracting supply agricultural services to the Parker farm, including cultivation for bulk maize and grass silage and baling. Even though they’ve only milked a partseason in the new dairy, Andrew has already seen time savings both in milking and what the new computer programme has brought to the business. “It is so much simpler. Drafting is so much more efﬁcient. The weigh-bridge allows us to put our herd into smaller mobs to ensure the correct feed regime. We weigh each cow at milking and it alerts us if there is a problem and this means we can add feed for certain cows to bring them up to spec. “We have not had a grade – the ﬁrst time we have been grade-free – the new equipment Fritha Tagg takes away the human error.”

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Page 85

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Faster and easier Apart from university and an OE, Ken’s been farming his whole life. Today 330 hectares runs 750 Friesians in two mobs, milked in the new dairy. “The size of the land has prompted the new build,” says Ken. “Our old shed was limiting the number of cows we could milk.” And his larger-than-normal cows brought about extra consideration. “We’ve actually got a 60-bail rotary platform with 54 bails because of our big Friesians.” “But what we were trying to capture was efficient cow flow and a one-person operation.” Milking was previously via an old 29-aside herringbone. “But we were struggling to pass components with Fonterra – and the yard was getting to small.” The new dairy was built in May 2015. The first cows were milked by September. “So we calved most cows through the old shed, then transitioned.” Contractor Murray Smith has worked for Ken’s family for 40 years and excavated the site. “This is the third cow shed in the same place – so it must be the perfect place.”

Cow flow design Murray Smith also carved a new tanker track and increased the effluent pond from 3000m3 to 7000m3. Ken sourced shed plans from John Perrin at Reporoa Engineering, who supplied a HERDFLOW backing gate with a Dungbuster. Ken says the chief consideration in design was to capture good cow flow, particularly at platform entry/ exit. “John’s design captured this very well,” says Ken. Ken got Dairy Build to construct the shed, with

Ken and Mary Finlayson have farmed a family farm at Ngararatunua, Northland, since 1993.

Coast & Country

Finlayson

owners Matthew and Jewel Sidford having a very good reputation. Jewel says it took three months to build. “Steel fabrication for the roof was done in our workshop prior,” says Jewel. “We did all planning and designwork and organised all subcontractors for the job. “I think that’s’ what Ken and Mary liked. Matthew took on all of that. They didn’t have to worry,” says Jewel. There’s extra space around the platform, and four corners for a vet stand, staffroom/ofﬁce, wash system and milkroom. An extra span provides all-weather shelter to the operator and a raised roof vent offers good air circulation. Dairy Build specialises in farm buildings, sheds, feed pads and consists of Matthew, Jewel and two staff. “This means we have low overheads and that translates to smaller costs to famers,” says Jewel. “It also means Matthew is on the job all the time. From every little nook and cranny – from ‘go to wo’ – he knows what’s going on.” Jewel says Matthew had an agricultural construction company in England. “And he comes from a dairy farming family, so he can talk to famers and ascertain their needs – he’s on their wavelength.” Ken chose a Waikato Milking System plant and platform “because we had the brand in our old shed”.

Ken Finlayson’s new shed sits proudly as the third dairy that’s been placed on the same site.

Looking from the yard into the new dairy, which has a 60-bail platform with 54 roomy bails.

Reliable gear “I got three quotes for plants but I spoke to many people and they suggested Waikato’s gear was simple and more reliable,” says Ken.

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Waikato Milking Systems Northland sales manager Gary Feeney, electrician Kevin Trumper, Dairy Build co-owner Jewel Sidford, Kensington Refrigeration engineer Justin Storey, farm owner Ken Finlayson and excavation contractor Murray Smith.

FINLAYSON

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Milking is just one part of the job now

The shed – built by Dairy Build – gives shelter over the front of the building for staff and cows. Waikato Milking Systems upper Waikato and Northland sales manager Gary Feeney says the platform is an export size – because the genetics of animals overseas tend to be bigger than NZ cows. The 60-bail concrete platform has 54 bails, making each roomier. “Ken’s situation ﬁtted this category, so we made one available.” Gary says Ken also wanted SmartECR cup removers, BailGates Straps and SmartECRs – Electronic Cup Removers. “The SmartECRs can talk to other technology. We also use stainless steel rams, which don’t wear out.” “The advantage with Waikato gear – you can add to it so easily – it’s just plug and play,” says Gary. And this suits the current payout. Going Waikato can ensure farmers futureproof their sheds easily – by adding more componentry when budgets allow. “We can build to any budget,” says Gary.

Kevin Trumper Electrical owner-operator Kevin Trumper specialises in dairy farm electrical services.

“We can initially build the simplest of simple, then in future the farmer can upgrade to any level of technology – there’s no retroﬁtting of anything.” Ken also choses Waikato Milking Systems due to his long relationship with local Waikato agent Northland Farm Services. “We installed the plant, and designed and installed the water system including washdown pumps, cooler pumps and supplied and installed hot cylinders,” says Northland Farm Services co-owner Garry Shaw. Garry says Ken’s shed is a top of the range setup. “Therefore, it makes milking much more efﬁcient to what he’s had in the past – and with Smart ECR and an automatic teat washing system, it’s a one-man milking operation.”

Precooling perfection Garry says Ken’s had Waikato Milking Systems gear “for as long as I’ve been in the

Waikato Milking Systems Northland sales manager Gary Feeney with a set of Waikato cups.

business, which is 19 years”. “We are very proud to be part of the Waikato Milking Systems network as they are a very progressive company and provide fantastic back-up to ourselves and our clients,” says Garry. Kevin Trumper Electrical wired up the shed. Kevin’s been an electrician for 30 years and specialises in dairy farm electrical services. Kevin worked from power poles right through to the switchboard – and everywhere in between. “I can service sheds, and do total electrical installs for a new builds or renovations.” Kensington Refrigeration installed an energyefﬁcient cooling system that meets Fonterra’s new regulations. Engineer Justin Storey says the precooling via an icebank sees milk enters the vat “between three-four degrees Celsius”. The ice bank cools water and pumps it into a plate cooler; milk travels through and cools down. Justin says the ice bank’s advantage is iced

Kensington Refrigeration engineer Justin Storey says precooling via an icebank see milk enters the vat “between three-four degrees Celsius”. water is less than one degree Celsius. “Chilled water is six-eight degrees Celsius. So you’re miles ahead from the start of the cooling process.” A 13hp Patton Pak unit keeps milk cool in the 30,000L vat. The shed’s Wrangler head bail makes a huge difference for farm manager Paul Travers. “We can winch cows up for lameness, tagging, etc.” Paul says cows cannot kick workers, making the job a lot safer. He and farm worker Johnathan Nyhuis say today milking is “a lot faster and a lot easier”. Milking in the 29-aside “550 cows took us a good four hours. In this girl it takes 2.5 hours.” Paul likes the cow ﬂow. “And the technology makes life easy.” The shed has changed Johnathan’s job. “It was focused on milking, now we have time for other jobs.” “They love it. It’s more than just a nice environment – they’re home much earlier for breakfast,” says Ken. Merle Foster

ALEX NANKERVIS

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Sophistication

Coast & Country

Alex Nankervis

with simplicity

The new parlour at Corryong is the Nankervis family’s ﬁrst dairy - ever! “I was doing a mechanical engineering degree so hadn’t planned on a career in dairying but the family’s decision to convert coincided with a downturn in the engineering industry and I came back to the farm. “The remaining 300 acres were to remain in beef and we also leased a 350-acre farm for dry cows and to grow supplementary feed like silage.

Any dairy farmer will tell you, going into dairying with no experience is a fairly steep learning curve. This was the challenge facing the Nankervis family of Corryong in Victoria, Australia. And it’s one they’ve overcome thanks to strong determination, great advice and the right dairy technology.

Milk year-round

The current generation of the Nankervis family – Alex, Will and Jane – are the sixth generation of the family to live and work on the land. Jane is a midwife but works on the farm whenever she is home. Alex Nankervis says the 1200 acre farm was primarily a beef farm. “Around 25 years ago dad started to diversify from beef by growing peppermint on an irrigated portion of the farm. We built a distillery, harvesting and extracting oil from the crop. “We started talking about converting around 900 acres of the farm to dairying when I was at university,” says Alex.

