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DAIRY PEOPLE: Stephen Sing/Damien Roper
NZ Dairy / Summer 2014
Son returns on a mission of Sue Russell Returning to work full-time on the family dairy farm at Tatuanui, near Morrinsville, Stephen Sing had some pretty clear goals to achieve. His first season was in 2010-11. He had finished a Bachelor of Agriculture degree at Lincoln University and spent six months getting the feel for hands-on farming at Ngatea, on the Hauraki Plains. His overall aim has been to improve all aspects of the 152-hectare farm’s infrastructure to achieve maximum production and returns from the herd of 580 jerseys. His on-farm development has been guided by this statement of intent. A big project – to replace the two milking sheds with one – is waiting for the green light, It depends on the farm operating to its capacity. However, a new feedpad has already been built on the site near to where the new milking shed will stand. “I think that in terms of everything that needs to be in place, I’m about halfway along the journey,” says Sing. “We are making progress each season with total farm infrastructural improvements.” Last season the farm produced 185,000 kilograms of milksolids, about 20,000kg less than the previous season because of the effect of the drought. But the Sings’ decision to feed out a lot more saw their cows came through the experience relatively well. “We were spending up to three hours a day feeding out at that time. Grass silage in the paddock and maize and palm kernel on the feedpad. We did this for nearly 10 weeks and, while it was a huge time commitment, it was worth it in terms of outcomes.” He says they have been looking carefully at their feeding system, making adjustments season
Stephen Sing with some of his 580 jerseys on the family’s ‘dead flat’ 152 hectares at Tatuanui, just north-east of Morrinsville.
One shed better than two Kelly Deeks IS PLEASED TO HAVE PROVIDED DAMIEN & JANE ROPER WITH AN EXCELLENT WATER SUPPLY
Damien and Jane Roper see a new 50-bail rotary dairy shed, which will replace two old herringbone sheds, giving their Waverley farm a new lease of life next season. Roper says the herringbones are no longer up to the job. They had been functioning well, but have got old. We’re finding it hard to justify throwing money at two old sheds, and the maintenance has been climbing every year. “Also, Fonterra regulations are becoming more stringent, and rightly so. We want to be the best and cleanest and tidiest producers in the world, and we want to have great facilities.”
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Damien and Jane Roper see many benefits coming from their new rotary shed. The Ropers will amalgamate their two neighbouring dairy farms around the new dairy shed. They have run two sheds for the past five years since buying the neighbouring property and increasing the scale of their operation to 150 hectares (effective) and 475 cows. They made decision about two and a half years ago that a new shed was the best way forward, and began the planning process. They spent around six months considering the location of the new shed before deciding to put it quite close to where one of the herringbones sits. Wind, sun, and views of the mountain were factored into the decision, as well as considerations to the neighbours and the environment. With a 500-cow feedpad to be attached to the shed, it was important to get the elements in the right position for optimum cow-flow. Construction of the new shed will be completed for the start of 2014-15 season. Alan Moulder, from Waikato Milking Systems, is project-managing the job, with Emmett Civil Construction doing the build. Donald Jennings is the engineer for the project, Steve Watson will do a lot of the concrete work (including the feedpad, the troughs, and the silage bunkers), and Mid-West Machinery, Fonterra, and the South Taranaki District Council are all involved in the planning of the effluent system.