“Our aim was to milk year-round with autumn and spring calving. Aside from the odd relief milking job we had no dairying experience so it was going to be a real learning curve.” The conversion to dairying was comprehensive with new fences, laneways, paddock subdivision and water supply. When it came to building the farm dairy, Alex says they wanted a level of automation to ease the transition to dairying and to make the farm an attractive work option for backpackers. “On both counts the dairy needed to be easy to operate so the same high standards, of milking and plant performance, could

be maintained no matter who was in the shed. “The goal was to efﬁciently and effectively milk 400 cows; and so we never considered anything other than a rotary as throughput was important. We looked at a number of dairies around the region and were impressed with the sophistication and simplicity of Waikato Milking Systems’ Centrus Composite Rotary platforms, opting for a 60-bail. “The build went well and Matt Nichol from Nichol Dairy Services and Welding in Wadonga, Northern Victoria, showed us how to operate most of the machinery and handle certain issues as they came up. “Overcoming issues proved to be one of the best ways to learn and ins and outs of the system. “Matt’s support has been vital; I’ve been able to ring him at any time of the day and night and get the advice I need. That level of back-up is really important.” The family is now in the ﬁrst season in the new shed and “it’s going well”. “The biggest challenge is managing the herd and the health and nutrition side of things.”

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Page 89

Smart technology eases learning curve Below: The Waikato Milking Systems Bail Gates hang above the platform.

Above: The Waikato Milking Systems SmartECRs prevent overmilking and its associated impact on udder health and incidences of mastitis.

The 390-cow herd is predominantly Holstein Friesian with some crossbreds and grain is fed at every milking. Alex says the level of automation in the dairy has eased the transition to dairying. “We’ve got SmartECRs, SmartD-TECT, SmartSPRAY and Bail Gates – all give us a level of reassurance in relation to the health and productivity of individual cows.”

Clever software SmartECRs are Waikato Milking Systems’ premier automatic cup removers, preventing over-milking and its associated impact on udder health and incidences of mastitis. Clever software in the SmartECR caters for an almost limitless array of milking routine parameters, enabling farmers to tailor a variety of settings to suit herd and individual preferences. SmartECR works with Vortex, Waikato Milking Systems’ ﬂow sensor

technology. Together they provide accurate end-of-milking identification and minimal vacuum drop during milking. Vortex triggers the end of milking and blocks the vacuum to the cluster prior to the cups being removed. When launched, SmartD-TECT was greeted as a breakthrough in mastitis identification technology. The system automatically tests each quarter individually during milking, issuing an alert to warn the operator of potential mastitis up to four days before visual or clinical signs are evident. It is the only system which automatically tests each quarter individually during milking and the sensitivity of the analysis can be tuned to suit individual preference. SmartSPRAY is an automatic teat spray system designed specifically for rotary dairies. Replacing the need for manual teat spraying and dipping, SmartSPRAY ensures maximum coverage of the udder regardless of the cow’s position in the bail. The system is initiated by the SmartECRs to spray soon after the cups have been removed, ensuring the udder is sprayed while

DAIRY TECH

the teat orifice is still open. No operator input is required during milking other than filling the tank with teat spray. Bail Gates are automated cow restraints designed specifically to keep cows on rotary platforms if they need to go around for a second time to complete their milking.

Smooth transition Alex says the Smart technology is an extra pair of eyes and hands in the dairy, providing a level of reassurance in animal health and production. “We know the cows aren’t being over-milked and that mastitis will be identiﬁed before it detrimentally impacts on the health of individual cows or the quality of the milk being produced.” As for the daily maintanence of the dairy, Alex says the composite surface of the Centrus Composite Rotary platform “is easy to clean so the dairy always looks clean and tidy making it an attractive place to work – for us, and potential backpackers”. So while new to the industry, the transition has been smooth, thanks to smart technology, great advice and a ‘can do’ attitude.

Clare Bayley

www.dairytech.co.nz

Page 90

Very The new dairy on the YiLi Group Hua Yuan farm in China reﬂects the group’s high standards for creating the optimum environment for animals and people. The Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group – known as YiLi – is China’s largest dairy producer and the 10th largest dairy company in the world. The Group owns a large number of dairy farms in China varying from small family units up to large intensive 24-hour operations. The Hua Yuan farm is located in the Heilongjiang Province 250km northwest of Harbin city. Heilongjiang has always been a dairy province but is enjoying a resurgence as larger, more intensive farms are developed. According to Waikato Milking Systems’ country manager for China, David Morris, planning for the Daqing farm began about two years before the farm became operational.

YiLi

Coast & Country

impressed in China

“This is nothing unusual. The YiLi Group has very high standards across all its operations and particularly in relation to the housing and care of animals and the creation of an ideal working environment for its people.

YiLi

Chinese commitment “One example of this commitment can be seen in the group’s requirement that the approaches to, and on, the milking platform have to be covered in rubber to provide a cushioned surface for the cows to stand on,” says David. “This is a response to the fact that hooves tend to be softer with animals which live indoors.” David says he and the company’s Chinese dealer, Beijing KingPeng Global Husbandry Technology Co Ltd, worked with YiLi throughout the two-year planning and construction phases of the farm.

YiLi

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Clean, fast milking environment in Daqing dairy

“The climate in Daqing is relatively mild during summer and very cold in winter so the walls and roof of the cow barns and the milking parlour are insulated. “The cows live indoors year-round and are fed a total mixed ration diet of grain, grass and silage mostly grown in the Heilongjiang Province.” An 80-bail Waikato Milking Systems Orbit concrete rotary was selected to milk the farm’s 2200-cow herd equipped with SmartECR automatic cup removers, bail gates and AfiMilk Herd management. “The Orbit rotary platform provides operators with a clean, fast milking environment. Cow flow on and off the platform is excellent and the milking equipment is easily accessible – all factors which were important to YiLi,” says David. “Waikato Milking Systems has an office and warehouse in China and a team of full-time

installers headed by installation director Jim Duan, who worked with KingPeng on the construction of the dairy.

Dairies in demand “Our dairies and systems are in demand in China so our New Zealand-trained Chinese team is very thorough and highly specialised to provide a high consistent standard to each and every dairy,” says David. Jim and his team, supported by a technician from New Zealand, provided support and expertise leading up to the commissioning of the dairy in July 2016. “Training of cows for a large operation like this can be challenging because the animals are of varying ages with varying backgrounds,” says David. “Many are heifers, so some time is always allocated to training them to walk on and off

the rotary platform. However, the YiLi team reported that the cows settled to the new environment within a couple of days and ﬂow on and off the platform very easily. The Daqing herd is Friesian of mostly New Zealand origin and is milked three-times-aday year-round.

Performing smoothly “About five people operate the rotary, each with a specific role in the ‘spray and wipe’ process, which is common in China to enhance hygiene,” says David. “One person sprays the udder when the cow comes onto the platform, the next wipes the teats before two people cup the cows. “At the end of milking the cups are removed automatically by the SmartECRs and the final member of the team dips the teats before the cows leave the platform.”

David says YiLi is very impressed with the new dairy. “From day one the platform and milking system performed smoothly and consistently with no problems. “The staff have found the operation of the milking system to be logical and easy and find the milking environment to be quiet, light and airy,” says David. He was impressed with YiLi Group from the first time he met with them at the Inner Mongolia Hohhot Headquarters. “Their attention to design detail from cow flow to the equipment function was clearly a top priority in their brief for the project and I am delighted we achieved that.” Clare Bayley

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Smart planning in South Taranaki

A beautiful view of Mt Egmont/Taranaki is visible from the Le Prou’s shed.

Careful research and smart planning have given Jacques and Vanessa Le Prou a shed that they are justiﬁably proud of, and which sets a great platform for future growth. The Le Prous are equity partners with Jacques’ parents in the 150 hectare farm that sits midway between Mount Egmont and the coast in South Taranaki. They did comprehensive research on key aspects of the new dairy to ensure everything installed was in keeping with their philosophy of “low water usage, low labour, low mechanical and low energy usage”. “We wanted to build a shed that was labour, water, and energy efﬁcient. Going forward those are the big expenses for any farming system,” says Vanessa. Currently milking 490 cows, they expect to move to a herd size of 600 within the next two-four seasons; and the shed has been designed and built with this capacity in mind.

Jacques says they haven’t had a single case of mastitis since they started milking in the new shed in July 2014, which he attributes to the SmartSPRAY system that sprays all four teats three seconds after cup removal, while the teat oriﬁce is still open. “Most sheds we’re doing now include the SmartSPRAY system. It’s very effective,” says Brian. Stage two of the farm’s development, which is expected to occur next season – in 2016/2017 – will include an automated herd management system.

In-shed feeding

Java Farms

Jacques Le Prou changing a ﬁlter sock as he gets ready for the next milking.

Staged development The Le Prou’s choice of milking plant was guided by the fact that their new dairy would be developed in stages as time and resources allowed. They selected a Waikato Milking Systems plant because it could be easily and cost-effectively upgraded without any need to change what had been installed in earlier development stages. Waikato Milking Systems’ area sales manager Brian Luff says their gear is essentially ‘plug and play’. “We’ve got as much or as little as you want, and it all ﬁts together seamlessly, so you can easily add additional modules as needed.” Labour-saving features were the priority for stage one and automatic cup removers and the SmartSPRAY automatic teat spray system were installed onto the new 60-bail rotary platform.

Coast & Country

Central Silo Systems’ in-shed feeding equipment was also part of the initial build. “They were competitive on price, flexible on terms and have a local Taranaki installer, so in the end it was an easy choice to go with Central Silos,” says Vanessa. Two silos were installed to provide flexibility to feed two different supplements if needed, and the Le Prous opted to add an extra silo ring to the standard 16 tonne silo to increase the capacity to 18 tonnes, which gives them 10-12 days of feed capacity from each unit. Central Silos Systems’ local installer and service engineer Damian Bellve says each silo is fitted with an automated vibrator to detect when feed isn’t flowing – or bridging – it then initiates a series of vibrations to help dislodge feed to get it flowing again.

Local is important Labour-saving devices like automatic teat sprayers and cup removers mean only one person is needed in the Le Prou’s new 60-bail rotary, as shown by Jacques Le Prou.

Vanessa Le Prou hoses down a small area to clear the ﬂoodwash outlets of muck and debris.

Suppliers that offer local servicing were an important consideration for all the major parts of the plant, says Vanessa. “We’re not mechanical people. If something breaks, we need it ﬁxed quickly and you’re going to get a better response time from someone local.” Opunake-based Elite Farm Solutions, which installed the Waikato Milking System plant and machinery, is 10 minutes’ drive from the Le Prou’s property.

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JAVA FARMS

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New dairy offers a platform for growth Local Waikato Milking Systems dealer, Moa Milking and Pumping, install all Waikato Milking Systems platforms throughout the North Island, and also service all brands of platform. The Le Prou property was one of about 25 platforms they installed last year, says Moa Milking and Pumping’s Nathan Hitchcock. It took three people between two and three weeks to install, he says. After researching the lifetime cost of water, ice bank and glycol-based milk chilling systems the Le Prous opted for a water-based chiller, which they’re exceptionally pleased with because of the very low running costs. Energy savings are expected to result in a three-year payback, says Vanessa.

Leading edge effluent Washing down the yard is typically responsible for about 70 per cent of a dairy shed’s water usage so a water efficient yard wash system was an essential part of the new build. Green water from the farm’s effluent pond is used for the floodwash system. Based on a recommendation from one of Fonterra’s local sustainability advisors, the Le Prous approached Waikato’s Agfirst Engineering to design their effluent management system. “The weeping wall system that Davieth Verheij recommended made good financial sense when we considered both the capital cost, and the lifetime operating cost of the system,” says Vanessa. The weeping wall system uses a natural filtration process to separate solids from liquids. At the Le Prou’s, the system relies on gravity to get wastewater from the shed to one of two sludge ponds. When green water filters out of the weeping wall at one end of sludge pond, it is then pumped into the effluent pond. Once liquid gets into the effluent pond, a single variable speed pump controls everything. The pump fills the feedpad and shed floodwash tanks and drives the irrigation system. The pump is very energy efficient and adjusts itself to minimise power consumption regardless of what task it is doing. Green water is pumped from the pond to tanks near

the shed using cheaper night-rate power as well. “Even though one isn’t yet required by Taranaki regulations, a flow meter has been installed to futureproof the system,” says Davieth. Careful calculations ensure the system has capacity to manage very high flow during a severe storm. This is often an area where poorly designed systems fall down, says Davieth. The efficiency of any floodwash system is improved by loosening muck off the yard first, and local firm Jennings Engineering manufactured and installed a 12m backing gate with rubber scraper that loosens muck as it moves back down the yard to its start positon. All the welding of pipework in the yard was also completed by the Jennings Engineering team.

Corrigan

Right: Davieth Verheij from Agﬁrst Engineering, examines the efﬂuent pond breathers which release any gas or air accumulated under the pond liner.

Shed a pleasure to milk in Milking in the new shed is a real pleasure according to Jacques and Vanessa, who say it’s quiet, super easy to keep clean, and has plenty of room. They selected Johnny Neil Building Ltd to do the job and couldn’t be happier with how it has turned out. Vanessa and builder Johnny Neil both reckon the covered vet yard is one of the best features of the new shed. Next to the vet yard is the vet room which has sliding windows on two sides – one side opens to the vet platform inside the shed and the other opens outside to the vet yard, which “is fantastic,” says Vanessa. “It was great working with Johnny. He did the plans and he knew the build inside out. We wanted to work with someone we could trust and he was so easy to deal with,” says Vanessa. Johnny organised all the subcontractors including experienced rural plumbers, Evergreen Plumbing, which completed installation of the shed’s shower, toilet as well as all doing all the necessary drain laying. With the Le Prou’s already realising very real labour and efﬁciency savings from stage one of their new dairy, the next stage of development will allow them to take milk production to the next level. Josephine Reader

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Looking from the weeping wall toward the feedpad, which has its own ﬂoodwash system.

Johnny Neil Building’s design uses 1.4m of cinder blocks at the base and coloursteel walls.

A backing gate with scraper designed and built by local ﬁrm Jennings Engineering moves down the yard to loosen muck.

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Efficient Gary and Donna Mellow enjoying a cuppa in their well-appointed shed smoko room.

The 7.5kW submersible stirrer moves horizontally along the bottom of the pond lined with a Pondco liner.

Gary and Donna Mellow, who milk 540 cows on their coastal Taranaki property, wanted to build a new shed that was labour-efﬁcient, future-proof and cost-effective.

time to get more involved in other aspects of farming,” he says. The new 60-bail rotary sits a kilometre or so off the coast of Opunake in South Taranaki, and has views out to sea that would be the envy of many city slickers.

They had been milking two herds in two separate sheds on adjacent farms since the purchase of a neighbouring farm a few years ago. While some minor upgrades to one of the existing rotary sheds had been completed, this was only a stop gap measure until full amalgamation of the two farms was possible, says Gary. As well as the efﬁciencies from amalgamating the two farms, a big driver behind getting the new dairy up and running was “getting me out of the shed,” says Gary, who has been involved in farming since he left school. “After 35 years of continuous milking, it was

Deciding on design

PLA SY

Gary set out to build a shed that would deliver the efﬁciencies he was after without over-capitalising or making things overly complex. “We looked at lots of sheds before we started. We asked a lot of questions. While we haven’t built the ﬂashest shed around; for our situation it is more than adequate to do the job, and do it well,” says Gary. The decision about where to draw the line with technology that would be incorporated into the new shed was a hard one, says Donna. “We wanted a good shed with some automa-

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Coast & Country

simplicity delivers Davieth Verheij from Agﬁrst Engineering examines the pump control area, which moves efﬂuent through the farm’s underground system at a rate of 20,000L per hour.

Looking up the yard toward the shed.

Glanymor tion. Deciding what to include and what not to include was one of the toughest decisions in the whole build.” Developing a labour-efficient dairy was a major priority so they chose milking plant and automation that supported this objective. The plant also needed to work alongside the Mellow’s existing herd management system, which they wanted to retain. They decided on DeLaval MPC150 automatic cup removers with retention arms, teat sprayers, candle wash jetters, a yard floodwash system and a myriad of other features that make the shed labour efficient, says Gary. One of the main reasons the Mellows chose the parallel rotary PR2100 60 bail concrete platform with cabinet bails was because of the fold-out candle wash jetters, which are very easy to use.

It’s quick and easy to apply the cups to the jetters which fold out of a cavity at the base of each bail, according to DeLaval’s district sales manager Bruce Battersby. And you get better longevity out of the rubber jetter cups as well because easier placement means less wear and tear, says Bruce. The DeLaval MC53 milking clusters selected by the Mellows feature top ﬂow technology, which means “there is more stable teat-end vacuum in the cluster at peak milk ﬂows,” says Bruce. In keeping with their approach to keep things local where they could, the Mellows opted for a platform from Hotter Engineering. A pioneer in the development of rotary platforms, Hotter Engineering fabricate platforms in their central Taranaki workshop before sending them around the country. The platforms are also exported.

PH 07 578 0030 Two silos – at 34t and 18t capacity – were installed as part of this new dairy.

GLANYMOR The covered vet yard is a pleasure to work in.

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The patented high runner backing gate designed by Taranaki ﬁrm Michael Bloemen Engineering.

This 12m sectional roller door keeps birds out of the new shed.

New dairy gets Gary ‘out of the shed’ Where ever possible powersaving features were also added to the shed – solar panels provide hot water for the shed as does a heat exchanger on the milk refrigeration system, and night-rate power is used where possible.

In the yard The couple’s common sense approach to the build meant they were able to utilise some equipment from the farm’s previous sheds where it was practical and cost effective to do so. Solar panels which provide some of the shed’s hot water were relocated to the new dairy, along with a hot water heater, chiller unit and some yard gates. The team from Michael Bloemen Engineering was able to cut and weld the gates on-site to form part of the vet yard. As well as doing all the welding for the new dairy, they also designed and installed the yard’s high runner backing gate.

The gate design is patented in New Zealand, and each unit is fabricated in their Kaponga, South Taranaki, workshop before being freighted to sites throughout the country. The gate’s best feature, according to Michael, is it is self-aligning. He says while the gate is moving, it automatically makes tiny adjustments to its position to correctly locate itself width and lengthways, which ensures the gate moves smoothly and freely without jams.

Practical and functional Inside the shed – instead of the traditional steel grate – heavy-duty green plastic grating is used for the vet platform and the underpass stairs that provide access to the pit in the centre of the platform. Donna says the plastic was a great choice because it’s non-slip, free-draining, and it is much lighter making it very easy to lift the vet platform up and down. Changes to the original building plan saw the staff room divided in half to allow the inclusion of a family room with a large

window so the milker can keep easily keep an eye on young children. The Mellows chose quality ﬁxtures in each room, and even used the same cabinet maker who built their home kitchen to build the cabinetry in the shed’s vet and smoko rooms. A small room with an external roller door provides easy access and storage of chemicals meaning less clutter in the shed itself. A 12m sectional roller door closes the internal part of the shed off from the yard and ensures the new dairy is a bird-free area.

Sustainable effluent A new effluent pond was also part of the new build. Best practice in wastewater and effluent management is no longer optional with the Taranaki Regional Council working to tighten up rules governing effluent discharge. With this in mind, Gary wanted a future proof system that was sustainable and cost-effective. He decided getting specialist advice was important, and a recommendation from a

friend led Gary to AgFirst Engineering, and consultant Davieth Verheij. To identify the most appropriate solution for the Mellow’s farm – and indeed any site, says Davieth – a range of factors are taken into consideration including soil type, rainfall and storage requirements. “We do a soil risk analysis on the efﬂuent application area because it’s key to understanding the soil types present on the farm and their water holding capacity. “Understanding this means you can calculate the amount of days available to irrigate, and get better clarity around how much storage is required,” says Davieth. From the various options for pond stirring, pumping and lining presented by Davieth, Gary settled on a rectangular, lined pond, mono pump and a submersible stirrer. The pond has about 47 days’ storage – or 3433L m3 – and the farm’s resource consent allows discharge onto 80 hectares of land either side of the efﬂuent pond.

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Coast & Country

Marrying up two farms at coastal Taranaki Gary Mellow placing the cups on the fold-out candle wash jetters.

The wellappointed vet room features professional cabinetry

DeLaval cabinet bails with fold-out candle wash jetters are one of the main reasons the Mellows chose this model.

Heavy duty plastic grating is used for the vet platform, making it easy to pull down and secure in place compared to traditional steel grating.

that keeps the room tidy and makes it a pleasure to work in.

The 7.5kW submersible stirrer which thrusts horizontally along the bottom of the pond was manufactured in Agﬁrst’s Waikato workshop.

Good investment Originally, Gary had no plans to line the efﬂuent pond, but after doing some analysis was quickly convinced that a liner was the best option. “I looked at the costs of everything. The costs of having to test clay to a certain level and then also having to show regional council that it’s not leaking and compliant. “At the end of the day it was far better to put the liner in, rather than have the risk of having to do it again later if there was a leak. “When you look at the whole price of the project, in the scheme of things, the cost of lining the pond isn’t big in relation to the whole project. It’s better to do it once and do it right,” says Gary. When it came to considering pond liner

options, the range of membranes are extensive, and after looking at a few options presented by Davieth, Gary decided on a liner from Pondco. Made from very low density polyethelene, the liner has double the puncture resistance and double the strength of a traditional EPDM rubber liner, says Kerry MacPherson from Pondco. As well as being UV-resistant, the liner is also extremely ﬂexible and will stretch up to three times its length, which offers protection against movement during an earthquake. “It requires little or no maintenance once installed,” says Kerry, about the liner which also has a 20-year material warranty.

silos from Central Silo Systems, which has a Taranaki-based installer and service engineer. Central Silos local service agent Damian Bellve has installed 50 feed systems in the last 18 months or so and says that because of varying feed quality, bridging can be a problem. “These silos have an automated vibrator that detects when the feed isn’t ﬂowing and then a series of vibrations are triggered which loosens the feed, and generally no intervention from the farmer is needed. “The angle at the bottom of the cone also aids feed moving freely into the shed,” says Damian.

Loosening feed

Keeping things local

Like other decisions in this build, practicality and usability were important, and one of the two silos that feed the new dairy is ﬁtted with both a mineral dispenser and a unit that allows portable troughs to be easily ﬁlled. Local service was also important to the Mellows, who selected their 34 tonne and 18 tonne

This isn’t the ﬁrst new dairy build for the Mellows – they were able to draw on experience from a previous build a few years ago. Using this experience, Gary and Donna oversaw this build themselves; they called in specialists as needed and also appointed contractors, which they preferred to be local

where possible. Experienced rural electrician, Sinclair Electrical, was one of many local ﬁrms appointed by the Mellows. They completed all of the electrical wiring for the shed including refrigeration, hot water, platform controls, milking plant, as well as the vat and feed system. Metal for the new dairy, which includes 1km of tanker track between the road and shed, was supplied by local company Taranaki Trucking Co. The company’s quarry, which is a short drive from the Mellow’s farm, supplies all grades of metal including drainage chip and metal suitable for tanker tracks and races. The new dairy has achieved all Gary and Donna set out to do – they have a wellequipped, labour-efﬁcient shed that makes it easy to attract and retain good staff. And Gary has been able to step back from milking every day. What more could you ask for on this beautiful coastal site? Fishing anyone? Josephine Reader

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GLANYMOR

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Go upstairs for a more accurate BCS.

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Because it’s always hard to be 100% accurate with the naked eye, it’s great to know that with a DeLaval Body Condition Scoring Camera you can accurately score every cow, every milking without lifting a finger. It doesn’t even matter which company’s milking system you are using, you can easily install a Body Condition Scoring Camera to make it work smarter. Talk to us about how.

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BERRYFIELD

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Coast & Country Looking up the yard, toward the shed.

Berryfield

Set up

for many years to come A farm that’s been in the family since 1897 has undergone a major modernisation so it’s ready for the next generation of the Trolove family to take over. Current owner Mark Trolove has been on the coastal Taranaki farm near Opunake since 1984. The farm has been progressively added to during the years. And when Mark and wife Vicki purchased a neighbouring 67 hectare farm in 2014, he says the time was right to upgrade and modernise the milking facilities. Buying a total DeLaval package – they went with full farm management automation – rather than buying bits and pieces of the system, was more cost-efﬁcient believes Mark. “We got more bang for our buck buying the whole package. It was deﬁnitely the way to go.”

The 600-cow herd is milked on a DeLaval PR2100 60-bail rotary platform with automated cup removers, milk metering, in-bail identiﬁcation, in-parlour feeding, three-way drafting and walk-over weighing.

Full potential The new dairy has been operational since November 2014, and one year on Mark believes they’ve only scratched the surface of what the system can do. “We haven’t really got the full potential out of the system yet, but wanted the technology side of things to be in place so when our son takes over the farm, he could take it to the next level and utilise all the functionality that the system offers.” The plant autowash system is a real laboursaver. The pre-programmed wash cycle starts with the press of a button on a central control panel, which leaves the milker free to get on

Farm owner Mark Trolove, builder Brian Hill and contract milker Carey Duggan under the verandah on the south side of the shed.

with other jobs. The in-bail drafting is a real time-saver as well. Not only can you draft from individual bails during milking, but preprogrammed drafting from the computer is possible as well. “For instance, if whoever is getting the cows up notices a lame cow, they text me and I’ll enter this into the system, and she will automatically be drafted without us having to keep an eye out for her during milking,” says contract milker Carey Duggan. Outside in the yard, a Race Wrangler for hoof treatment from Wilco and Waverley Klein Ovink is one of the many things that make life easier for cows and farmers alike. “We use it every time a cow needs hoof treatment, and it’s good to know she’s not going to get hurt and nor are we,” says Carey. The well-appointed shed and purpose-built vet yard are so nice to work in vets pre-book to come here, and have even asked when the cap-

puccino machine is coming, jokes Carey.

Smart design The plant isn’t the only smart thing about this new dairy. Builder Brian Hill’s efﬁcient building design calls for the hot water, plant wash, switchboard and other key machinery to be located in one corner of the rectangular shed. According to electrician Brian Sinclair, from Sinclair Electrical, who installed all of the shed’s electrical wiring, this design saved the Troloves thousands of dollars in electrical installation costs. Sinclair Electrical was also responsible for installing the shed’s Duplex Air water-based refrigeration system. Unlike many traditional options for milk chilling, which have separate water pre-chillling, the Duplex Air is “all-inone” and chills the milk, pre-chills the water and has a heat recovery system for generating hot water as well, says Brian Sinclair.

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Trolove family goes for the total package

Mark went against convention and sited the new shed facing the south, with a view out toward the sea. Dairies in the area traditionally face the opposite direction to stop the strong coastal winds and rain driving into the shed. Builder Brian Hill was able to ﬁnd a solution to this challenge with a small adjustment to the building plan. “Together with Mark and the local engineer working on the shed, we looked at the best way to stop rain and wind getting into the open side of the shed, and came up with adding a verandah, which has been very effective,” says Brian Hill.

Team approach This collaborative approach is one of the hallmarks of the full design, build, and project management service that Brian Hill’s company, Brian Hill Building, offers. While a circular yard wasn’t Mark’s ﬁrst preference, it suited the site, and Brian Hill was again able to adjust the base building plans to locate the yard on the south side of the shed, instead of the north, so the feedpad from the old shed could be utilised. The trade team from Mitre 10 MEGA New Plymouth had everything Brian Hill needed for the job under one roof. Brian Hill says this

The round yard, while not Mark’s ﬁrst preference, is well suited to the site and has worked out well, he says.

Cows on the platform with the full DeLaval ALPRO automation.

made it a lot easier to get what was needed when it was needed. Mitre 10 MEGA New Plymouth general manager Phillip Rose says: “We carry a huge range of timber and building supplies in our trade department, so we can usually accommodate what Brian Hill and his team require”. “We also have a vast supplier network for anything not on-hand, so we can source to meet Brian Hill’s needs. “Our trade team works efﬁciently because they understand that the less time Brian Hill spends in-store, the more time he can spend on-site doing what he does best.” Mark enjoyed working with Brian Hill, who he says was very ﬂexible and easily worked with requests to customise the shed design to suit both the site and his requirements. Outside in the yard, a partial roof over the drench race makes it nice to use regardless of the weather, says Carey. Inside the shed itself, freezer panel walls keep the dairy warm and comfortable. The shed is light, open and spacious and is a pleasure to milk in, says Carey. “It’s also super easy to

clean and really quiet.” Coastal Welders from Taranaki completed the structural steel work in the Trolove’s dairy shed as well as yarding design and fabrication. Acraflex hi-build wall coating applied to the shed’s concrete wall surfaces have helped keep the shed looking new. Application involves five separate coats of an epoxy and paint combination, which makes the wall coating exceptionally durable, says Frits van Echten from Surfatex. Then two decorative fleck coats are applied which help disguise any muck that may make it onto the wall.

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Milk yield display is one of the many features of the PR2100 rotary platform.

High-performing platform Mark says one of the highlights in the new shed is the platform, supplied by local company Hotter Engineering. “The platform has proved its worth this spring. I can’t rave enough about the smoothness of it. From day one the cows liked it.” “If you’re going with a concrete platform, you can’t go past Hotter,” says Mark. The smooth platform, yard design and wider than usual exit area on the bridge have really

Fonterra number.

improved cow ﬂow, which is one of the best things about the new shed according to Mark. A 42 tonne Corohawk silo and feed system were installed as part of the new build. Extra strong leg bracing and graduated wall thickness mean the silo is very strong, says Chris Hawkings from Corohawk. Constructed in the Waikato from American components, the heavy duty galvanised silo was installed in a single day, and installation of the silo and other components went very smoothly according to Chris. “At the moment all cows are being fed the same, but in time, the weight and milk yield will be more closely linked so we can adjust feed regime to needs of individual cows,” says Mark. He decided against adding a mineral dispenser to the silo, but like everything else in this new dairy, the feed system is futureproofed because a dispenser can easily be added at a later date if needed. This efﬁcient new dairy shed has set a great platform for the future, and the next generation of the Trolove family to run this property is now set up for many years to come. Josephine Reader

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ROSEMOUNT DAIRY

Coast & Country

Sustainability meets profitability Sustainability and profitability go hand-in-hand in the Dickies’ labour, energy and water efficient new dairy shed. Based in Waverley, South Taranaki, the new 60 bail rotary has a sister shed at the other end of the 760 hectare farm, with each dairy servicing about 1000 cows. At one point, the Dickies were milking 1700 cows through a single 54-bail rotary, and the longest walk to the shed was just over 4km. These were the main reasons behind the new build, says farm owner Will Dickie. Equally important was developing the dairy in a way that was both sustainable and profitable, says Will. “Our family company has been involved in forest and farm investments for more than 30 years now. “Being foresters we have a strong affinity for timber products and sustainability. When we took to building this shed, we wanted it to reflect these values. “Developing a sustainable farm means our cows are fully fed and happy, our staff have a nice place to work in each day, and our farm is maximising profitability – and, this in turns keeps us as farm owners happy.”

Sophisticated automation So the cows could be milked at either of the farm’s two sheds, Will went with a GEA NZ Farm Technologies milking system at both dairies so data about cow and herd performance could be easily accessed regardless of milking location.

The shed’s GEA WestfaliaSurge Dairyplan C21 herd management system puts detailed, quality information about milk yield, animal health and much more at milkers’ and managers’ ﬁngertips. “The system helps farmers make better decisions,” says Cameron Claridge of GEA Farm Technologies. For instance, data about milk conductivity is captured as each cow is milked – and if it’s outside the preset parameters, the animal is automatically drafted. Milk yield can be examined in relation to a cow’s weight to support decisions about culling. As well as collecting and reporting data about the herd performance, the shed features a raft of labour-saving devices. The WestfaliaSurge Compass Plus onetouch global wash control means washing the plant is as easy as pressing a button on a single set of cups. And vacuum starts as soon as the cups are picked up – no buttons to push or unclipping required. The WestfaliaSurge concrete platform, which has no central pit, is a very low maintenance option, says Cameron. “It moves on nylon rollers that are spaced 600mm apart, has no bearings to replace and no steel on steel. Even fully loaded the point loading is low, which makes the platform very responsive.” The high level of automation in this shed meant installation was a large job. Installing and testing the milking equipment alone took six weeks.

Rosemont Dairy

Farm manager Glen How, sharemilker Dion Soutar, farm owner Will Dickie and Agfirst Engineering consultant Davieth Verheij at the effluent pond which supplies water for the farm’s floodwash system.

The dairy, including elevated green water tanks for ﬂoodwash. Tru Test DTS area sales manager Nick Callingham in front of one of three standard DX chiller units ﬁtted with vertical fans for improved heat discharge.

GEA Rotary Milking Systems At GEA we provide a comprehensive and innovative range of rotary milking systems to suit your farm requirements and budget. To speak with your local milking equipment specialist call 0800 GEA FARM (0800 432 327)

engineering for a better world

ROSEMOUNT DAIRY

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Cows, staff and farm owners – all happy! The Wrangler makes treating lame cows a breeze.

“While it took many hours to install and commission the entire system, since it’s been up and running, it’s been very low maintenance,” says Glen Stevens from Dairy Pro 2010, which is Taranaki’s service partner for GEA Farm Technology milking and herd management systems. A year on, the shed itself still looks as good as new thanks to the long-lasting and hard-wearing Acraflex hi-build coating applied to all the shed’s inner walls. The coating is impervious to chemicals. Outside in the vet yard there’s a Race Wrangler for treating hooves. Waverley Klein-Ovink from Wrangler says installing one saves time and money in the long-run because cows are treated before the problem gets more serious. The floodwash system using green water from the effluent pond ticks all the boxes for Will – it significantly reduces water usage, it saves labour, and due to being largely gravity-based is extremely energy efficient. The system, designed by GEA Farm technologies, has five valves at the top of the yard, which one-by-one, releases 60,000L of water, with the yard cleaned in literally a few minutes.

Economical effluent system The Dickie farm is a kilometre or so off the coast, and the soil is very sandy which presented a particular challenge for system design, says Davieth Verheij, from Agfirst Engineering, who was engaged to design and build the effluent management system. “Sand in an effluent pond is really bad because it just settles. It can’t be stirred, and it can’t be pumped,” says Davieth. A specially designed channel at the end of the yard captures the

In this labourefficient shed, Glen Stevens from Dairy Pro 2010 Ltd and Cameron Claridge from GEA Farm Technologies discuss how the vacuum starts as soon as the milker picks up the cups. floodwash at high velocities allowing the majority of the sand to be flushed into the weeping wall solids separation system where a natural filtration process separates solids from liquids as it flows through the built-up sand and sludge. Green water filters out at the end of the two 40m sludge beds and flows by gravity into the effluent pond. Each sludge bed holds six to nine months’ solids storage. Once one pond is full they change over to the second bed and allow the first to dry ready for spreading in three to four months’ time. Because liquids are gravity fed to the pond, there is no risk of overflow or direct discharge meaning the system can be left untouched and unmonitored for weeks at a time with peace of mind, says Davieth. One 11kW multi-stage pump is used for green water recycling and the farm’s travelling rain gun effluent irrigation. The system can pump 30,000L per hour at an irrigated, 70m wetted width with running pressures of up to 150 psi. “It can achieve all this with only 11kW thanks to the solids being removed. It’s an extremely low-power consumption system,” says Davieth. “We are really happy with our effluent system,” says Will. “We spent a lot of time visiting and looking at different systems. “It is simple, requires no additional pumping, and very economical to build and install,” says Will.

Efficient refrigeration The refrigeration needed to reﬂect the farm’s sustainability focus – and heat recovery provides free hot water as a by-product of the milk cooling process, which is a big advantage of this

Claudia Hicks from PPP Industries checks out the automated mineral dispenser.

system, says Tru Test Dairy Technology Services area sales manager Nick Callingham. “Milk goes into the vat at between 18 degrees Celsius and 25 degrees Celsius, and within two hours is down to the required ﬁve degrees Celsius – so it’s a very energy efﬁcient system. “The refrigeration units have stainless steel outers to withstand the corrosive effects of the coastal site, and polar wrapping on the vats helps minimise solar loading,” says Nick.

Supplement feeding Will describes the farm as low-input, with a focus on being grass-based and strategic use of imported feeds. To this end an in-shed feed system, including a mill, from PPP Industries was installed. Unprocessed kibble grain is held in a 227 tonne silo before it is moved to a disc mill for processing, and then into a smaller silo and into the shed. “Having the larger feed silo has certainly been beneﬁcial. We have been able to purchase maize very competitively when the processors are having storage issues, and our grain supplier has been able to offer good payment terms,” says Will. Once grain is in the shed, the high backs on the stainless steel continuous feed tray means feed isn’t lost over the back as cows eat, says Claudia Hicks from PPP Industries. With cost-effective feeding, sophisticated plant automation and a raft of energy and water-saving measures, sustainability hasn’t come at the cost of economic performance for the Dickies, who have built a dairy that’s both in keeping with their philosophy and Josephine Reader delivers on the proﬁtability front as well.

Seeds Ltd

MANGAPOUA FARMS

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Coast & Country

Bump rails stop cows tipping into the troughs on the feed pad.

The Johnston dairy features a Waikato Milking Systems’ Orbit concrete platform.

Efﬂuent is discharged to land via the farm’s travelling irrigator system.

A platform for

future growth

Father and son Kevin and Cameron Johnston have invested in the future with the construction of a new dairy shed that will allow them to grow their herd to 1000 cows. Before the upgrade, they milked 440 cows through a 22-bail rotary on the family farm, which is just outside the small settlement of Normanby in South Taranaki. It took two people up to ﬁve hours to milk, says Cameron. A desire to use their resources more effectively saw them build a new shed complete with 60-bail rotary, in-shed feeding and new efﬂuent system, which have transformed milking time and facilitated herd growth. In the season just gone the Johnstons calved 550 cows. This year they plan to move the herd to 680 cows. But the new dairy has been

built with a 1000-cow herd size in mind, says Cameron.

Integrated system Installation of the platform and milking plant are major components of any new dairy build, so it’s important this goes smoothly, says Waikato Milking Systems area sales manager Brian Luff. “All Waikato Milking Systems’ equipment is fully integrated, which cuts down on complexity and installation time,” says Brian. “There is no need to design or build anything on-site. Everything is manufactured at our workshop in Hamilton and is ready to install without alterations or additions.” Moa Milking and Pumping, which is an approved installer for Waikato Milking Systems platforms throughout the North Island, installed the Orbit concrete platform.

Installation takes between two and three weeks and after connecting all of the bails, which arrive on-site in a container. Concrete is poured around the installed bails to form the platform deck. At 2.7m wide, the Orbit offers superior protection for the milking equipment that is mounted underneath the platform.

Peace of mind monitoring Hunts Farm Services, a local Waikato Milking Systems partner, took care of the rest of the plant installation including a SmartDRIVE milk pump controller, SmartPULS pulsators and SmartECRs. Provision was also made for adding an automated SmartWASH system in future. While the install at the Johnstons was reasonably standard, says Hunts Farm Services’ Daniel Lord, “the system includes a couple of useful extra features”.

One of two 120m feed pads, which were part of the new dairy build.

Daniel highlights the system that monitors vat temperature, valve position on the vat silo and farm water usage. “If, for example, vat temperature goes outside identiﬁed parameters, the system sends a message to Cameron’s smartphone allowing him to take action straight away.” There are also two washdown pumps, says Daniel, with the additional one kicking in to provide extra pressure if there is more than one person washing down simultaneously.

Supplement feed Cameron says 50 per cent of feed is grass, with the remainder coming from supplements fed either in-shed, or from large feed pads constructed as part of the new dairy build. Two 16 tonne silos from PPP Industries provide supplement storage. PPP Industries’ local partner Elite Farm Solutions installed the silos and in-shed feed system.

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Time and savings tackled in South Taranaki The high runner backing gate from Michael Bloemen Engineering self-corrects its own alignment allowing the gate to run very smoothly.

Mangapoua Farms

Looking from the exit race toward the shed. All steelwork in the yard was completed by Michael Bloemen Engineering. Elite Farm Solutions’ Nigel Robinson says everything from getting the silos on-site to getting them up and running was managed by his company, which “worked hard to make the install as hassle-free as possible”. In the Johnston dairy, a small water sprayer installed at the base of the platform helps keep the platform skirt clean during milking. And because of the spray direction, it also keeps the walls and concrete floors wet during milking so muck is doesn’t stick so readily, says Cameron. “It’s only a small thing but it saves time at washdown, which is great.” Cameron says the Acraflex coating does such a great job at keeping the walls clean they only need a thorough clean once every couple of months. Other than that, he says hosing the walls off at washdown “generally does the trick”. The wall treatment – Acraflex – is supplied by Specialised Coatings and is so robust and

Kevin Johnston’s dog ready for action. hardwearing it is offered as a standard feature on Fabish and Jackson’s OctaLock sheds, says application specialist Frits van Echten from Surfatex. Completing the electrical wiring for the new diary was the job of Mark Frost Electrical. Wiring up dairy sheds is second nature for the team, who as well as servicing numerous dairy farms in the region also undertake several diary shed installs each year.

Efficient design On a visit to another shed to look at milking plant options, Cameron and Kevin were impressed with the layout and design of the dairy building itself and asked the farm owner for the builder’s details. This led them to choose the unique octagonal-shaped Fabish and Jackson Octa-Lock dairy. The fact that there is no wasted space in the shed was appealing to the Johnstons. Plenty of

natural light from the shed’s many windows, as well as large double doors that help airflow, are also part of what Cameron likes about the shed design. While the building footprint for the dairy parlour is smaller than a more traditional square or rectangular parlour for a platform of comparable size, Cameron says “it feels spacious”. The overall shed design doesn’t compromise on features and includes everything you’d expect in a new dairy: an office, kitchen, toilet, pump room, storage and electrical room; and even a compact foyer for hanging wet-weather gear. Shed construction is also very quick with the building erected in just six weeks, and the concrete races, yard and feed pads finished later. The shed just looks great, says Cameron, who points out the varnished wood rafters. And overall Cameron and father Kevin are

BailGate straps from Waikato Milking Systems are one of the features of the new 60-bail rotary. very pleased with their choice of building, and found Fabish and Jackson great to work with. “They were very easy to communicate with. When things arose that they needed to change, they were approachable. Overall, a great team to work with,” says Cameron.

In the yard AgriMat Kura from Numat is installed on the bridge, offering cows a safer and more comfortable entry and exit from the platform. Secured by stainless steel anchors, the mat is hard wearing and expected to last for at least 30 years. Concrete for the new dairy’s rectangular yard, which fits up to 600 cows, was laid by builders Fabish and Jackson. And all the yard steelwork was completed by local firm Michael Bloemen Engineering, which also manufactured and fitted the high runner backing gate.

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MANGAPOUA FARMS

Coast & Country

The Johnstons use resources more effectively Large windows in the Octa-Lock shed ensure there is plenty of natural light inside the dairy.

Farmer Cameron Johnston, Elite Farm Solutions’ Nigel Robinson, and Hunts Farm Services’ Daniel Lord by the Orbitor Rotary Gland.

“The gate features a unique self-calibration mechanism to align itself vertically and horizontally, which means the gate moves freely without jamming up,” says Michael. Earthworks to get the building platform ready was the job of Normanby Contractors. Jim Nickel says they also dug out the farm’s large efﬂuent holding pond, and provided metal for the new dairy. The team from Paeroa Contracting then completed all the excavator work to cut out the yard, and most of the ﬁnishing work for other parts of the build including the races and tanker track. Cameron says Rhys Wineera and his Paeroa Contracting team did a great job. Cameron’s since had Rhys back on the farm to do other work since construction on the new dairy.

Simple effluent The Johnstons wanted a simple efﬂuent system that is easy to operate and maintain,

The 15hp Yardmaster pump is on a boom so it can be safely maintained from the shore. so they called in Fonterra and local experts Midwest Machinery to build a system that’s suitable for both their current and projected future needs. “Fonterra was really helpful,” says Cameron. “Their sustainable dairy advisor helped us through the process, and there is no cost for the service. You’d be mad not to take advantage of that.” The system gets a big tick on the easy-to-use front – a ﬂoodwash system sweeps solids and liquids from the yard into the large efﬂuent pond situated at the end of the yard. Solids from the two 120m feed pads are scraped down periodically with a front-end loader and pushed

MidWest Machinery sales manager Michael Prestidge advised the Johnstons on their effluent management system. into the large nine million litre clay-lined storage pond. The system features a shore-mounted 9m Nevada PondBoom, a 15hp Yardmaster pump, and a 9m Nevada electric stirrer. The PondBoom makes maintenance easy because it allows the pump to be maintained from the safety of the shore. The powerful 20hp Nevada stirrer is fitted with a typhoon propeller, which provides excellent horizontal flow across the bottom of the large effluent pond, ensuring solids are moving and able to be pumped to the farm irrigation system. The height of the stirrer is also adjustable. “The system has really been designed for simplicity,” says Midwest Machinery sales manager Michael Prestidge.

Farmer Cameron Johnston says a hose down is all that’s needed to keep the Acraﬂex wall coating looking good. “The stirrer is the key to the success of the system. It quickly mixes the entire pond, bringing all the solids into suspension ready for pumping. There is no sandtrap to empty. Gear can be maintained from the shore. Everything runs on a timer.” Generating cost and time savings as well as creating a platform for future growth were the main drivers for the new dairy build – and Cameron believes these have been well and truly achieved with the new build. The previous shed on the property lasted for 40 years, and the Johnstons’ forward planning and focus on building a simple, efﬁcient dairy, will hopefully see this new dairy shed last even longer. Josephine Reader

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MANGAPOUA FARMS

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Page 106

Grazing to dairy

Coast & Country

The new dairy viewed from the eastern side of the shed.

Eileen, Danny and Michael Kavanagh in the pit.

done! Before they made the decision to convert their 86 hectare property at Waitotara, South Taranaki, from grazing to dairy, Danny and Eileen Kavanagh commissioned a feasibility study that looked at the strengths and weaknesses of the planned move.

This considered approach was applied to all aspects of their new dairy build, which saw the conversion from grazing to dairy go off without any major hitches and importantly was delivered on time and within budget. The Kavanaghs are in partnership with their son Michael, who was Taranaki Farm Manager of the Year in 2012/2013. After several years as a farm worker and manager, Michael was looking for a lower order sharemilking opportunity, and Danny says the time was right for them to consider a conversion. While Danny and Eileen are experienced sheep and beef farmers, dairy farming is new to them, so Michael was involved in the design of the new dairy from the get go to ensure the set-up beneﬁted from his farming knowledge and experience.

Stress-free build Danny and Eileen speak highly of the tradespeople involved in bringing their new dairy together. The Kavanaghs made some minor changes to the original building plans: adding a roof overhang over the vet race for protection from sun and rain; extending the concrete race; making the ofﬁce space slightly bigger; and adding some transparent roof materials for better lighting over the pit. The Kavanaghs decided on a herringbone rather than rotary milking system because it was what Michael was most familiar with, and one – that in his experience – “was less complicated and has fewer moving parts and things to break down”. The shed has been built with the future in mind, says Michael. “We planned on a phased development. A herd management system was on our wish list; and while outside our budget for the

The Race Wrangler from Wilco and Waverly Klein Ovink keeps cows and farmer safe for hoof treatment, and anything else where the cow needs to be still. first part of the build, ducting was put in place so we can add that capability in later.” Great cow flow is one of the stand-out features of this shed, according to the Kavanaghs. “The design is very open through the exit to make it easy and quick for the cows to get out, which speeds up getting the next row in. Time saved here means quicker milking overall.” The design is very open through the exit to make it easy and quick for the cows to get out, which speeds up getting the next row in. Time saved here means quicker milking overall. Specialised Coatings supplied the acraflex paint that was applied to the shed walls. The high-build wall treatment involves five separate coats and is extremely robust and

The farm’s central race was built with clay rather than metal to minimise risk of lameness.

hardwearing. On new shed builds, a 10-year guarantee is offered, but Frits van Echten of Surfatex, an authorised applicator of acraﬂex, says he’d be surprised if it the surfaces weren’t still looking good in 20 years.

Well water bore “A well wasn’t budgeted, but was well worth the investment,” says Danny. “To know we don’t have to worry about water supply is invaluable.” Original plans to use a farm spring for water were scrapped when the supply was identified as unreliable and of insufficient volume to meet the farm’s ongoing needs. Wanganui Welldrillers was called in to do a test bore, which managing director Lyle Sharrat says identified a suitable water supply 220m below the ground.

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Kavanaghs convert for son Waikato Milking Systems’ Taranaki sales manager Brian Luff demonstrates the swingdown jetters.

Page 107 above the continuous tray. Feed levels are easily adjusted according to herd needs at any given time, says Michael, who is currently feeding Palm Kernel Extract, and changes to a high energy blend during mating. Out in the yard, a New Zealand-designed and manufactured Race Wrangler makes hoof treatment “way safer,” according to Michael. The belly strap means cows can’t go down, and the winches and pulleys make it very easy to use, he says.

Dairy sized right

Frits van Echten of Surfatex checking the ﬁnish on the acraﬂex surface coating which keeps shed walls hygienically clean. Clear roof panels were added to the original design to allow more light into the pit area.

A pump located about two-thirds of the way down the well, at 140m, begins pumping water into a nearby 30,000L storage tank when it detects the tank level is low. Well screens are fitted to minimise the risk of sand entering the farm’s water supply, and well lining is cement grouted into place to minimise contamination, says Lyle. The well’s pump has a fill rate of about 18,000L per hour, so it only takes a little under two hours to fill the 30,000L tank, which provides farm water for troughs, and two other 25,000L tanks provide water for the dairy shed. With the farm’s abundant cool ground water supply and a secondary calf vat available to supply chilled water during peak production, no additional precooling is needed in the dairy at this stage.

FA R M S E RV I C E S 2 0 1 4 LT D

The Kavanagh’s new 28-aside herringbone is sized right for the farm and herd, enabling one person to efficiently milk about 300 cows. The clusters feature quadrant liners, which have a unique square barrel, Waikato Milking Systems’ Taranaki area sales manager Brian Luff. “The square barrel grips the teat better through pulsation Elite Farm Solutions’ Nigel Robinson phases. This reduces the chance of cups slipping off,” says makes an adjustment to a feed Brian. supplement dispensing unit. SmartDRIVE provides stable and consistent vacuum thanks to digital sensors that monitor and adjust vacuum pump The tray shape in speed as needed, and each SmartPULS pulsator services two the PPP Industries clusters, making them a cost efficient option, says Brian. Washdown is more convenient thanks to the swing-down system – high at the back, narrow bottom jetter arm, which puts the cluster washers within easy reach and sloped front – is when needed, and out of the way during milking. Danny designed to keep feed jokes the location of the jetter arms is good for “shorties” like he and wife Eileen. at the back of the Installation of the plant and effluent system was overseen by tray where it’s easily local Waikato service agent Hunts Farm Services. reached by cows. The Kavanaghs are particularly happy with the work Hunts did on their pressure-fed hot water cylinder and wash tank which only takes minutes to fill, saving a lot of time when After initial milk cooling via the plate cooler, Tru-Test 22kW washing down, says Danny. refrigeration unit with vertical discharge kicks in to complete Hunts recommended 50mm pipe for farm water, which in the refrigeration process in the dairy’s two vats, says Tru-Test’s hindsight was a very good choice, says Danny, because in hot DTS Milk Cooling & Tank Solutions area sales manager Nick weather the wider pipe size keeps troughs well supplied with Callingham. water even when there is high demand. “The Tru-Test 22kw unit is sized correctly for the milk vat and “The great thing about a conversion,” says Eileen, “is that combined with the scroll compressor it has a lower torque on you get a chance to do everything right – troughs, water start-up, meaning less power draw as the unit ramps up. This, supply, paddock sizes, effluent”. “From there you can just with the added hot water recovery unit, adds to the power savfocus on farming.” ings,” says Nick. Danny and Eileen say they’ve enjoyed finding their way The PPP Industries in-shed feed system was installed by Elite through their first season as dairy farmers and thanks to their Farm Solutions. The system features a stainless feed tray which is purpose-built new dairy, together with son Michael, they can “strong as hell” according to Danny. now focus on simply running their business. Josephine Reader A 16 tonne silo supplies grain to individual dispensers fitted

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AHU AHU FARMS

New build

geared for production and proﬁt

About 8000L of water are used by the ﬂoodwash system to clean the 50m yard.

Peter Moffitt’s background in rural banking, and current role as a farm adviser, means he is well-versed in using the latest farming technology and developments to raise production and profit. The 130 hectares farm on the outskirts of the picturesque coastal Taranaki town was purchased in late 2014, and builder Brian Hill, of BD Hill Building, had a tight window in which to construct the new dairy before calving began in mid-July 2015. With a galvanised steel frame and freezer panel walls, the dairy is light, airy, spacious and quite easy to keep clean, says farm manager Matthew Shearer. The concrete wall surfaces in the shed are protected by an acraflex coating, which provides a hardwearing and hygienic surface that is easy to keep clean. A seven-step application process sees five layers of specialised paint coating

applied to the concrete surface as well as a protective glaze, says Frits van Echten of Surfatex, who is an authorised acraﬂex applicator. Master plumber gasﬁtters and drainlayers from Copestake Gas and Plumbing installed drainage for the new dairy.

Go-to supplier Brian oversaw all aspects of this build – from design to build as well as managing all of the subcontractors – and he says this was critical to being able to deliver this project on time, in what turned out to be a very wet winter. Supply of materials at the right time was another critical component of the build, and the trade team at Mitre 10 Mega New Plymouth is Brian’s go-to supplier. “Brian and his team are in our drive-thru or on the phone to us nearly every day, so our trade staff have built a great rapport with him over time,” says Mitre 10 MEGA New Plymouth general manager Phillip Rose. Coastal Welders from Taranaki completed the

Coast & Country

The Mofﬁtt dairy features the latest in Waikato Milking Systems technology.

Waikato Milking Systems’ SmartWASH system is easy to use.

ThinkWater New Plymouth installed the new dairy’s in-shed feed system.

Farm worker Grant Adlam, farm manager Matthew ThinkWater New Plymouth Shearer and ThinkWater director Steve Bevan. director Steve Bevan.

structural steel work in the dairy shed as well as yarding design and fabrication. The overhead backing gate marks the advancement Coastal Welders has made in both design and functionality of this type of gate. Experienced dairy electrician Sinclair Electrical was among those working on this tight timeframe build, installing all of the new electrical wiring and Duplex refrigeration, which includes milk pre-chilling and a Mahana Blue heat recovery system. Low-cost hot water is a byproduct of the refrigeration process, which uses otherwise wasted heat to create hot water to 85 degrees Celsius. Hot water generated in this way is typically 60 per cent cheaper than using electricity, which is in keeping with Peter’s goal of a building labour and cost efﬁcient dairy.

Labour-saving plant The Waikato Milking Systems plant Peter selected, which includes SmartECR, SmartSPRAY, SmartPULS, SmartLINK, Smart-

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SmartPULS pulsators are a cost-effective option.

WASH, supports this goal. The high performance electronic cup removers mean only one person is needed in the dairy, milking 440 cows in about two hours, which is the sort of efficiency Peter was looking for with the new build. The automated SmartSPRAY removes the need for manual teat spraying and teat dipping, which is another real labour-saver, says Waikato Milking Systems’ Taranaki area sales manager Brian Luff. Peter and Matthew can make more effective decisions because they have better information about herd and plant performance at their fingertips. For instance, the automated SmartWASH system sends an email to Matthew if a wash wasn’t completed correctly, allowing corrective action to be taken before the next milking. FIL supply the farm wash chemicals and also offer a range of hygiene checks and other services to ensure optimal and efficient plant use, says FIL area manager Trev Gilberd.

AHU AHU FARMS

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Fantastic platform for future growth Ahu Ahu Farms

Looking up toward the new dairy from the bottom of the yard.

FIL area manager Trev Gliberd readies the ﬁbreoptic camera.

An innovative spray system keeps the platform skirt clean.

Farm manager Matthew Shearer, FIL area manager Trev Gliberd and builder Brian Hill.

On the day New Farm Dairies visited, Trev used a ﬁbre optic camera to check for buildup in the milk line – which he says is a valuable service that identiﬁes potential issues before they can cause a costly grade or other problem. FIL also re-calibrated the wash equipment to ensure the mix rate on wash chemicals in the SmartWASH system is correct.

Cost-effective platform A “good price” was the key reason Peter chose a Waikato Milking Systems 50-bail Orbit platform for the new dairy. The platform was installed by Moa Milking Rotary Platforms, which is the ofﬁcial installer and service technician for Waikato Milking Systems’ rotary platforms in the North Island. Installation of the platform took about three weeks. The Orbit platform features a 100mm thick high-strength concrete deck and galva-

The Waikato Milking Systems SmartSpray.

The BD Hill Building took around 14 weeks to complete.

nised steel substructure and bails. Concrete helps reduce the noise created with the removal of the cups and also provides a consistent surface and a similar material to the yard, creating better cow ﬂow, says Moa Milking Rotary Platforms director Nathan Hitchcock. A desire to improve cow comfort and minimise the risk of lameness saw Peter decide to install rubber matting on the bridge between yard and platform. The specialised Numat rubber matting provides a safe surface for cows as they enter and exit the platform. The matting provides excellent grip and also gives way so the cow can move safely from platform to yard. Out in the yard a Race Wrangler from Wilco and Waverley Klein Ovink takes the hard work out of hoof treatment, by providing a safe – for both cow and farmer – and secure way of keeping the animal still for treatment.

Some of the 440-cow herd in a paddock near the new dairy.

Waikato Milking Systems clusters installed in this new dairy.

Farm manager Matthew Shearer in the shed ofﬁce.

The new dairy also features an in-shed feed system installed by ThinkWater New Plymouth. Two 16 tonne silos, which are ﬁtted with air ﬂuidisers to stop feed from bridging, are connected inline to a 90mm coreless auger that moves the feed into the shed.

One-stop shop Authorised dealers for Waikato Milking Systems, ThinkWater New Plymouth provided a one-stop-shop, installing several major components of the new dairy including milking plant, farm water and irrigation, efﬂuent system and the in-shed feed system. Farm water comes from a nearby stream and is ﬁltered and UV-treated into two 25,000 litre tanks. The treatment ensures 5ntu clarity and that the water is free of coliforms, says Steve. From there the water is moved to various water points around the dairy shed.

Numat rubber matting improves cow safety.

Completed a week ahead of schedule, the ThinkWater team was on-site for about six weeks, and did a great job to get all aspects of the dairy up and running in this tight timeframe, says Steve. Intelligent pump control is a feature of the farm’s effluent system. The Kelco IPG20 controller is a pressure and flow-based device that learns the operating pressure each time the system is started to ensure pump protection from loss of prime or other issue. Remote connectivity will allow Matthew to monitor the system from his mobile phone in the future. Builder, farmer and contractors have come together to deliver this high-performing, labour-efficient new dairy with the latest in farming technology. Now Peter and his team can focus on building production and profitability, knowing the new dairy now provides a fantastic platform for future growth. By Josephine Reader

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YOUR FARM, YOUR FUTURE, OUR FOCUS. When we planned to change our effluent system, we chose Presco Environmental as we have trusted their quality concrete products in the past and liked the idea of the concrete Prosump over other liner options. Because our project was not straight forward we gained professional advice from Oliver who was able to design the Prosump effluent storage facility to meet our needs, right down to the last detail. We were impressed by how everything went to plan, on time and within budget. We now have a long VGTO UWUVCKPCDNG KPXGUVOGPV CPF CTG CNTGCF[ DGPGÆ&#x2019;VKPI HTQO URTGCFKPI VJG GHHNWGPV YKVJ KPETGCUGF pasture growth, especially in the summer, reducing our fertiliser costs.

,I \RX ZRXOG OLNH WR GLVFXVV JHWWLQJ 3UHVFR LQYROYHG LQ \RXU HÍ§XHQW storage project please contact Oliver on 0800 773 726 or email oliver@presco.co.nz and arrange a free on-site consultation.

www.prescoinfrastructure.co.nz

- John and Phyllis Malcolm, Taranaki

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